1. God is Good (all the time) I'll start with a Scripture which probably most clearly illustrates this point:
"Every GOOD gift and every PERFECT gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is NO VARIATION or SHADOW OF TURNING." (James 1:17)So, based on that statement (and others), I would like to correct a common misconception about my God. Contrary to popular belief, everything that happens on this earth is not His Will. God's Will does not automatically come to pass. If I thought it was God's Will for girls to be raped by their fathers, and for millions to die in disease, poverty and misery, I doubt that I could serve Him, or have anything to do with Him for that matter.He's given authority on this earth (during this age) to PEOPLE.
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness; let THEM have dominion (authority)...'"(Gen.1:26)So, for all you people who use the terrible things that happen on this earth as your excuse for why you won't listen to God, Wake up! People messed everything up, not God!!! Does that mean that God can do absolutely nothing in the earth today? No. But He can only intervene when invited (in faith, of course) by a person.When God made the earth, He looked around, "and saw that it was GOOD". That was God's Will--GOOD. However, when man commited treason in the Garden of Eden, he handed authority on the earth over to Satan. The Bible even calls Satan "the god of this world (or "age")" (2 Cor.4:4) So with Satan as its god, a curse came on the earth, and the current system of deterioration and chaos was the natural result.
2.God Loves YOU !
Now you say, "If God loves us so much, then how come He sends so many people to hell?" Well, God SENDS no one to hell. God created hell for Satan and the demons who follow him. When Adam handed the authority of this age to Satan, hell became our destination by default. But God loved us enough to create a way that we wouldn't have to go there--an escape. We only have to believe it FIRST. So anyone who goes to hell chooses to go there. THANK GOD, He loves us--so He created a New Testament (Contract). All the bad that we've done can be wiped away without us paying the price. Because Jesus came to the earth, lived a perfect, innocent life, then paid the price for us! Forget the pretty crucifixes, He was beaten with rods until you could barely tell that He was even a man. His beard was ripped from His face. He had a crown of thorns spiked into his head. He was whipped with a Roman cat-o-nine-tails, an instrument that had 9 thongs with bits of metal, stone and glass tied on it. It was slammed into his body and then yanked until it ripped the flesh from His body. He could count all of His own bones. He was NAILED to a cross. And though He could've called legions of angels to get him off the cross, so He could wreak sweet revenge on those who stood around making fun of him, He didn't. Because He loves YOU and ME. That's why. It's just that simple. His last word was "Tetelestai", which means in English, "Paid in Full". He paid for our sin--in full. Then he was raised from the dead, defeating death and Satan, and...
"...He has made (us) alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us (the Law), which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."(Col.2:15)Now He wants us to use our authority on the earth to enforce His victory!!! Has God got a deal for you !!! As a bonus in the New contract, He not only paid for your sin, He'll give you the righteosness (right standing with God) that He Himself earned. All we have to do is "sign on the dotted line." And the good news is, just like in the movies, the good guys win at the end.
And the devil, who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever."3.He's Coming Soon
The time is almost up. We're almost done here on the earth.
"...scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."(2 Pet.3:3-4)
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance."(2 Pet.3:9)Though people have said He's coming soon for centuries, God is only giving people more time to accept Him. Check this out, He's coming SOON............
"...do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."(2 Pet.3:8)During the seven days of Creation, God rested on the seventh day. Those seven days were a shadow of things to come on the earth. It's almost been six thousand years since Creation---four thousand from Creation until Jesus, and almost two thousand from Jesus until now. Our calendars have changed a couple of times since then, so it wasn't going to be exactly on Jan 1, 2000-- it could be up to a few years after. But whenever this sixth "day" is over, it will be time for the day of rest. The Church will be raptured into heaven for seven years, while everybody else stays on earth and goes through the Tribulation (hell on earth). Then we'll return with Jesus to rule for a thousand years, and then comes the "new heaven" and "new earth"... "and so shall we ever be with the Lord"!!! I can't wait, can you?Are You Ready???
Conclusion:
Now, after reading all of this, you may be saying,"Prove it", or "Seeing is believing". Well, that's not the way God works, He does it in reverse. God says, "Believe it, then you'll see it." This is how everything God has provided for us is accessed. That's what "Faith" means. SO, I would say to you just that, "Believe it, then you'll see it." And if you have any questions or comments about anything I've written (I don't have ALL the answers--just most of 'em), email me and I will make every attempt to answer you with whatever God-given understanding I have.
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