Lyrics from a song by 10th Ave north.

“Lord, it doesn’t feel right

For me to turn a blind eye

But I guess it’s not that much

When I think of what You’ve done.

This kind of baffles me coming from a Christian. “I guess it’s not that much, when I think of what You’ve done”. So this guy is motivated by Jesus, as so many are. It sounds like he is so thankful for what Jesus did, that he feels he is obligated to do, if not try, and do similar things or commanded things. Is that really what should be motivating us? Does God want us to live a life of Quid Pro Quo? This for that? He loved me, so I have to love others? He forgives me so I (begrudgingly) have to forgive others? Then I guess the ‘next step up” would be those who willingly love others, and gratitude for what God did for them. They will gladly love others, because of the love that was shown to them. I guess it is a little bit better, but I don’t think that is how we should live. We should be motivated to honor God in all we do. The reason we love, is because He loved. Meaning we want to be like Him, and if He is a forgiving person, would also want to be that forgiving person. And through the Spirit in side us, we can be that forgiving person. God didn’t want lemmings or minions, or He would have created them. God’s knows our response to fear, if He wanted, He could easily get 7.5 billion people to bow down to Him. He doesn’t want mindless worship or worship from fear. He created human BEININGS, He wants us to BE. We are created in His image, we are His sons and daughters. He expects us to screw up, and wants us to grown, just like our children. We could never be God, He always was and is, and we will never be God. But we can have His character. That is what He wants, that is what you want of a child. The only way to learn to walk, it so stumble and grow and learn. But you want your child to have your character, to pass on to them and watch the grow to be children and eventually adults of character. God wants us to be kings and priests. Those who seek justice for the oppressed, who love others, the love that God gives to them (and shows/ed) them, to use the gifts and blessings He gave us to help others, so that others may give God the glory for God being used in us. And we are to give all praise and glory to God for the gifts that others use for His glory and for giving us what He did give us. We now forgive others or love others because we are love, because God is love and God is in us. It is not a difficult thing to do. It is not something that we need to strive to have, it is us, it is God, it is God inside us. However, the Spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. When we forget to ask God to help us honor Him, we might fail at loving another as we should. But the motivation for being loving or forgiving is to honor Him, not in thankfulness and certainly not in obligation.

We don’t see the word baptism in the OT at all, though we do see mention of the High Priest, who would cleans/bath himself before entering the temple. Baptism means to immerse, so I guess it was mentioned in the OT, but again, only by the high priest before the entered, or any of the Israelites, as a means to cleanse oneself. So let’s get this straight. There is no mystical power of water, it was a symbolic means used by God to symbolize a cleaning. It was what or how God chose to cleanse them, and by them following His commands, it was demonstrating faith, and obedience, and it had a symbolic meaning too. Another way to cleanse was through blood of an unblemished animal. I would assume this unblemished had much symbology in it as well. For a sheep that ran into trouble all the time, would get the staff bashed on it, perhaps a leg was needed to be broken to save it from a walking off a cliff. Either way, the lesser obedient ones were probably blemished, but the one who obeyed, the easiest one to tend to and the prized one, THAT was the one you sacrificed. But did the blood have mystical powers? No, blood was a symbol of life to them, and sin was a symbol of death. So when the death stench of sin would be on the people, the life aroma of blood would ‘cleanse/Febreze’ the death away. So then Jesus comes along, and says that He will baptize or cleanse, with the Spirit, as opposed to just water. Water was a symbolic way to cleanse, but after being cleansed with it, they would still sin again. Because man could not, not sin of their own strength. This is what Jesus also showed us. That a man actually could, not sin, but it wasn’t of man’s own strength, even the Son of God, needed the help of God to not sin. This is why after Jesus died for us, He left us His Spirit, to help us not sin, as He had. Jesus was also the fountain of water, the eternal cleansing. It was through blood, that the true life was sprinkled to cover our sins/death. Nothing mystical here either, but symbolic. The power in his blood is symbolic, not mystical. Jesus was/is our High Priest, our Sacrifice, and our Scape goat. I just said how He was our sacrifice, so what was His role as our High Priest? One of the jobs of a High Priest was to bestow the blessings of God to man. The whole nation of Israel would be blessed through what the High Priest did (and eventually the world was supposed to be.) Jesus as our High Priest, allows the blessings of God to come upon us ‘scum’ who reject Him. The Israelites would also confess the sins (death) to the High Priest, and when it was time, the High Priest would cleanse them through the sprinkling of blood (life). What was the scape goat? There isn’t a whole lot said about it. But it sounds to me like the people would confess their sins to the High Priest, and then the High Priest would speak the sins to the goat, who then was set into the wilderness. Wilderness was a term that meant non-existence. There was no purpose for it, it was said to be gone from the earth or from their thoughts. This was also not mystical. I believe this was a symbol that showed, you no longer need to feel the guilt of those sins, they are gone, they are forgotten, in the wilderness, as far as the east is from the west. If the blood is what cleansed us, why did we need a scape goat? Can not a forgiven man be in the presence of God? I do believe this was for our benefit. It was God’s way of making sure we didn’t feel any guilt. He no longer held our sins against us once cleaned, but we might have put guilt on ourselves and the scape goat was a way to ‘clear our chest’, to make the guilt go to a wilderness where it was no longer on our minds. Though I think that was in intent, it wasn’t realized, as many even feared the goat would find it’s way back to camp. But times were very mystical back then, so that is understandable. This is what Jesus also did for us, but I believe God has been doing for us from Adam on. God never wanted us to feel guilt from a sin we repented from. So He first gave them a scape goat, then gave the Jesus who said “your sins/guilt is separated from the east to the west” (they can’t get any further away from you, forget about them, I don’t care about them anymore). Once we repent, that is all God ever wanted, He wants us to look towards the future, not the past, the past has no control over us, it doesn’t effect us, this is how sin/death was conquered. And I don’t believe it was through some mystical means from Jesus on the cross, rather this was words/truth from God (as man) whose work was completed on the Cross. We now have the Spirit, who is able to reveal that truth from God, that God never did and never will hold a man guilty who has repented from sin. Holding something against someone (that they repented from) is a concept of man, not God. The only time you will find in the Bible where a man is punished actively by God is the one actively sinning. You will not find a single passage or instance of a man who repented, that God is holding something against them. That is why God came us with sacrifice and a way to cleanse us, against not a mystical cleansing, but a demonstration on our part of faith and obedience in Him. Surely, if a man was on his way to be cleansed or was waiting on the sacrifice and a man murdered him before the sacrifice happened, would that man be condemned? I guess we don’t know that answer with certainty, but I believe that man will be justified by God Himself. God is the one who was wronged when a man sins, and God can forgive any man at any time, as Jesus showed us when He forgave a lame man and then made that man to walk. The introduction of sacrificing and blood for forgiveness is as explained above, it was symbolic not a rule God set out or that someone above God set out that God had to follow. It wasn’t like God had to send Jesus to save us, rather that God wanted to send Jesus to save us. Isa 53:10 “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him” That is the means by which God wanted us to be reconciled to Him for the majority of man, but it is not the only way to reconcile man, God could have snapped His fingers or spoke and all mankind would be forgiven. But that wouldn’t do much, as a forgiven man would still be blind and stumble again. A forgiven man doesn’t enter heaven, rather a man who is humble before our mighty God, a man who wants God to help him, have honor Him. If one’s sins are forgiven, but that man still thinks his own ways are better than God’s, heaven will be misery for him, that man wants his own way, not God’s. It isn’t about sin and forgiveness, it is about true repentance. John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” Cleansed with water and living a repentant humble heart that fears the Lord. Just like money. Surely you believe God can do many things apart from money. BUT, He decided to use money to get things done, to show His love and to give Him glory. Just like Jesus. He decided to use Jesus to show us the truths (the same ones of the OT that He was trying to tell us) and for us to attain forgiveness through Him. But could have easily just forgiven us with a word, but He didn’t want to for most. It was our faith that forgiveness comes, it was Abraham’s faith that was credited to him as righteousness, and it was faith in God that saved all men before Jesus. Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love on earth, and it is faith in the personhood of God that is faith in Jesus. Or if you have faith in Jesus, it is because you had faith in God. Like Jesus said many times, John 8:42 “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.” I am by no means diminishing what Jesus did for us, because that is what God wanted Him to do for us and what God did do for us. But I also would never go as far as to say, God “had” to send Jesus to save us, like the Almighty’s hands were tied! Or He was forced into that scenario. I believe from Adam to the death of Jesus was known before the creation of the world and it was a beautiful story that God wanted to tell, and that was the only way our feeble minds could attempt to understand a glimpse of the love of God, and THAT is why God chose to send Jesus. Not “just’ to save us, rather to have us attempt to see the depths of His love so that He is able to be glorified that much more that we could have. God was the same being before Jesus, His love, mercy, and justice was the same during Abraham as it was 100 years after the death of Jesus. Though it is through Jesus and the Spirit that I know what I do know, and I am not bashing anyone from the OT who didn’t see what I know now. For if God never revealed to us the truths of this life through Jesus and the Spirit, I would be just as blind as they were.

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Perspective

Have you seen the picture of two different people looking from opposite sides of a number and the one says “it is a 6, you are wrong”, and the other says “it is a 9, you are wrong”. I feel like we do this all too often in the Christian faith. The truth is, neither are wrong, but both are right. God has both standing where he wants them, and he wants the one to see a 6, to see a 6, and to be loving, and gentle, and the same goes for the one who sees a nine. Mark 9:38 ““Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”” The black shirt could say, Teacher, we saw someone proclaiming this number is a 9, when it is clearly a 6, so we told him to stop. Mark 9:39-41 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40for whoever is not against us is for us. 41Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.” “Whomever is not against us is for us” We must remember this. If someone is speaking about the love of our (collective) Creator, preaching that all things we have belong to Him, all glory belongs to Him, and they want to share the blessing God gave them with others, giving God the glory in that, they are for “us”, they are for God. I feel we get too tied up in doctrine and take out of context instances where Paul or someone in the NT would attempt to squash a lie, that Satan takes advantage of this, and brings out the pride and hate deep inside our flesh. Who is to say that God approved of Paul’s correction? The Bible just says that Paul corrected them, it never says God told Him to or that God approved. Much like David (a man after God’s own heart), he had 8 named wives and who knows how many others. Was this good? Was it part of God’s design, or what God wanted for us or him? I don’t think so. But did God immediately approve of disapprove of any of them? (Other than obviously Bathsheba, but that was not condemnation for a multitude of wives, rather adultery and murder). So if we know God does not approve of the number of wives that David had, is it possible that God does not approve of the “correcting” of doctrine? 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” Though the NT didn’t exist when this was spoken/written, I was talking about the OT. Though some say God was speaking through Him and knew the NT would exist as it does and this is futuristically speaking about the NT too. That may be true, or might not be, but either way, it doesn’t say “all scripture is a command of God”. I feel as though many Christians treat it as such, and some use it out of context as if it was a command of God, or if it is done in the Bible, God must be commanding us to follow. It says Scripture are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training. Maybe we are to learn that as much of a saint and a great man of God that Paul was, even he was subject to faults. Maybe one of those faults was pride? Paul clearly loved God (his Creator, the God of Abraham) so much so that as Saul, he would go to lengths of approving killing others who he believed opposed God. When Jesus revealed to Him that Paul was opposing God, he changed his tune, was saved, and received the Holy Spirit. Now Paul was just as zealous for God as he was before receiving the Holy Spirit. Though he no longer killed others for believing different than he did, he clearly wanted all to believe what he believed, just as he did as Saul. This is not to say that the Bible has no obvious truth and that we can sway it to mean anything we want it to. But I also don’t believe there is a single human (other than Jesus) who knew and had the one and only truth of God. It can, and is interpreted in many different ways. The eye may see a nail as a neat shiny object, but the foot wants to be far from it, yet the hand wants to use it to build. Neither are wrong, but it can be detrimental if the foot stepped on it, the hand can use it to build a house for the poor, and the eye can enjoy how shiny it is. But I but if the foot wanted to get rid of it, for fear of it, should the eye do as it pleases? It could inadvertently end up robbing the hand of using it for God. Some might consider the resurrection of Jesus to be a non-negotiable doctrinal belief and might have anger and malice towards one who didn’t believe that. Paul even goes as far to say our faith is pointless if that never happened. I do believe in it as well, but I would not care if there was one who didn’t believe in it, if this was a person whom preached the good news of God. The good news that God created us, He loves us, He wants to have a relationship with us and help us to serve Him, and that we can boast of nothing of our own might/strength/knowledge/wisdom. I would gladly serve God along side such a person. I can show them from scripture why I believe what I believe, and let that person who is clearly seeking God and has the Holy Spirit of God in them to correct that person if that is what the Holy Spirit wants. But if the Spirit is guiding them to see a 6, who am I to tell them it is a 9? Do I know more than the Spirit? Do I have more authority than the Spirit? I do know that God doesn’t like the haughty, and honors the humble, and I am humble enough to admit I don’t have the ultimate truth of God in my head, nor would I have anger toward those who don’t see what I see. Maybe I am the one who is wrong? Maybe I should in humility sharing what I know with them, hear what they have to say. Maybe the Spirit is using them to reveal a truth of God to me. But if I am too prideful and arrogant to think I have the only correct interpretation of the Bible, I will never be able to hear God correcting me. This is why I am not worried to ‘challenge’ the status quo or and doctrine. I don’t believe that “if one domino falls, they will all fall”. My faith is not scared, my faith is not in Scripture or mans interpretation of it, my faith is in God, our Creator and Provider, our Savior and Heavenly Father. I serve God with others who want to serve God. It pains me that we even have such a thing as a “denomination” in the church. I don’t care if you want to baptize with immersion or with sprinkling or at birth or if you want to dance and if you want to stand there during song. I want to serve and glorify our Creator with you, and show the world the love of God, the light in the darkness, give hope to the hopeless. I can still do that with you, even if you believe the resurrection never happened. Let’s show the world how we can respect what the other believes is right, be humble and not assume we have all the answers, and in love, not pride, show them the God inside us!

If you hope in something that isn’t true, it is false hope. Retirement is a false hope for many in the world, and unfortunately, so is heaven.

I heard on a Christian radio station the other day something that caught my attention.  “Everyone has a debt, and we will all pay it if we are ready to or not.  But Jesus paid that debt so we don’t have to, allow Him to pay it for you”.  Is that really the Gospel?  Does that sound like good news to you?  Is this what Jesus taught, or God wishes of us?

I do believe that it is a true statement.  We know the wages of sin is death, or another way of saying that is a consequence or punishment of sin is death (meaning eternal separation from our Creator).  I would hardly call this the Gospel.  We were not created to just exist, and then a debt fell on us, and the goal of our lives is to have that debt removed.  But we can’t remove that debt on our own, so we needed Jesus t do it for us.  This entire narrative basically says the purpose of our existence is to go to heaven, but we can’t until we ask Jesus to help us get there.  And it treats heaven like a reward, a place where we will have eternal comfort, like an eternal retirement community.

Which this sparks an entirely other pointless discussion/narrative.  We then began to preach on how we cannot pay this debt off ourselves, or we could never be good enough to get into heaven based on our own good deeds or works.  But thankfully, God loves us enough to have sent His Son to live a good enough life on our behalf, so that we can get into heaven.  And we get into discussions of how no good work is good enough to get to heaven, but Jesus is blah blah blah.

It saddens me to see the Gospel watered down so much, or dare I say perverted to a cosmic game of debt.  Life is so much MORE than that, the Gospel is so much MORE than that.  The Gospel IS good news!  We do have a purpose on this earth now, our existence means something, God wants us to exist, we matter, He can and will gladly use us.  The good news is our creation, that we were created for a purpose, we need to start off the Gospel with that first.  NOT, that life here is cursed and we need someone to help us with a ticket to paradise.  We have this sick mentality for everything in life it seems. 

A quick tangent.  I heard on NPR about a book a guy wrote ( Neil Pasricha, author of “The Happiness Equation, ) about how Americans (the whole developed world minus Japan basically) have this sick infatuation with retirement, and that it ends up killing something like 40% of people early.  The Japanese do not have this same statistic, and in fact have the longest life span on earth.  Sure some reasons could be because their diet or something, but I don’t think it is.  How many people do you know that know someone who died shortly after age 65 when they retired?  Or after their spouse died?  He spoke of the “S’s” of life.  How we need Social fulfillment, Structure/schedule, Stimulation (learning), and a Story.  How we need to live a life where we work till we die.  Which is not to say we need to be worked to death, especially chasing after the unattainable happiness or success or any of the lies Satan tries to tell us will make us happy.  As we know the only true happiness in life is God and comes from God.  The Japanese don’t even have a word for “retirement” in their vocabulary, it is a foreign term.

 You need something to give you those S’s to live.  I would argue even further to add “Spirit” to those, although Spirit will encompass all of them really. 

Social.  God created us to be socially interactive, to display His love to others, and allow others to help us.  We cannot nor should claim any glory or say anything is from our own will or strength, and be humble enough to accept help, and to glorify God in receiving such help, as all help comes from God.  All things come from God. 

Structure.  Structure is from God.  We were not meant to be sloths, to attain ultimate comforts and lay around all day eating (I think this is what many refer to when speaking of heaven).  We were created to work, to get things done, to create, to allow Him to use us to create things for His glory.  Whether it is helping someone with our gifts to do something they can’t do or need help with, or to use the gift to make the world a better place.  All glory belongs and goes to God when we work, when we have structure and purpose.

Stimulation.  God blessed us with brains that learn things, and share things for others to learn.  When you are not tied up in a pointless rat race to attain the greatest comforts or powers or legacy (that is in no right your anyway), you don’t care if your intellectual property is copied.  It didn’t come from you anyway, it came from God, and the glory belongs to God.  When we put that in mind, we learn and teach and all become better and God’s glory is amplified in that. Always feel free to ‘steal’ or ‘copy’ anything idea from this site and there is no need for any copyright or permission or reference to this blog. I don’t need or want any credit for any of these. Give God the glory, and praise Him for speaking to you through His words in me. Preach His name and truths to the world, and use ideas that He might have given you here if He leads you to.

Story.  We all wish to have a purpose, we long to do something that has impact greater than ourselves.  If you read my article on altruism (https://seekingod.home.blog/2019/03/05/humans-are-inherently-altruistic/), you can see how I believe this is a gift of God.  But a gift that is unfortunately like many gifts of God perverted by the Evil One and turns into a sin against God.  The only time we are not altruistic is when we are distracted from being such.  A short term goal, blinds us, and we end up doing all kinds of terrible thing with the ends attempting to justify the means, or sloth and physical comforts/pleasures distract us.  But we were all created with a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify our Creator with His help.   To have a relationship with Him, and praise Him for all He provides and bless others with the gifts He bestowed on us.

We are supposed to do this for eternity starting now.  That is the good news, that is the Gospel.  But we end up depending on our own might and strength and reject God’s help, this is sin, the propensity to sin is our sin nature.  The delusion that we can be happy or fill that void missing (that only our Creator can fill) if we just live these S’s.  I would not have any of this knowledge/revelation if it were not for Jesus and His Holy Spirit.  None of us would have anything apart from God, and that is why everything we do have, we must give Him the glory for it.  But having had these things revealed to me, I now know the Gospel, the good news.  I am not waiting to ‘go home’, or enduring a cursed earth, just waiting until I can get to heaven, where things will be easy and comfortable.  Thanks to Jesus, I now live knowing my purpose, the good news, and I will continue to live that purpose (with much more ease) in heaven for eternity!  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.  My spirit knows the truth, and in heaven, I will be able to live as my spirit yearns to live, but on earth, I have a weak flesh that fails me.

Have you ever watched restoration video?  Whether it was a car or a house or some old collectable restored, it is fascinating to watch some of these things be restored.  Someone can show you a picture of a brand new house, and it might be nice, but you forget about it.  But when you see a dilapidated, run down house, and you watch it get restored.  When you see the process, time, energy it took to restore that house and then looking back at the before pictures when the after pictures are there.  THAT is something you remember and are in awe of.  I believe that is what God wants for all of us.  The only way to show His true love and power, was to play it out as it has.  God could have destroyed/annihilated Satan right from the get go, He could have created a sinless human, so why didn’t He?  Of course this is all speculation, only He knows why.  But if we didn’t sin, we wouldn’t need to be restored.  If we didn’t need to be restored, we could never have been able to understand the great love of God, the lengths He would go to, to show how much He loves His creation.  We could never understand how powerful His love is if Satan wasn’t here.  If He just annihilated Satan, it would almost appear as if He was scared to fight him, like He might lose, like Satan is more powerful, so God just ended him.  God is not scared in the slightest of the powers or darkness, He wanted man to be flawed, to need to depend on Him, and show that He in man, could defeat darkness.  That is what Jesus was, Jesus was a man, who fully depended on God, and because of that, was able to and did defeat darkness.  Prior to Jesus, we didn’t think darkness could be defeated.  We didn’t even understand our purpose here.  I don’t know what we thought our purpose was.  From reading the OT, it seems like man believed their purpose was to become great, so great that they could help rule the earth and bless the world through them.  Which is kind of true, we were created to rule the earth, to bless the earth and it creatures.  But that is only half of us, and the blessings that we were giving out had to come from God, and since they came from God, we also needed to send praise and glory back to God.  I think that is the missing part of mankind before Jesus showed us the way and the truth.  Man existed for themselves, and God was just a means to gain power and favor so they could do what they wanted to do (even if the intentions might originally been good) and be praised or remembered for those acts.

Knowing our purpose.  THAT is the good news.  Being able to live our purpose, THAT is the good news.  THAT is why Jesus came, and that is the Gospel.  That is what I long to share with all who are lost and in despair, just existing, having no eternal purpose, not being able to fill that void that only God can fill.  I don’t long to tell of a perfect man/Son of God, who lived a morally perfect life that they can’t, and if they believe that He died on their behalf or in their place, they can get to heaven…..As true as that might be, can’t you see how depressing that is, how that is the American narrative or retirement?  A pipe dream of better things to come?  Like retirement is a false hope that leads to depression when people actually experience it, heaven will be the same thing.  Some might get to heaven and be waiting for the eternal massages and flying over gold and when God wants them to do something, they don’t want to, they reject Him just like on earth.  They never wanted the will of the Father, they just wanted and delusional lie of a ‘comfortable existence.

Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  NOT, I come, that they might get into heaven.  Or, I come, that I might pay a debt that can’t pay.  As true as those last two statements are, that Jesus is technically a ticket into heaven as He paid a debt we couldn’t pay.  That is not why He came.   It is relatively easy to die for someone, people do it all the time.  Though usually it is for someone they love, some could maybe die for an enemy.  What is very difficult is to live for someone.  To have your life dedicated for the betterment of that other person, even your enemies.  Every thought you have is for their well being.  However, that is not what drives you, it is actually every thought is for the glory of the Creator.  But when you desire to honor God in all you do, the Spirit will enable you to live for the well being of others.  Just like the 10 commandments was not the goal.   But if you lived for God, the commandments would be lived out. This is why we must remain in Him. We can’t impress God of our own, like a tree cannot will fruit out. It must be watered, like we must remain in Him, ask for His help, and fruits will come out of us, He will be glorified in us.  It is in submission to the will of the Father that, His love and power is able to be displayed in our lives and we are able to live our purpose and we end up living our entire lives, up to and including dying for others.  Jesus died for God, Jesus died for us.  God was glorified in His Son displaying His love for the world, that has been building up since the dawn of creation, the ultimate “reveal”.  It wasn’t just the life of Jesus that showed us the love of God, it is the entire OT, the struggle and dilapidation of man that had to occur (as hard as that would be to watch your beloved creation reject and mock you and pervert Your gifts)  This is the immense measures and time and dedication and love poured into restoring/reconciling man, revealing/demonstrating to man his purpose and helping him to fulfill it, so that in all things God’s love can attempt to be fathomed and will receive the glory for ever and ever from all of His creation! That is where my hope lies! My hope is not in an afterlife, or something that I think I might attain in the future, my hope is God, the one who knows us, who loves us, who created us, who helps us, who deserves all glory, my hope is fulfilled now, in knowing why I was created and being able to live it…in other words, being able to life live life, and live it to the fullest, now and forever in heaven!

When Paul wrote much of the NT, he was speaking to a specific people. The Bible is written FOR everyone, not TO everyone. So much of the NT, Paul is speaking to people who were centered around Jesus. Their whole argument was that Jesus could not have been the Messiah, and did not really raise from the dead ect. So Paul addresses them regarding these things. I don’t think it does a whole lot of good to attempt to convince people out there that Jesus is the only way and the Son of God to a people that don’t even believe in a God or know who our God is.  Rather we need to focus on showing them God, preaching of the truths of God and our existence and purpose first, then we can speak of how God chose to use Jesus, His one and only Son to show His love true character to the world. We can’t just keep saying “Jesus” or crucifiction, like the name or event is magical and has powers like the man in Acts 19:15. His name has meaning and purpose, the event had a purpose. We need to learn why He did the things He did and do them, not just try to do the things He did and be thankful for the things He did for us. If God somehow changed history and Jesus no longer died for us or came to earth, it is a sad thing to say, that I think most Christians would lose their faith. I believe that is mostly because their faith is placed into this ‘fact’ and they believe this event is what saved them and if this event never took place, they would be doomed and in despair. I do believe Jesus was true, and did come and did die, and He gave His Spirit to us to help us live from now on to eternity.  I don’t just say to have eternal life, as I believe far too many are waiting on this life to end so they can receive their eternal lives.  I believe my eternal life started when I became saved (though I didn’t realize that at the time).  I now know, and can live the purpose for which I was created for, now, and when my flesh dies.  Sure after my flesh dies I will receive a glorified body and it will be so much easier to glorify God and will be in His presence, but I can live for God now.  I also believe it is the Spirit of God that gave me knowledge or wisdom to know His truths about life and would never want to claim this is anything I can take credit for or that I am any better than those who do not know this.  And it is His life that gave me this Spirit.  But if somehow, I was able to keep the knowledge I have now, but Jesus did not come to earth, my life would not change a single bit. God is still good, that is a truth that can’t be changed.  God still loves me, and helps or wants to help me to glorify Him.  I would have a sinful past, but God doesn’t seem to look towards the past, rather the future and our hearts.  I don’t even think I would end up in hell.  Just like it isn’t my actions that save me or my actions/deeds that condemn me, rather God that condemns and saves.  And God saves a man who fears Him, has a repentant heart. Obviously God sent Jesus for a reason, and it would have been impossible to show the love and truths of God to man but for the way He did show us these truths through Jesus.  But Jesus was so much more than just a righteous man (or Son of God) who lived the perfect life we couldn’t to save us (from a substitution standpoint). My faith is in the truths of God, not the events that took place.  Jesus coming to earth and dying was an event.  God’s love for us and purpose for us is a truth.  I gained wisdom/knowledge/revelation from these events.  These were not just events to boast about. The Scripture says, “Worthy is the lamb that was slain”.  NOT “Worthy is the lab because He was slain”.  Jesus was worthy long before He was crucified.  And God was just as loving and merciful before the crucifixion as He is/was after it. So what justifies us then?  Is it our good deeds that justify us then?  Most certainly not!  God is the only one wronged, and God is the only one that can justify!  If you attempt to ‘impress’ God with your deeds, you will surely fall short.  This is basically what Job, a ‘righteous’ man did.  Even as a righteous man, that righteousness only comes from God, and so that righteousness isn’t ours but God’s through us.  It is like a man giving you a million dollars and you giving it back to him sometime later thinking he will be impressed by you.  Or even giving him a billion back (as it showed you used what he gave you and multiplied it) only to realize that the billions that you made was from that same man who gave you the million and he secretly bought a bunch of stuff that made you a billionaire.  You still aren’t going to impress him.  All things come from God, and all we have is from Him, and all we do is from Him or because of Him, and to admit that, is basically salvation.  It is faith in God, the fear or God, and the fear of God is the beginning of all understanding, and I believe anyone who fears God like that, God will show them the way to salvation, which is His Son, Jesus, the Christ.  And anyone who does not fear God, claims they have anything to ‘stand on’ or will measure up to or impress God, they will all be cast to hell. To clarify, it isn’t even the works that save us, it is always God who saves us, it is God who does anything for us.  But it is our admittance of this, our humble acceptance of this that saves us.  Salvation is a knowledge of who God is and who we are.  But because of the things we have done, we will never know who God is apart from special revelation from God, or what I think He chose for the masses, Jesus.  So though not stealing something isn’t the work that saved you, it is the acknowledgment that God doesn’t want us to steal, and His ways are best that saves us.  It is our repentance, our knowledge that that sin we did do was not His way, but we want His way, and that we need God to cleanse us (bring life from the death we brought upon ourselves) and inform us of how we are guilt free.

I think the best example of this is when Jesus told the women to “go and sin no more”.  The world thought we were supposes to stone adulterers, that was how “justice” was supposed to be done.  And if one did not uphold “justice’, one was flawed or unjust.  Surely Jesus was not unjust, rather showed us the true definition of justice.

We are all too often try to fit our Biblical understanding to the world we live in, as opposed to just explaining Biblical truths, and allowing the world to see.  We are addressing/fighting the world on their terms as opposed out ours.  When Jesus was questioned, very rarely if ever did He answer their questions directly or on their terms.  Rather He spoke a truth to them, and let the Spirit speak to them through those truths, or allowed them to close their ears if they chose.  Like in Matt 22.  He answers them, but not directly or fall into their ‘trap’.

The world says how we need to be good and good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.  Christians know this is wrong, but we need stop addressing it directly.  The “Christian” answer/rebuttal to this is that Jesus is the only way to God and that Jesus was good(er) than we can be and we are now allowed to get into heaven because Jesus. And unfortunately, Christians have even centered their entire “Gospel” message to people around this narrative.

I am not saying that is wrong…..but I believe that paints a horribly inaccurate picture of the Gospel to a challenger.  This puts us in their ring to fight it out with them.  We are now under the narration of good and evil and how good is rewarded and evil is punished.   And we now attempt to present the Gospel to them from a narrative of the fact that the goal in life is to try to get rewarded (get to heaven), and avoid punishment (go to hell).  The entire Bible is then twisted to fit this narrative and it just can’t do it, and it wasn’t meant to do this, and it frequently fails.  You get trapped into passages of God’s wrath, and God commanding the death of children in the OT and how it is unfair for the good ones who suffer in this life ect.  We can’t explain the goodness of God within the confines of this good/bad narrative they brought up.

If someone were to ask me, “How does one get to heaven”  I would not answer “Jesus”.  I would ask “Why does one want to get to heaven?”.  They might say, “because it is nice and no tears and no pain ect.  I would ask them why there were created, what is the purpose of life?  To which I would say, our purpose of life is to glorify our creator (to whom all glory belongs).  To ask Him to help us to glorify Him, to acknowledge all that all we have comes from Him, and when we are able to do any good in this world, it is from the gifts He gave us and we need to thank Him for choosing to use us to glorify Him.

The one problem is that we have a propensity to sin, sin nature as it is called.  We want to claim glory for ourselves, and we want to do what we think is best.   At times, we could actually want good things, but we are so feeble minded and cannot see the big picture that God can see, and will chose the wrong choice eventually.  If we do not ask God to help us, we will chose the wrong choice.  There were a people set apart to be God’s people, and laws given to these people.  This showed that we cannot chose the right choices all the time on our own, and will always reject God at some point.  This God that created us, knows we are but dust, knows we will reject Him and fail at perfection.  So He wanted to show us there is a way to perfection, a way that we were supposed to live, that it can be done, and that it will be done by us, through Him, in heaven.  That is what heaven is.  It is a place that we will gladly ask God to help us to glorify Him for all eternity.

That I think is what the Bible preaches, that is the truth that man needs to know, the Gospel that needs to be spread.  To know that we matter, God loves each and every one of us and gave us all special gifts with which to share/demonstrate His love to the rest of His creation. 

Sure there was no mention of “Jesus” in that specific paragraph above.  But I believe that paragraph will either get people to ignore you (as many Pharisees ignored the truths Jesus spoke), or people to ask more questions, and to seek God (as Nicodemus did).  Just like the OT never mentions Jesus by name, but pretty much all of it points to Him, I believe the same could be said of the above paragraph.  And I believe any who seek their Creator, will find Him, and He will reveal to them the truths.  Maybe it will be elsewhere, or maybe they will ask more of you and you can explain what Jesus did for us and why.

Another worldly narrative is that God is forgiving.  Like God is some nice guy, who will forgive because He is so nice (unless you really make Him mad).  God forgives because it is His nature.  To not forgive to is hold a grudge.  God holds no grudges ever against anyone.  Anyone who turns towards Him He will receive and hold and restore.  We need to be like God, we need to forgive because that is God’s character.  It should not be quid pro quo (this for that).  We don’t forgive others, because God forgave us.  Like we are obligated to (though we don’t want to) only because also forgave us.  Rather it is something we automatically do, because that is God’s nature.  His mercy and grace is not a nice thing He does, it is Him.  If there is a circumstance were we read and to us it looks like God is not being merciful or gracious or forgiving, it is because the other party is not willing to accept His forgiveness.

Saying all of that.  There is a difference between sucking up to someone to try and gain benefits from them, and being truly changed, and God knows our heart and knows the difference.

I believe it Is our sin nature that causes us to compare everything.  For we determine our worth by our measurement.  We built the tower of Babel to try and measure up to the heavens like God, we ate an apple to give us a measurement of wisdom like God, we even do it today in our “Gospel”.  We place a measurement on the holiness of God, we try to compare to God.  Though the “Gospel” is that we can’t measure up, but Christ can and did for us.

So we use that word substitution.  Which I think I see where it is coming from (not the Scriptures) but our way of life applied to the Scriptures.  I think a much more accurate term to use would be “on behalf of”. 

Like the military force of a country, they fight on behalf of the citizen.  It would be weird to say the military is fighting in substitute of us.  Because we are nowhere near close to being able to fight another countries military on our own, we would be decimated.  Just like we are also nowhere near able to be as righteous as Christ.  But since we compare and measure everything, we say Jesus was our substitute, He died on the cross in place of us.  Which sounds confusing to me.  It almost makes it seem like if we died on a cross, we would also be ok.  A substitution is of somewhat equal comparison.  Though I believe it is not true that all we had to do was die, or all we had to do was live a perfect life. 

Again, that is comparing our life’s to Jesus’ which is comparing or trying to measure with perfection of God.  We just are what we are.  God knows and says how we are but dust.  He loves us for who He created us to be, NOT because we are supposed to be equally perfect as He is.  To use our gifts He blessed us with, to glorify Him and tend to His creation.  The foot is not he hand and the hand is not the foot.  Jesus did not die in our place, He died (more importantly lived on this Earth) on behalf of us, and for so many more reason (but including) to atone for our sins.

Another thing about “traditional hell” that I don’t think adds up or agrees with the rest of the Bible or God’s character.

I can’t seem to find a single verse in the Bible that God allows or warrants despair.  Sure, God does punish and does pour out His wrath (but if you have read my other posts, I think those or more for correcting than causing pain or suffering).  But God never causes despair. 

He is a God of hope.  Hope is when there is an opportunity for (better) change.  Despair, is when there is on opportunity for (better) change.  Though it is true, we don’t know 100% what happened to all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, it seemed the judgment or wrath poured on them was done when they died.  There really are no mentions of eternal wrath, BUT to those who chose it.  But it is then a choice, and not a reality. 

Once can chose to never change, but that doesn’t negate hope and the fact that something could change.  The only time where there could be no hope, is from annihilation.  When something ceases to exist, it is annihilated, there can be no hope, but there is no despair either, it is non-existent.  There is no more despair or hope for anyone annihilated than there would be from anything that has not been created.

So it may be possible that in Gehenna, there might be those who refuse to acknowledge God (though that goes against the Scripture that says “every knee will bow”.  That is another reason I believe Gehenna will be a place of annihilation.  But you can refuse to call out to God, but anyone who calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved.  God wishes none to perish, and will not allow anyone who wants saved, to be saved.  I do not see anywhere in Scripture, that says the ‘rules’ change when you die, or that there is no longer hope when you die.  For if there is no hope when you die, there would also be no God when you die, for God is hope.

Ezek 33:17-20 ““Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not ^[f]fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! ¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not ^[g]fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.””

God doesn’t judge man based on his past, whether good or bad.  The righteousness of a man’s past does not make him worthy, nor does the wickedness of a man’s past condemn him.  It is faith in God that vindicates man, acknowledgment that God is our creator, that we need Him, that we owe all to Him, that everything we have is from Him and to all glory belongs to Him.  When a man has a heart of fearing the Lord, that man is saved.  It’s not about this life on earth or however hades will be or how we only get this life to make a choice and if we don’t, we are doomed to eternal suffering.  Any man (living on this earth or in hades) who God reveals to them the above truths, I cannot see God turning them down or saying “it’s too late”.  “Too late” is despair, there is no hope for you.  If there is no hope, then why exist?  Surely God would annihilate anyone who no longer had hope.  Sin was defeated right?  Why would God allow anything to exist that could not become what He wanted/created it to become.  If I made a chair out of wood, and it reconfigured itself to stab me every time I tried to sit on it, I would burn it, annihilate it.  I wouldn’t make it suffer.  I would get no good feeling or bad feeling if it suffered, it would be pointless to let it suffer.

Though only God knows our hearts and our future.  He know who will and won’t eventually change, and once it is known who will no longer change, why keep them around and keep sin alive for eternity?  I think that is what Gehenna will be, those will go before a judgment and all who claim anything of their own prideful achievements will be annihilated.  And all who proclaim God and fear the Lord will be saved.  And then all livings things in existence, will gladly and willingly bow to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

What is different about the Christian religion than other religions?  I would guess that most would say Jesus?  I don’t believe that is wrong, but that is not how I would answer that.  Jesus is a manifestation of God or a perfect representation of God.  So if Jesus is the main difference, then our God must be the main difference. 

If there is a person, who is seeking their creator, who acknowledges the one who created everything, I think that is a person who seeks the Christian God.  I would even say the Israelites didn’t know of the Christian God.  No one did, until that God was revealed to us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  So much of the OT is people praising God and asking things and attempting to please God and doing things very contrary to God’s nature.  Because His nature wasn’t fully understood until Jesus revealed it to us.

I am not an expert on world religions, so if you know more, feel free to correct me where I am wrong.  But the Christian God is the only God that gave man the blessing of life.  All other religions, our creation/life is a curse. 

 In Buddhism, or Hinduism, the who point of life is to become “one” with God, to be like a drop of water in the ocean, so you no longer exist as you, but become everything and nothing individual.  With Hinduism, you must be good, and improve or you are punished in the next life and are in an eternal hell basically.  You can’t cease to exist, you can’t even kill yourself (you can, and you will be reincarnated as something way worse as punishment), you are stuck with this curse of life, until you learn the way, do good things, and become “one”.  That is really the only way to cease to exist, to pass many tests and be very good, and the whole point of doing good, is to not be punished until you can finally rest/end your curse of an existence.

With Islam, there is a God who created everything, if you speak Arabic languages, you refer to Him as Allah.  Christians who speak of the Christian God, call Him Allah too.  But I refer to Allah here as the Islam God and God as the Christian God to try and make clearer distinction.  But Allah, who created everything and man, wants/needs us to serve him.  If we serve Allah, we are rewarded with heavenly things, and if we refuse him, we go to hell and are eternally punished.  Fairly similar with the Christian God.  But where Allah created man to serve him, God created man to glorify Him.  Allah needs man to serve him, and when he doesn’t get the service, he must punish man until man bows to serve.  Where, as God created us to glorify Him, He doesn’t need it, and if we refuse to, we are worthless and end.  There are times when God punishes us, but that is to correct us, so that we may learn of our truth and that we exist to glorify Him.  We have a yearning in us that is only fulfilled when we glorify Him.  It is not externally forced or punished if not done, it is the best for us, it is what we were created for.  We were blessed with the life to be able to glorify Him.  Some chose to waste/squander that blessing, and in judgment day, that blessing will be taken away, they will be annihilated.   

It is God’s love for us, and Him living inside us, helping us that display His love has to be the most powerful force.  He always has been and always will be.  We don’t want to achieve the greatest thing on earth, we don’t want our children to carry on our ‘great genes’, or our legacy.  We don’t have any great genes in us, if there is any greatness in us, it is God, and we want God to be rightly exalted.  And I want my child to grow in the Lord, and to exalt God, make God’s name great not mine, not theirs.  We are not eternal, we don’t exist to leave any legacy, we exist to honor Him.  The Israelites frequently mention how great Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David were and we mention how great Peter and Paul were.  They weren’t great, they would probably (hopefully) hate being referred to as such.  God is great, He was great through them.

This might sound like I am saying Christians wanting to also be ‘drops’ of water in the ocean, which I am not.  The main difference being, that a better analogy would be that we want to be a cell in the body of Christ.  We want to be individuals, God created us to be individuals, He doesn’t’ want us to become “one” with him or become nothingness, He wants us to be us, He created us to be us..  But we work towards the same goal as to all do the will of the Body.  If a rock climber is trying to climb and a finger decides to do its own thing, the guy might fall.  But the finger isn’t wanting recognition, the finger is there to help the guy climb the mountain.  As It is written, the eye cannot tell the foot it isn’t needed.  We all have an important specialized individual role in the Body of Christ to glorify the Father.  But all works are to glorify the Father.  Our existence is a blessing, and we are thankful to be here to glorify God, to be here as individuals God wanted us to be and helps us to be as He helps us to glorify Him.

I feel if you were to explain the monotheistic religions to anyone that ‘had’ to choose the best one, Christianity just makes the most logical sense.  I feel many of these were just brainwashed/indoctrinated into their religion and have great fear to listen to any other religion than theirs or use their own brains.  I could be wrong, but I feel these are the truly monotheistic (not indoctrinated type) folks that apologetics works the best on.  As far as the indoctrinated folks, I would put them in the atheistic category.  As I am not really sure they believe in a God or understand what they believe in, they just live in fear.

I think that covers the monotheistic religions, and as far as the polytheistic religions or atheist.  They won’t acknowledge they were created by a being, and refuse to submit to the will of that being.  I would wager apologetics would not be the best approach for these folks.  They need to see the power of God, to experience His love to be opened up to the possibility of a Creator who cares for them.

Then you have the prideful folks, who don’t really have a religion, and aren’t really atheists, they are their own God and in charge of their own destiny.  They don’t really care or think about it, they are too focused on themselves and how to better themselves.  They are too distracted with distractions and goals, they never slow down to reflect on life and why.  They need to be brought down, humbled, like Nebuchadnezzar.

I read an article recently linked here https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-did-jesus-teach-about-hell/

This is certainly (and I think sadly) not the first time I read an article like this one before. Below I will quote some excerpts from this article and post my response/review on them.

Yes Jesus did teach us about hell, and mentioned it many times.  It is a terrible place, a place God doesn’t want us to be in.  He wants us to glorify Him as He created us to do, so any time you are not, it is bad, it is hell.  This is why all good deeds are like filthy rags (worthless) unless it brings God glory.  I agree Jesus used Geenna or Gehenna as that southern town where dead bodies and trash were burned.  Who wants to have a dead body or trash sitting there burning, but not being consumed?  You burn stuff like that, to be consumed, or to cease to exist.  Why would God want to have people in hell burning, without being consumed with that same logic?

It does say in Luke 16 that a chasm is fixed that no one can cross.  BUT, it also says that it is easier for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle than enter the kingdom of heaven.  Will reach people be in heaven?  Yes, and it has nothing to do with their wealth, it has to do with God.  With God, and through God, all things are possible.  But I think the place of Lazarus and the rich man is Hades, not Gehenna, as Jesus is on earth and there is no heaven yet and Gehenna/hell doesn’t exist yet either.

No exit door?  God doesn’t need to use an exit door.  He can make an exit or move people, and allow any to cross chasm’s.

“Luke 16 testifies that when an unbeliever becomes conscious of this tragic reality immediately after his own death, it is already too late to humble himself before the gospel of Christ and the cross, which he has spurned hundreds or thousands of times; it is too late to believe in Jesus as Lord; it is too late to beg for divine mercy.”

Where does it say this in Luke 16?  It shows how it is too late to leave this side of torment of your own means.  Which he never tried to do.  But being that he thought to save others, shows some level of love which I believe we all have inherent as we were all created in His image, but still thinks of his own actions or thoughts could save others.  He wants to save his family, not allow God to.  He does beg for mercy from Lazarus, but it seems like he is seeking comfort, rather than mercy from God.  He never really (in this story anyway) seeks for God to save him, or ask for God’s will to be done.

I have said before, if God wants me to be in torment, glory be to God, His ways are higher than mine, I want His will, not my own.  That is why I want to be in heaven, a place where His will is done and wanted to be done by all inhabitants, and where it will be easier to do His will with His help and by our side.  Not because I want comforts.

“Another principle Jesus taught in Luke 16:27–30 is that God’s Word gives humanity sufficient warning about how to avoid hell.” 

This quote above is the most egregious comment and what ‘inspired’ me to even comment on this article.  and my main fear is that there are so many in the church that would praise this comment! That is what he thinks this Moses and the Prophets were speaking about and trying to emphasize?  God spoke to them to tell them how to avoid hell?!?  Seriously?  God used Moses to redeem them from bondage, God used the prophets to beg them to repent, to chose God’s will.  They weren’t sent to tell the Israelite’s how to avoid hell.

Sure if they had listened to Moses and the Prophets, the end result/fact would mean they would not be in hell yes.  But is that seriously their purpose in life?!?  To come so we can learn how avoid hell?

“The rich man maintained that something more than God’s Word is needed—perhaps a miraculous sign.”

It isn’t all doom and gloom here though.  I like this point he made.  It is also very interesting what he says later on how Jesus did that very thing and rose from the grave to tell of God and they still turned their back of Him.

“the unique spokesman who most insistently announced a dreadful alternative to gracious divinely authored salvation is the same great Lord who died and rose to save us from hell.”

Jesus didn’t die and raise again to save us from hell!  Jesus came that we may live life, and live it more abundantly!  Jesus came to show us how to live, that a human is weak on their own, but with God, is the most powerful creation of God.  That we must rely on God, to help us to glorify God.  That God’s will is right.  And because of the way God decided to write history, the end of the life of Jesus on earth, would be God’s love displayed for us.  Jesus is God’s sacrifice to us, so our sins can be atoned for, and that we attempts to get a glimpse at the amazing love of God, so God can receive all the glory for that, and everything else, forever!

Due to the atoning death of Jesus, yes, we are technically saved from hell.  But Jesus did not come to save us from hell!

“Scripture is resolute: there is no means of escape out of hell”

I would say scripture is resolute, we are in hell now.  From the first point after we sin and reject God (id we are not born into it, which as you see from my blog I am uncertain on, but it is inconsequential as to the truth of that or not) we die.  the wages of sin is death, the consequences of sin is death, the rejection of God is death, the rejection of the Giver and Author of life is death, choosing one’s own ways is death, not living your intended purpose is death. 
God is life, God is the Author of Life, His will is life, we exist to glorify Him.  If we do no glorify him, we are not alive.  I am not amazed that Jesus rose from the grave, I don’t think it was a miracle.  I think it was a miracle that Lazarus rose from the grave.  I think it was a miracle of love that allowed Jesus to die for us, but I am about as surprised of Jesus rising from the grave as I am when a bubble floats up that was submerged.  The miracle is the pushing a massive ball of air down in the water, that takes great effort, but the ball floating to the top is just physics.  Jesus is life, of course He can’t be dead!
I would think it more accurate to say the entire point of the Bible is to tell us how to get out of hell.  Hell not being a place of torment, rather a place where God’s will is not done.  The Bible is there to tell us who created us, how He loves us, why He created us, and how we can glorify Him.  NOT “there is no means of escape out of hell (hell being a place of torment).

I think it is those who are saved from hell, that want to evangelize and save others from hell (the great commission is what they call it) as the pastor who wrote this article does. He wrote a book called “what happens after I die”. What about, what happens on earth, the place we are already dead and can live again? Quit focusing on death! Jesus’ death, our death. Focus on life, the life of Christ, the life Jesus gives to us on earth! God is life, not death! And though technically, it is factually correct that thanks to the atoning blood of Christ, we will not be in hell. But if that is what you focus on, I think you are missing out on so many amazing blessings of God. I have been saved, saved from a meaningless life and death from sins, by the life of Jesus and the wisdom/teachings of Jesus. And I want to evangelize and have others know these truths of God, and I believe THAT is the great commission, THAT is what we need to focus on. Speak life and light in the darkness.

I learned this is mostly an American problem, they don’t think quite like this in the U.K. N.T. Wright is one of the greatest NT theologians, and played a huge role in leading me to where I am today, from reading his articles and watching some of his video lectures. I also learned from George Macdonald, a Scottish theologian. N.T Wright is the first person who I heard the Christus Victor theory from. It seems to ring so much more true to the over all theme of the Bible and God’s character, than the substitution theory.

This is why I have a heart for my website and a brain. I wanted to use a cross, but I believe the church has ‘ruined’ the cross. They focus way too much on the cross and the death of Jesus that saved them from hell. As opposed to the heart of Jesus, the love of God that Jesus showed, that showed us the way to live abundantly. If I could put a picture of life, I would, but I think the love of God is life, so I chose a heart. And the brain is the Holy Spirit. The wisdom that God reveals to us for how we should live. And to always keep challenging and learning about God, don’t accept something as doctrine because so many others do, don’t even accept what I say. Read God’s word, ask Him to guide you to truth, be open minded, think criticially. That is why I chose a brain.

I would like to think that I would, but I know I need more work of God in my life as I will share an example of how I failed to answer this question correctly below.

I was reading Isaiah 47. In vs 10 it speaks of trusted in wickedness, and sorceries and spells. I have always thought magic is fake and ghosts aren’t real prior to reading this. But I also kind of wondered how Pharoah’s magicians were able to copy a few of God’s miracles. I now think differently. I believe there are real dark powers, that some humans are able to harness. Num 16:32 speaks of the earth swallowing them alive. Hades is a place you go when you die, this and other verses make it appear to me like Hades is a place that is in the earth, but it is a spiritual realm, not a psychical realm like we live in. We can’t see them, but maybe they can see us? Maybe they walk among us but in a different dimension, a spiritual dimension? Maybe those with dark powers can be summoned from that world to come here, they are already here, just not seen until summoned? 1 Sam 28, the Medium at Endor summons Samuel from this realm.

Back to Isaiah 47, vs 13 speaks of those who can predict the future, those who might even succeed. The following might not be true, but that verse got me to thinking. What if we all have numbers over our heads, a countdown timer. No one on earth can see it, but obviously God can, and maybe these in the spiritual realm can, and they can speak to those who use dark powers to reveal to them these numbers. God knew that that hurricane would come or that murderer would murder that person at that time. So it is quite possible that we do all have a countdown timer. Even Hezekiah has 15 years added to his life. I think God assigns times to our lives, and kind of like that movie “Final Destination”, Death ‘finds’ us, we cannot escape it. If God would have stopped that guy from shooting you, then a car would have hit you, or your heart would have stopped. But our days are numbered for the purpose of God. That could be why God doesn’t want to stop that murderer, because it isn’t going to save you, and if that person isn’t allowed to do that evil deed, God can not bring about the goodness that He does from evil. Perhaps repentance from that life? Or maybe bringing a loved one to God in their morning. We don’t know, but we do know God has a plan.

This lead me to a thought, that what if we could all see everyone’s numbers? What would the world be like? What about the person that had a flat tire on the side of the road? If you saw his number was 3 days or 5 hours, would you be more or less motivated to help? This is where I failed. My logic took over and thought, well, he is going to die anyway, what good would it do to help him. And some might think, we should be more motivated to help him, so his remaining time can be spent with family or something. So what of the guy with 99 years left on the side of the road? No need to help him, he has plenty of time to make up. Or help him, he has so much time left, lets not invest on a person with much time, verses ‘wasting’ it on a person with no time.

What if there was a child in the womb with 1 week to live after delivery? Should we abort it as early as possible? So the mom doesn’t have to go through the hard times of pregnancy, or the heart ache of loss? God knows this baby has 1 week to live, and wants that baby to live 1 week. Maybe to teach you or someone else to lean on Him more? Maybe for you to attend a pregnancy class where you can learn of God’s love from another, or share your love of god to another. If we use our logic, we abort the child, if we trust in God, we allow God’s will to be done.

I am saddened to hear my first reaction to this (but encouraged greatly by the truth that God is not done with me yet and is patient and loving to guide me and correct me), and know I need God to grow in me more to produce more fruits of the spirit. But the correct answer is, help him! Help him so that God is glorified! God is glorified when His spirit blossoms fruit inside us, He is glorified when we have compassion on others, He is glorified when the man sees the love of God for him through you, and that man praises God. THAT is why you help the man, NOT because (depending on how you look at it)the man has a ton of time left, or no time left.

That is why I wanted to share this thought with you. do I know or really care how the dark powers of this world work? No. In Isaiah 47 vs 14 “They cannot even save themselves” It doesn’t matter what powers they do or don’t have, God is infinitely more powerful, and can save us by His power if we trust in Him, and not the powers of money or the powers of darkness. Though I am always aghast at why Israel, who just saw the miracles and saving power’s of God, would worship a thing they crafted, I realize that thought I may not worship a golden calf, I sometimes look to money (a thing our government crafted by it’s hands) as a thing that can save me. All too often we put our trust in the power of other things, where the only power we need to put it in is God.

I pray that as I learn more about God and practice living his will, my answer to that would be correct in the future. And this is what I mean when I say we need to live in the means and not the ends. Our logic lives in the ends, should I help this man, how much time does he have left? NO! Should I help this man? Can it glorify God?

I don’t like the cliche of “Jesus take the wheel” or “allow the Holy Spirit to help you” (as wise of a saying as they are), because they don’t make sense or explain practically how to go about doing those things. Should we just lay in bed all day and allow the Holy Spirit to posses our body and take over and do the will of God? I don’t think that will ever happen. So do we give up? I think the Holy Spirit living in is, is the knowledge of Jesus living in us. That knowledge that we need to do things for His glory. When we start to apply logic to it and look at end states, that is where sin takes advantage of the altruistic nature God blessed us with when He created us in His image. Why are you evangelizing to this guy? Do you want him to be told of truth and make sure he knows that you have the truth and he must have it too? Because only your proper interpretation of the Bible can save him? Or is it because you want God to receive the glory, you want the truth God revealed to you to change this person’s life, but if they don’t want to believe it, it must not be God’s will.