Printer friendly version | Large print
|
The Pathfinder
GOD MAKERS
Let Us Make GOD In OUR Own Image
"And man said, Let us make God in our image, and after our likeness ... so Man created God in his own image, in the image of Man created he Him." (Genesis 1:26, paraphrased). What a privilege to be a part of the dawning of this new day! We may not see an overabundance of its light shining in the world; but it is certainly breeching the shores and horizons of our souls. Although unnoticed by those whose hearts are failing due to current events that are sweeping over the world, the last Day of our Lord Jesus is coming to us in torrents of awakening rays. Its light is rousing the hearts of many and bringing the morning while darkness overshadows the deep. One would think that such darkness would cause every soul to forsake their trust in men and cry out to the living God to save them from the imminent fall of nations. But this has not happened. Rather than calling upon the one who can save them, they continue trying to find some man, some organization, some religion or relic that will save the day. It is a mystery; but it is common for people to trust more in manmade gods, images around their necks, or self-serving men in government offices whose foot is upon their necks rather than God’s Son. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible has something to say about this: "Shall a man make gods unto himself.... Can a man make his own gods? a poor, weak, mortal man? can he make gods of gold, silver, brass, wood, or stone? can he put deity into them? and when he has made images of these, can he be so stupid as to account them gods, and worship them? can he be so sottish, and void of understanding, as to imagine that anything that is made by himself or any other, can be God? "And there are no gods that are made by men; he only is the true God, that is the Maker and Creator of all things; or there are no gods themselves that pretend to make them, and therefore how should they make gods? can they give that which they have not? or impart deity to others which they have not themselves?" Jeremiah 16:20In reference to this, Clarke's Commentary of the Bible says: "Shall a man make gods unto himself? - Can any be so silly, and so preposterously absurd? Yes, fallen man is capable of any thing that is base, mean, vile, and wicked, till influenced and converted by the grace of Christ." Jeremiah admonished Israel who had made and worshiped idols of gold, silver, and wood. In retrospect, we consider people over the past two thousand years, especially those of our own today, and we ask, has it been any different than with those that the prophet rebuked? There has been very little or no difference at all, and it goes much deeper than religious ornaments hanging from people’s necks, images adorning church buildings, or those setting silently on mantles and dressers in people’s homes. The ones we will notice today are intangible. They are images that originate in men’s minds. They are subtle and much more powerful than sticks, stones, gems, or men’s bones laying in cathedral tombs, and they are no different than that which Eve made after the serpent beguiled her. Adam’s creative mind, that of the man and woman, has been at work ever since in making their own image/imaginations in just about every phase of man’s religions. The image and likeness of God in which was created was male and female. With this completeness came the ability to create. No other creature was graced with this godlike attribute. There are a few animals that can use tools in a limited way to retrieve food or build crude shelters, but they are all lacking when it comes to possessing the ability to think analytically and create. As far as we know, man alone can muse, formulate thought, generate and build in his mind something that has never been. He can then figure out how to bring it into physical expression. As God creates no two snow flakes alike, man is similar with his creations. He can create thoughts and make things that have never been, and with no two being alike. He can create the invisible within himself and then make it visible. As there is no end to God and that which He creates, so it is with man. There is no end to him or that which he creates, whether for good or for evil, and he does very well with both. And please know, as it is with God who created the heavens, the earth, and all their inhabitants from Himself, so it is with man. God did not create anything from nothing. He drew from Himself and created it. All things made came from God. Therefore, with man being a creator in similar fashion, everything he creates originates in him. This is why the god of man’s religions have such variations of character; for man himself is a multifaceted being, and whatever those facets imagine God as being, that is what He is said to be. Some of those images of God can be close to what He is, such as a God of love, while others are not. They can come from people’s own ideas of what they think God is, should be, or that which is fabricated due to what they have been told by others. When people do not know God in a personal, living way, they can be very easily swayed toward just about any form of beliefs. If people have been awakened and come into spiritual reality, they will have clear and truthful images of Him. When they hear the voice of the Son of God they will not only see Him as He is, but they will also live, as He said they would in John 5:25. They will know more about Him than just having been told by someone else. The closer they are to Him the more they will know Him and what His purpose is for them and the rest of creation. They will also know that He not only can fulfill His purpose, but He will fulfill it! Without such a familiar relationship, their images of Him will be imaginary illusions and will be as far from reality as daylight is from dark. Paul mentioned something of their illusions when he wrote, "Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God unto an image made like to corruptible man...." Romans 1:19-23. Men have built strongholds that 2nd Corinthians 10:4-5 calls imaginations. They believe God to be like themselves, but usually give Him greater knowledge and powers. Their image of Him can also be one that is far less than man. For instance, they say that He loves all, is all powerful, and always does that which pleases Him; but at the same time, they maintain that He will not save all, or He cannot do so because of man’s so called "free will." Just about everyone who professes Jesus as their savior will say that they would not burn their worst enemies in hell forever, much less their loved ones who might have never measured up to their standard of righteousness or their church’s tenets of salvation. If they would not subject their own rebellious or unfortunate children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends to endless punishment, but they believe that God will not only burn them forever but also the majority of His other children, this then, tells me that their love and mercy goes way beyond that of God’s. Not only do they make God in the image of man, but they make Him lower than themselves, so much lower that their image categorizes Him as a diabolical fiend. Think about this! The creature that He created in His image and after His likeness shows more love, is more benevolent and merciful than his Creator. The train of truth does not track on those rails of irrational thought; but such things are created in the confines of man’s dark soul; thus, creations of God in man’s own image and after his likeness. Men take pride in their creations, and it is painful when their masterpieces are threatened or destroyed. Although they do not consciously say, "Let us make God in our likeness and after our image," this is exactly what they do when they project their own image upon Him in the laboratory of their minds. Therein they create Him as one who chooses special people to setup religions that consist of hierarchies, rituals, dogmas, tenets of faith, and programs. Although some images that come from the God Makers exalt Him, others create images of Him that are very belittling. For instance, they imagine Him as having created two entities that are totally out of control; namely, Satan and Adam. The devil supposedly foiled God’s plan from the very beginning, and the man fell for a lie that a child could have seen it for what it was and resisted. So there you go, as their image is created, God’s prized creations failed Him. It was first, the world’s misnamed Lucifer (The Lucifer Question free upon request), the supposed most wise and beautiful of heaven’s host, and then man in God’s image and likeness. Both are seen as loose cannons rolling around on a deck in the midst of the world’s perpetual stormy seas. The God that was created in man’s image simply lost control and fell apart. That spurious image portrays Him as one who is not able to hold at bay and overcome the devil, at least not for the past six thousand years, and in the ages to come; His enemy will have possessed countless billions to be consigned to everlasting hell. This image has an impotent God who either will not or cannot save His creation. He is seen as one who is easily provoked. If someone tells a small lie to save his skin, off to hell forever with no mercy or hope of relief, that is, if he isn’t saved or doesn’t belong to the right church when he dies, etc.. Man’s image of God has Him as being constantly frustrated, forgiving up to a point and then eternally unforgiving. It seems that in this scenario He is just waiting to get even. He becomes intensely vindictive and enjoys the suffering of all those in opposition to Him. This is in man’s image that comes from his own heart that is desperately wicked. If you think not, let us notice that a couple of well-known religious leaders have said as much: "If my own Mother were being carried to the mouth of HELL I would stand and applaud." Above quote is from a professor in a mainline denominational seminary, explaining that hell will be "understandable," and the saved will rejoice in the misery of the unsaved, once the saved see the glory of Christ and the justice of God. (From the book "Four Views on Hell" Zondervan, 1996, p. 48) "I think one of the joys of eternity will be that the redeemed will see all the unholy dead judged, but the unholy won't see the judgment of the saints, because they won't be there." Leonard Ravenhill, "Your Day In Court" Another is noted as having said: "The road to hell is paved with the skulls of unbaptized babies....It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it throughout all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For ‘who knows the power of God's anger?’" Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) in his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" The same also said: "The view of the misery of the damned will double the ardour of the love and gratitude of the saints of heaven. "The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever...Can the believing Father in Heaven be happy with His unbelieving children in Hell...I tell you, yea! Such will be His sense of justice that it will increase rather than diminish His bliss." Jonathan Edwards (April 1739) in his sermon, "The Eternity of Hell Torments" The above are prime examples of men creating God in their own image and after their likeness. They are imaginations created from within themselves which gives God a form in their minds as that of corruptible man, and it doesn't stop there. After creating such a diabolical image, they bow down and worship their gross fabrications. Thereby, they become idol worshipers of the worst kind. Regardless of how unreal their "brain-child" is, they have become "God Makers," and rather than worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth, they are worshiping a lie—the creation, the creature, of their own imaginations. It would be better to give homage to wooden crosses, crucifixes, silver and gold icons, or marble statues. But worshiping a god of this magnitude of depravity is unthinkable, yet it is common practice on a worldwide scale. Such are the offspring of men who bring forth after their own kind. Do we think a tomato seed will sprout a cucumber? Or a wheat a tare? Or a tare a stalk of wheat? Or an ape a man? Absolutely not! It is against nature! It is not in their genetic makeup to do so; but we know that a tare can and will produce more tares just like itself. Therefore, we have an evil God created and brought forth after man’s own kind. According to his own nature does he make God. He becomes a god maker that only the human being could be proud of, and proud he is; for from pulpits around the world and between the covers of books on the shelves of millions of homes of all religions, God is portrayed as a tyrant of the worst kind, one that only the mind of evil men could create from hearts that are desperately wicked. Who can know such depths? None, for they abide and give birth in a pit that is bottomless. As high and holy, as endless is the expanse and majesty of the Living God, so is the opposite true with man’s world of pitiful darkness. And it is from that dark side which brings forth a terrible god that men say demands to either be worshiped or His subjects will spend eternity in hell. People are tormented to no end with such threats. Some people go insane, even commit suicide when faced with such fear and dread. I knew a man who had gone insane and was confined to an insane asylum due to the torment that he was told he had committed the unpardonable sin. Before that, he had himself castrated to make sure he would never bring children into the world and subject them to the possibility of being condemned to an eternal damnation of hellfire. But, praise God, he was delivered from this lie when he read our Pathfinder studies, along with J. Preston Eby and Gary Amirault’s publications. With a sound mind, he was released from that horrid pit of darkness into which religious men had cast him. Dear preachers of this diabolical realm, you yourselves must be crazed! And if not crazed, you are willingly ignorant and therefore evil. At best, you are deceived and don’t know better. But you do not have to continue degrading God and making Him a laughing stock of the world. Be free and speak the truth, that is, if you have the guts to do so! If not, continue speaking evil of your Father while bringing shame to yourself and your Christian name. It doesn't seem to matter how clear the scriptures are about God and His sovereign purpose for humanity, men and their darkened, religious minds will always have Him to be something He is not. Many are quick to quote the verses about the good Shepherd going to the extremities to find the one lost sheep and not giving up until it is found; yet they still stand and trumpet their theological lies, saying, that if the lost sheep of the world do not find their way home of their own accord, God will torment them in hell forever. These are the same ones who are not willing to lose one of their own flock that they have corralled by preaching lies and steering them Sunday after Sunday for months and years. However, they will go to the limit to make people believe that Jesus, the One who gave his live for ALL is less than what they are and will consign the majority of His purchased possession to burn in either natural or spiritual fire throughout the endless ages. Please consider their scenario: Here is Jesus, the Word of God who emphatically will not return void from what He was sent to do, the One who always does that which pleases His Father; but for some inexplicable reason, they make Him infinitely lower than themselves when it comes to what most of them say that they would do if the great white throne judgment was left up to them. Such degradation of God is certainly a product of the adamic mind, and there is good reason for it: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." Romans 1:21-23. You say, "But Paul was talking about idol worship, not the God we serve." Frankly, I see little difference between the corruptible man, birds, and four-footed beast and the image you have created of the Father of us all. The fact is, most men, birds, and four-footed beasts will fight to the death for their children and offspring, while you say that this Father will torture his children forever if they don’t straighten up and fly right. Thoughts of this sort portray Him as being much lower than any of His creation, bar none! For example, regardless of what their children have done, most parents would never kill them, much less send them to hell forever; however, the God that man has created, is accused of doing so. To top it off, they also deem Him as being less calculating and weaker than the devil that He had created. The popular consensus is that Satan was able to foil God's two master plans of all ages. The first time was in Eden with Adam, and second was with Jesus. His first supposed defeat was from the devil which delivered a fierce blow to God and His purpose. The second has been a major disaster that equals the first. Therefore, the only recourse will be for God to hand over His prized creation to His arch enemy so he can torment them forever in a lake of fire that God will kindle for that purpose. A grossly dark cloud over God's head to say the least. It has Satan killing His great standard, Adam, the one who was to be the shining model for the rest of humanity. This awful tragedy in turn forces God to kill His own firstborn as a quick solution to the grave problem, but that seems to be failing too, for Satan appears to be winning that battle as well. Our Lord finally throws up His hands in frustration and just gives Satan the desire of his heart. In man's eyes God and Jesus either can't or won't do anything about it, and one way or the other they are not looking very successful by any stretch of the imagination; for with Him willfully losing ninety-nine percent to an endless torment, and it must be willfully, because God is the one "Who works all things after the counsel of His own will." Ephesians 1:11. If Satan is really more calculating and cunning than the God who created him, man hardly has a chance. For if the devil slipped up on God once, and then has foiled His Son's plan as well to save the whole world, what would stop him from doing it again? If he can do all that, he might pull the rug from underneath God and no one will be saved. Therefore, the only thing left for the few faithful ones would be to hope God has a few tricks up his sleeve and finally wins the war. What a distorted notion of things. Let us be candid. Would you create something that you knew in advance would eventually defeat you and ruin the dream of your life? Not in a million years and neither has the God of all creation done such an irresponsible, careless thing! If He had, again, that would make you better than Him, and we know this is not so. He is not one who in the beginning was all powerful but lost the war of wits against Satan. He is not one who in the beginning loved everyone unconditionally; but in the end He loses all affection or feeling for those who were beguiled and became battle casualties, and He punishes them throughout eternity. This is supposedly the same God who says in Proverbs 11:1 that a false balance is abomination. Yet according to certain dogmas, He will be sending the majority to an eternal damnation because of a short lifetime of stumbling and infractions like: rebellion, making bad choices, failing to do good works, or perhaps not repenting and saying the proper prayer before dying, and surely for murder or just being a bad person in general. What an unbalanced price to pay for a few years of vanity and toiling through life's wilderness of thorns and thistles—and the clincher is this: all of humanity came into and was subjected to a world and life they never chose to come into in the first place as Paul wrote to the Romans in verse 8:20. It's as if mankind has been a big, uncontrolled experiment, and when the longshot fails, which God knew from the beginning that it would fail, He just sends His failures to a burning garbage pit to writhe in torment forever. What an uncaring, pathetic remedy that would be! Let us be realistic, folks! Doesn't it sound like men have made God out to be a self-centered narcissist? Yes, indeed they have! Nonetheless, "...LET GOD BE TRUE, but every man a liar...." Romans 3:4. And men habitually lie by saying Jesus would like to save the world, but for various reasons either cannot or He will not do so; while, it is written, "...For we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is INDEED the Christ, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD." John 4:42. Please know that when the anointed word declares something it becomes a fact, and this verse declares that He is INDEED (TRULY) THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! He is not "potentially" the Savior of the world, but IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. Not only is the declaration clear that Jesus will deliver mankind, but the word INDEED is very significant here. It is translated from the Greek word alethos which means, an unveiling, a truth, a reality. Therefore, when it was said that Jesus was INDEED THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, it was more than just a hypothetical statement. It was saying Jesus is IN FACT, IN REALITY, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, and this fact will be testified in due time.. The word INDEED in this verse also comes from the same word used for TRUTH when Jesus said, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life....and you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free." John. 14:6, 8:32. You see, Jesus was, is, and will become that UNVEILED REALITY that literally SAVES people from sin and death (ALL DEATH) as He draws and makes Himself known to them. John 4:42 very strongly declares Him as being IN REALITY THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. It is not saying He could be the Savior, but He IS the Savior, and being the Savior, He will INDEED BE THAT REALITY! In the book of Hebrews we have a verse that sheds some significant light on these things: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever." Hebrews 13:8. We won't go into depth, but there is a lot more here than might meet the eye; primarily, the name and title of Jesus makes quite a statement. There is also a time element involved that is worthy to note which He fits into. His name, JESUS, is the Greek form of JOSHUA which means JEHOVAH THE SAVIOR. His title, CHRIST, comes from the Greek word CHRISTOS and means ANOINTED, and FOR EVER in the Greek is "EIS TOUS AIONAS" and should be rendered INTO THE AGES. With the knowledge of these basic things, let us now translate the above verse accordingly: "Jesus Christ, JEHOVAH THE SAVIOR, THE ANOINTED ONE, He is THE SAME; He is THE ANOINTED SAVIOR YESTERDAY (to all those in ages past), TODAY (to all those in this age), and INTO THE AGES (to all those in the ages to come.)" Since He is the Savior of those who fills up the ages with death (yesterday, today, and tomorrow), He will no doubt draw and lay hold of all the souls of all the ages and accomplish what our Father had spoken; namely, "...TO LOOSE (not lose) THOSE THAT ARE APPOINTED TO DEATH." Psalm 102:18-19. As easily as He is a Savior to the ones in this present day, so is He the Savior to those in all the ages past and future. It matters not that the masses have been laid into the dark graves of earth and water, there will be a time when they will all hear the voice of the Son of God, and when they hear they will come forth, some to the resurrection of life and some to the resurrection of damnation (krisis, Grk; crisis, that is, a breaking or turning point). This CRISIS, the CRITICAL TURNING POINT, is brought on as a result of the judgment fires of God, and in turn it produces a godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation. When Jesus becomes real to them, they are delivered from corruption by His life, He then becomes their Savior in experiential reality. Although we do not yet see all things made subject unto Jesus, He is already their Savior. As an example: To a drowning man, as it is with creation, the one who will ultimately be seizing and drawing him out of the swirling torrents of death can justifiably be called his savior/rescuer/deliverer/liberator before the act is accomplished, for it is something that will emphatically be executed. God calls those things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17), because the word coming out of His mouth is as sure and concrete as the finished product. It's just in a different form, that's all. However, not until he actually pulls the drowning man from the watery grave does he experientially become his savior. Therefore, the bottom line in what we are saying is this: for the scriptures to call Him the Savior of the world, He must in fact become THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, else we have been lied to by God who inspired the writers to record it as a declaration for all time. And since God is True and every man is a liar, we can conclude who has been lying to us, can't we? If you think I am one of those who might be lying to you, this is something that will need to be sorted out and settled with what rings true to your spirit. The Sin of God??? In another place, Jesus told us, "...I came...to save the world." John 12:47. Again, and still drawing from Isaiah 55:11, since He is the Word that will not return void and will accomplish and prosper in what He was sent to do, if He does not save the world, the whole world, then He and His Father will have utterly missed the mark, that is, sinned. Some might say, "Wait a minute, Brother, that wouldn't be a sin for either God or Jesus! But your statement does sound like one of the closest things to blasphemy a person could possibly come to; for we know that neither of the two can sin! Don't even suggest it!" We can put our minds to rest, for I am not suggesting such a thing. However, when we understand what the word sin means according to the Hebrew and Greek, we will see that if Jesus does not become the Savior of all, He indeed will become a sinner as well as God who sent Him. To illustrate, we will note the definitions according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance as well as a couple of scriptures in reference to this often misunderstood word, SIN: Old Testament Hebrew: H2398...chata; to miss.... New Testament Greek: G264....hamartano; To miss the mark (and NOT SHARE in the prize), to err.... "Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss [chata, that is, sin]." Judges 20:16. "...Whatsoever is not done in faith is sin," [hamartano]. Romans 14:23. Therefore, whatsoever is not done in faith is to miss the mark. You see, sin simply means to miss the mark, to miss the target aimed at, to err in purpose or intention. It matters not whether it is adultery, murder, rebellion, doing "good" works—without the Spirit and God given faith whereby to do it, it is sin. If either God or Jesus fail in any way to accomplish what His desire is and what He sent His Son to do, then they will have also sinned by missing the intended mark of their desired target. This is what the Church as a whole has been saying, that Jesus will miss His target by not reconciling and saving the whole world. They teach that God's purpose for sending Him will largely fail, and neither of them will share in the greater portion of the prize. According to this scenario, the greater portion will go to the enemy, which is absurd, of course. Men and women of various religious organizations have been announcing to the world in vivid detail of how our great God and Father of ALL Ephesians 4:6, and our Lord Jesus Christ the Savior of ALL 1 Timothy 4:10, will be the greatest sinners of all time. They proudly trumpet this message by saying that they will both be missing the mark by losing ninety-nine percent of their targeted prize. Without hesitation, they say that Satan will be the one who ends up with the biggest share of the prize. Well think of it, if all that Jesus was sent to save is not saved when it is all over and done with, He will have then missed the mark more than anyone throughout all the ages. Satan will have been on target much more than both combined; for his goal has been to deceive the whole world, and he has hit that target for which he has aimed, and the Spirit of Christ declared of him in Revelation 12:9. Jesus said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. And in three words, Paul gave to us the great law of love—love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). In the same manner that God's Word (Jesus and His spoken words) will never fail, neither will His immutable love ever fail. Not only does He love His creation and forgives them seventy times seven in this age, while their hearts pump blood and their lungs breathe air, but He loves them into all the ages, and ultimately the reality of this love will save them when Godly sorrow and true repentance finally comes. God’s love, however, is not always pleasant; for to the rebellious His love often comes in the form of harsh judgments that can be very painful. John 3:35-36 says that although all have been given to Jesus, the unbeliever will never see Life (Grk, zoe). Zoe is the Life of God in all aspects. Rather than knowing this life, the wrath of God abides on him. Fortunately, this wrath (Grk, orge, desire, passion) is an intense, heated form of His love that persists until they are brought to the place of believing. It is like a father disciplining his child in love which is unto correction. Even though they finally come around, they miss out on the higher rewards of the Father—His, Zoe/Life of the ages! Therefore, let us never get out of balance just because we know that His love will not fail, for if we do, we will surely find ourselves right in the midst of His chastening, cleansing, fiery hand of judgment, and though we will be delivered from sin, we stand to suffer a great loss. After knowing God and tasting the powers of the age to come, if we sin willfully, there will be no more gentle renewing by repentance as it was when we were first saved; but His fiery indignation will be our portion that will devour the adversaries of rebellion. (rf. Hebrew 6:4-6 & 10:26-27). Nonetheless, when His chastening rod has worked its purpose, we shall all be saved, "yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:15. Nay Sayers Stop Having Babies If you cannot truthfully say amen to Jesus eventually becoming the Savior to all mankind, to where everyone is ultimately in Him and saved from all sin and death, then let me ask that which has been posed before: What are you doing still having babies? Why in God's name are you still bringing children into such a world of grave chance? How can you begin to gamble with such high stakes as our own children’s eternal destiny? Even if they are raised in a good Christian home and are carried to church every Sunday over their growing up years, at best, the odds are 50/50 that they will ever be saved before going to the grave, and this is a very liberal figure. More realistically, according to statistics, the odds are much, much greater against them. Therefore, if the horror story is believed, why are you still having babies, and why would you be against abortion? How can one justify having babies when it is shown that the vast majority, even in Christian homes, never truly confess Jesus as their Lord before dying? If we really believe in the age-old, traditional teachings of an eternal hell to all who don't quite measure up and fail to please a testy god, then the short time of personal pleasure of having them in our home hardly justifies the risk. Also, if we really hold to the concept of an eternal, roaring pit of hellfire to the greater part of God's creation, what are we doing resisting that which is called "Planned Parenthood (or NO planned PARANTHOOD)? It would seem to be much more humane to never allow another child to ever be born throughout all eternity than to gamble that he or she might not get "saved" before its feeble life ebbs from its mortal body and drifts into the long night of eternal gloom and grief. We might pride ourselves that we are "right-to-life" Christians, and want to insure that every fetal conception comes to a full birth. What in the world for? So the little thing can grow up, fail to do what a frustrated god demands in his short span of life, and wind up in hell forever? Come on, people, either begin to loosen up to the truth and reality of God's purpose for His creation or STOP HAVING BABIES!!! If you really believe there is the hell that men have created, then shame on you if you birth any more children. Another has written some interesting thoughts and posed a few questions along these lines: "A story has been told of two brothers that formed a unique evangelistic team. One brother was an evangelist; the other a murderer. As soon as the one brother would get someone to accept Christ, the other brother would shoot him—before he had time to "backslide"! Thus, supposedly, his salvation would be secured. While not all Christians understand the security of the believer exactly the same, surely none would advocate such drastic actions! "It is generally believed that children, before reaching the age of accountability, are within God’s saving grace (cf. Matt. 19:14; Deut. 1:39). Without in any way seeking to justify abortion, we will simply state a question some have asked: Will it end up that abortion clinics in a community will cause more souls to be saved than the churches? "In 2001, the nation was shocked when a Houston mother killed her five young children, all with biblical names. Insanity was involved, of course; but there was also a religious factor. She believed they would be unrighteous if they grew to adulthood, and be unable to escape the fires of hell. "Questions about the eternal destiny of billions of people who never heard of Christ have long been discussed by some—and avoided by others. Will innumerable multitudes be lost because they did not believe in someone they never heard of? On the other hand, if those who never heard of Christ can be saved by ignorance, why tell them?" Interesting to say the least, and very worthy to ponder, especially if you are still are of the persuasion that God is hell-bent on committing to eternal damnation those that the church says will be unsaved at the time of their death. But there is hope! There is hope that you do not remain among nay sayers who insist on holding to such dogmas. For although... All Die - All Are Made Alive The doctrines of the towering religious machines of this age are contrary to the unchangeable purpose of God, and they have blinded and enslaved the masses by their lies. Regardless, His plan that is recorded in Philippians 2:9-11 still stands. It says that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him to be their Lord to the glory of God the Father of all. We also read, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus...thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9. And we might note, "...that no man can confess Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Corinthians 12:3. And let us also be reminded, that it is God "Who will have all men to be saved...." which will "... be testified in due time." 1 Timothy 2:4,6. God’s sovereignty surely trumps man’s imaginations, and it does! And it will all play out in due season; but every man, of course, in his own rank and order, as it is written in the fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians. We also see in this letter that the balance scales of ALL humanity are equal, and that Jesus, the Word of God, totally accomplishes His mission: "For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive." Notice the equal balance: ALL Die—ALL Are Made Alive!. "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him....Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end (the end rank, or the rest of the world) when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death! There will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain, for the old order of things will pass away as He makes all things new. (rf. Revelation 21:1-4). When all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. To everyone God will be every thing. (rf. 1 Corinthians 15:22-28, Ephesians 1:10-11). In just a few verses of scripture we see such a complete consummation of what Jesus, the Word of God, was sent to do. We see ALL mankind being dead in Adam, but in Christ we see equally the ALL being made alive. However, when the whole world of lost sheep are bought, they are not all experientially delivered from the dangers of the wilderness at the same time. It is each one in his own order until the last one is brought in, which is eventually the end rank. The looking for and saving of the lost sheep is during His reigning over the earth. He will reign into the ages until all powers and enemies to life are destroyed, the last one, of course, is death itself. When this has become a reality, Jesus will not be coming to the Father with a small handful, but He will present to Him the entirety of mankind as saved, transformed and glorified. He will then have returned to His Father full-handed, mission accomplished, the target of creation redeemed and held secure, and also prospering greatly in that which He was sent to do! What a mighty commission He was sent on, but what a mighty Word of God He is! Unlike man that made God in his own image and after his likeness—a god who cannot or will not bring to pass His own desire of saving the world through the life and power of His sacrificial Son—Jesus will be who He is, the Savior of the world! He will accomplish that which pleases His Father! He will bring home the pearl of great price, the one of a kind treasure of the field! Therefore, rest assured, dear friends: He was given a specific target at which to aim and to hit! It is not in Him to sin! He cannot miss His and His Father’s intended mark! HE WILL SAVE THEM ALL—THE WHOLE WORLD! Now, this is Good News—the Good News of great weight—the true Good News—the real Good News! Believe it! Elwin R. Roach
To be placed on our mailing list to receive our studies in booklet format write to:
The Pathfinder |