More Questions Than Answers
I have suspected for a long time there is no one denomination in the body of Christianity which has cornered the market on the truth. As a matter of fact, I believe that I and so many others who pray, read the Word of God, and are purposeful in our desire to serve God don't even fully understand what little we think we know. Now, is this some sort of an admission that what I believe regarding God's Word in relationship to salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour is wrong? No. What I believe so many Christians don't seem to understand is just exactly what it is that God really did for us by sending Jesus to us (the world) and allowing Him to be the sacrifice which redeems us in the sight of God.
First of all, The Lord of Hosts, The Great I AM, put into place a system of sacrifice after Moses delivered the ten commandments to the children of Israel for the purpose of atoning for any sin committed against any one or more of the commandments. The commandments are divided into two parts: the first four deal with one's relationship to God, and the second six apply to one's relationship to other people. The thing which so many of us don't seem to understand (or quickly forget) is God is a purposeful God. He knows long before He establishes anything why it is the best way that 'thing' (whatever that 'thing' is) should be that way. And He is a God which is direct and to the point. He doesn't give long drawn out explanations, but simply says, "do it." Why? Because He is God. He expects to be trusted and obeyed. This is exactly the scenario which played itself out time after time after time in the old testament with the children of Israel: God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt, then they whined complained and gave credence to their own fleshly desires, then God brought judgment, the children repented, and God showed them mercy. But what so many people have failed to grasp is the fact that this scenario came to pass over the course of many generations in a period of four thousand years give or take. Another thing I believe most people have failed to understand is God's ways haven't changed just because Jesus came to the earth, gave himself willingly to be the sacrifice for all our sins against God, and gave us the assurance that if we follow His example towards God and our fellow human beings we'll get to spend eternity with Him. Those "thou shalt not"s are still - thou shalt not.....
Now showing, "The Flesh". In one of the four Gospels, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, and Jesus responds by saying, "To love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, and your body." Then Jesus goes on to say, "And the second is like unto the first, to love your neighbor as yourself." I know I will probably be repeating what most believers already understand, but are you aware that the greatest commandment also happens to encompass all four of the first ten commandments, and the second "like unto the first" the last six commandments? Did it also ever occur to you that any time you break the last six commandments it is the same as sinning against God? Why? Because you are transgressing that which, like you, God created.
I do not read God's Word in a way which I am assuming (perhaps incorrectly) many people read the Word. That is to say, I do not do bible studies on given subjects, or daily devotionals, or read just to know what is contained in many of the books of the Bible to know history or any other specific subject related matter. Most of the time, before I open God's Holy Word, I pray. My prayer time lasts any where from half an hour to almost one hour. Then I'll usually prepare something to eat (unless I'm fasting) and plan to spend about half an hour reading my bible. But before doing so, I pray again. I ask God, by the power of His Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, to impress upon me where He wants me to read. I do this almost every time before I read the Word of God. I have been praying recently for two things: 1) to know the truth, and 2) to love beyond myself in addition to those I pray for on a daily basis. God's Word says that He knows the beginning from the end, and also, He knows what we have need of before we ask. So when I ask God to lead me to where He wants me to read, I trust that He knows already what I need to know as it applies to my relationship to Him, my relationship to others, or both.
In the last week, I keep hearing John 3:16. This past summer, He kept me in the Book of John chapter 8 for four or five days. He'll take me to some particular book and then bring me back to books where I've already spent some time. I've been wondering why John 3:16, and I believe I now know.
"For God so loved the world,"
God loves his creation, man. If He didn't, there would be no such thing as anything after the flood. But He saved Noah, or Noah was saved because He believed God (take your pick; I believe the latter).
"that He gave His only begotten Son,"
God gave to us Jesus, the likeness of Himself in the form of sinful flesh (not "as sinful flesh, but "the likeness of") to teach us by example the meaning of "do it". God showed man the greatest example of His love and mercy by giving to man the only acceptable One to teach fallen man how to honestly love God.
"that whosoever believeth in Him,"
A.) that whosoever believes Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, B.) believes He was sent by God, and C.) desires to live their life after the example of Jesus the Christ. The “C.” is where it gets right down to the heart of the matter, and also where believers have really screwed it all up.*
"should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Notice the word is "should" and not the word "will". I have a real hard time with the commonly held belief of "once saved; always saved". It isn't that I don't believe it, it is that I don't think most people really understand what is implied. Now I will freely admit, I might be wrong, but I'd like to give this example from my own life as the basis of my belief. The other day I was thinking about the time (after I had sought the Lord and been doing what I thought a follower of Christ should do), when I got mad at God, went outside, and spoke toward the sky saying, "If you're not going to help me, I'm not going to follow you." And the Lord spoke to me and said, "Were you seeking Me to get something from Me, or were you seeking Me because you wanted Me to be your Lord in every area of your life?" Well, to say the least, it humbled me. First of all, I learned a while back God knows the answer before He ever asks the question, and secondly because I foolishly believed following God was an easy answer to my situation at the time. I thought God was going to microwave my prayers and give me what I wanted instantly. Sorry folks, God doesn't work like that most of the time.
Alright already! Where are you going with this, Mike?
*C) John 8:28-32 as it pertains to that part of John 3:16 which says, "that whosoever believeth in him,". Remember, God is love. God sent Jesus to represent God's love to man. Jesus never did anything to anyone outside the purest intentions for the sake of love. Jesus gave His life in place of ours to pay a debt which wasn't His to pay, which was required by God from man that man could not with a gazillion life times ever pay. God accepted as payment for our sin the sinless life of Christ in our place. Why? Because God established sacrifice, and God's ways are the same "yesterday, today, and forever." It is also the will, or the way, of God that you love Him with all your heart, mind, and body. It is the will of God that your intentions, your ways of thinking, and the way you treat your body honor God. And I can't think of a better way to show one's love, honor, and respect to God than by grabbing a hold of His Word which tells us how to love one another which says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Not - as they do, and not - as if they might, but - as you would do even if they didn't. If one will make this principle the creed of their life, I believe one will understand what Jesus meant when He said in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Jesus also said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father except by me."
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Once a person gets the revelation of just how much of a sinner they really are (all have sinned and come short of the glory of God), just how much God loves all of His creation, man, one will truly understand how God has intended for man to treat one's neighbor as one's self, in word and deed. But a person will not be successful in their efforts to do so without God, and God will not accept one to come unto Him without accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Only by the Grace of God, by faith through the shed blood of Jesus, will one ever hope to live a life worth truly living. Only by the Grace of God will one ever hope to be able to live out the "Greatest commandment, and "the second like unto the first."
So why is the world so screwed up? I personally believe the biggest reason is the undeniable fact that most Christians have never come to fully understand what Jesus meant when He said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." Without turning this into another ten paragraphs, I'm sorry to say, from what I've seen, the majority of Christians believe in God, they believe Jesus is the Son of God, but their lives do not reflect their belief in the ways of Jesus. In other words too many believers are trying to make the world's way God's way. I'm sorry, but that ain't gonna work. When the world chews you up and spits you out, the good news is God is going to be there to say, "Are you ready to live your life my way?" I just hope when the world spits you out it isn't through a windshield at a 100 miles an hour. I personally hope, when it says in God's Word, "In the last days, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," this world will be turned upside down with believers who stand on the Word which says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Lastly, I want to address something which I posted to another person on another thread several months ago. I made a posting regarding one's offspring. I've thought about that post after being stimulated by what the person has or had (because I've not checked since) in their personal profile. I admit, it bothered me for sometime. To you I'd like to say, I'm sorry if I hurt you or caused you grief. I made the posting based on something you said several years ago on the thread where I made the post. Had I ever had any inclination you would react the way you did, I would not have posted the information in the manner in which I did, nor would I have posted it to you. But I would have posted the information never the less because I believe in Divine Healing. I've seen it with my own eyes. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of testimonies of people who have sought healing from the Lord and received it. Sometimes, it came immediately, but most of the time the person lived for months or years standing on the Word of God by faith that they would be healed of their affliction. Benny Hinn has healing crusades all over the world, and at some venues draws hundreds of thousands of people at a single event. He is not the only one, but he is perhaps the best known. Benny does not heal. The Lord God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, uses Benny Hinn to bring forth the manifestation of healing to those who earnestly seek the presence of God to heal them of their affliction(s).
Prior to May 9th, 2004, I can truly say I wouldn't have cared whether you lived or died or for that matter anyone you care about. But I know with all my heart God really loves you. I know because if He was willing to show His love toward me, He is just as willing to show you and everyone else with whom I communicated on this site His love regardless of how I interacted with them, good times and bad. And as honestly as I can convey, it is only by the revelation of the Holy Spirit regarding the love of God that I continue to persist in the hope that by posting my experiences on this thread there will be those, drawn by the Holy Spirit of God, who will call upon the name of the Lord. I gotta tell ya, it is incredibly difficult to believe in the hope that there will be those who are encouraged by what I know to be the truth. And if I ever find another site where I can post what I feel led to post here, I'll probably leave because it is rather defeating to see a thread dedicated to testimonies by others of the love of God manifested in their lives, and know that the only testimony is from me.
Only because of you, Lord Jesus.
Mike Baruth |
