THERE IS GOD
The
Bible is the unique book in the world. The first
subject covered in the Bible is God. God is the main
theme of the Bible. The first verse in the Bible
says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth." Scientists have explored our physical
universe for a long time. Through their studies they
have discovered that our universe is an orderly
system that is full of design. Before we consider
what the Bible has to say about God, let us first
consider what the universe has to say about God.
GOD DECLARED THROUGH THE UNIVERSE
Look at the sky
above you at night. Astronomers estimate that there
are more than one hundred billion stars in our
galaxy, and that there may be billions of galaxies
in the universe. Each star we see represents a solar
system in the universe. Our own solar system has the
sun as the center, and it has nine planets revolving
around it in clock-like precision. The earth, as one
of the planets, speeds through space at 6,000 miles
an hour and takes 365 days to circle the sun. This
fact is astounding when one considers that a train
traveling at one-one thousandth of this speed will
many times miss its schedule. Furthermore, the moon
in its motion around the earth has its orbit and
period. The earth's rotation and the twenty-three
degree tilt of its axis give us our twenty-four-hour
day, our four seasons, and our many different
climates. The movements of the sun, the moon, and
the earth give us our wonderful calendar.
The distances between the sun, the moon, and
the earth provide a marvelous environment for life
to exist. If the earth were to come ten percent
closer to or farther away from the sun, all living
beings on earth would be either scorched to death or
frozen. If the moon were 50,000 miles from the earth
instead of 230,000 miles from it, all the oceans on
earth would be sucked up by the moon; the land mass
would be deluged, and the mountains would be
submerged. The precise distances and circulations of
the sun, the moon, and the earth tell us of a
wonderful design that is in place. And these are but
a tiny fraction of the movement of the heavenly
bodies above us. Such a wonderful testimony
displayed in the universe around us is a living
witness to the existence of a Creator.
The law of cause and effect tells us that
for every phenomenon there must be a cause. If a
watch keeps time accurately, there must be a
watchmaker who made it. If a house stands
magnificently on a hill, there must be a builder who
built it. If a garden is well-trimmed and fenced,
there must be a gardener who is taking care of it.
In the same way, the obvious design behind the
universe speaks of a Creator who has caused these
things to appear the way they are.
In physics there is the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, which says that any physical system
left to itself will decay and become disorderly. Yet
the processes that operate in the universe, and
particularly on earth, remain highly organized.
There is order and design in everything that we see.
For such order and design to come out of nothing
would surely defy the natural law stated above. Dr.
Boris P. Dotsenko, once the head of the nuclear
physics department in the Institute of Physics in
Kiev, who was taught in atheism, wrote in relation
to the earth being what it is in spite of the Second
Law: "As I thought about all of that, it suddenly
dawned on me that there must be a very powerful
organizing force counteracting this disorganizing
tendency within nature, keeping the universe
controlled and in order. This force must not be
material; otherwise, it too would become disordered.
I concluded that this power must be both omnipotent
and omniscient. There must be a God - one God -
controlling everything!"
Throughout history some people have at times
opposed the idea of God. The very fact that they
have opposed it means that God is there. The fact
that some rebellious sons disown their fathers means
that they do have a father. The fact that some
people try to tear down the family means that the
family is a reality. The law of inference tells us
that opposition to anything presupposes that the
thing itself exists. It has been proven in history
that it is futile to oppose the idea of God, for no
matter how cultures and human governments change,
the belief in God always prevails in the end.
Let us consider what the universe tells us about
God. The Bible tells us that God's "eternal power
and divine characteristics" are seen through the
creation (Rom. 1:20). As a painting displays the
characteristics of the painter, so the Creator's
attributes are manifested through His created
universe. Although man cannot say much about God
Himself, through the majesty displayed in the
creation he can see that God is powerful. Psalm 19:1
says that "the heavens declare the glory of God, and
the firmament proclaims the work of His hands." The
material universe speaks of God's glory, and it also
speaks of His wisdom. The God who created the
universe is powerful, glorious, and wise.
GOD EXPRESSED THROUGH
MANKIND
The very existence of mankind
speaks of the existence of God. The human body is a
true marvel. Although modern medicine has invented
many machines to imitate and to replace man's organs
and limbs, no machine can come close to the
dexterity and effectiveness of the human organs. The
human heart pumps 72 times a minute, or 40 million
times a year, while one is awake or asleep. Every
day an adult heart pumps blood through 100,000 miles
of blood vessels, enough to travel around the world
four times. It pumps enough blood to fill a
2,000-gallon tank car every day. Who could have
designed such a wonderful organ within man? If one
were to pile up the red blood cells in his body, the
height would exceed that of Mount Everest five
thousand times! The nose inhales air seventeen times
a minute. Every day it has to process about 14,000
liters of air. In addition to adjusting the
temperature of the air, it also has to temper its
humidity and filter its dust. A man-made machine
that will handle all these three functions might
weigh one hundred pounds. What if such a "man-made
nose" were to be installed on our face! These are
but a few examples of the wonders of the human body.
If we stand before a mirror, we cannot help but
agree with what the psalmist in the Bible said: "I
am awesomely and wonderfully made; Your works are
wonderful, and my soul knows it well" (Psa. 139:14).
The very makeup of the human personality is also a
strong proof to the creation of God. Man is not just
made of an outward body, but is endowed with some
natural traits such as tendencies and aptitudes to
love, to be upright, to be holy, and to be
righteous. These psychological inclinations are in
every person, irrespective of the culture he
inherits or the kind of language he speaks. No
animal comes close to man in demonstrating these
virtues. We must conclude that these human
characteristics come from a source higher than man.
The Bible says that they come from God, who Himself
is the source of love, light, holiness, and
righteousness. The reason man reflects these divine
traits is that he was made in the image of God (Gen.
1:26-27).
Furthermore, there is a strange tendency in
man to worship God. Even the most primitive culture
is replete with ways and rituals in the worship of
deity. The study of anthropology has found that this
worship trait is peculiar to the human species. A
monkey never builds a shrine, and a chimpanzee never
prays. But everywhere on the earth man prays to God.
The Bible says that man was created with a spirit
(Job 32:8). This spirit is the organ with which man
contacts and worships God.
The very fact that mankind has been able to
exist until today is a testimony to the sovereignty
of God. If God had held back the sunshine and the
air, man would have ceased to exist on this earth
long ago. Every second the sun burns up the
equivalent of four million tons of fuel in order to
keep our planet warm. If God were to charge man for
this energy consumption, man would have to come up
with about 160,000,000,000,000 U.S. dollars a day.
But all this sunshine and air has come to us free.
As the Bible says, "He Himself gives to all life and
breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).
The ancient Greek poets declared, "For we
are also His [God's] race" (Acts 17:28). The ancient
Chinese sage Confucius called God "heaven" and
taught men to honor Him. Socrates had "a strong
belief in God as ruler of the world." St. Paul in
the Bible said that "in Him we live and move and
are" (Acts 17:28). One of Russia's most
distinguished writers, Leo Tolstoy, was but echoing
the words of St. Paul when he declared, "God is He
without whom one cannot live."
Without God, human history could not have
evolved the way it has evolved. God is behind
everything that happens among mankind. He is the
sovereign Ruler, the King above all kings. The first
century Roman Empire persecuted the Christians, but
in the end the Roman emperor Constantine himself was
converted to Christianity. When Hitler attacked
England, and again when he invaded Russia, for a
time it seemed as if he would prevail. But God was
sovereign in preventing his army from advancing. In
the course of human history, though evil forces may
prevail for a while, in the end goodness always
wins. No despot or tyrant can establish his kingdom
forever. King Nebuchadnezzar of the ancient
Babylonian Empire boasted of his own glory, and was
made to live like a beast for a season, until he
humbled himself before the Almighty. The founding
fathers of the United States of America realized
that it is God who allows a government to stand.
Over the United States capitol building the words
"In God We Trust" are inscribed. The same words are
inscribed on every piece of American currency. The
course of human history is a strong testimony to the
existence of God.
GOD REVEALED IN THE
SCRIPTURE
Although God is
manifested in many ways through the universe and
through mankind, the most direct revelation of
Himself is through two things: His word and His Son.
God's word is the Holy Scripture, which is the
Bible. The Bible reveals to us the titles of God.
Among the many titles for God in the Old Testament,
primarily only three are used Elohim, Jehovah, and
Adonai. Elohim is a plural noun in Hebrew. It
implies the notion of "the faithful strong One." God
is strong and faithful. He is strong in strength and
faithful in word. Jehovah means "I Am That I Am,"
revealing that God is the self-existing and
ever-existing One. He is the One who was in the
past, who is in the present, and who is to come in
the future. Adonai means "master" and "husband." On
the one hand, God is man's Master; on the other
hand, He is man's Husband. In the New Testament
there are many other titles, such as Father, Lord,
Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. All these reveal to
us what and who God is.
The lives of the patriarchs are a strong
evidence of God's working in men's lives. The
experience of these men and their records show how
God is the caring One who takes care of men's
affairs and guides them to know Him. If one reads
the Old Testament he will find that the laws given
by Moses are a living picture of God Himself. God is
holy; therefore, the laws that He gave are holy. God
is righteous; therefore, the laws that He gave are
righteous (Rom. 7:12). The psalmist in the Old
Testament tells us that we can know God through the
law (Psa. 9:16). Without the law no one knows what
God is like. The law is like a photograph; it shows
us what God is like.
All the prophets in the Old Testament spoke
through the inspiration of God (1 Pet. 1:10-11; 2
Pet. 1:21)It was God who put the words of prophecy
into their mouths. The phrase "Thus says the Lord"
is often repeated in the Old Testament. The wisdom
of the prophets' words and the fulfillment of their
prophecies have proved that their words are indeed
divinely inspired. One of the greatest prophecies
concerns the destiny of the nation of Israel. The
Bible prophesied that the Jews would be scattered
throughout the world, but that at the appointed time
the nation of Israel would be restored and the city
of Jerusalem would be returned to the Jews. We can
see this in our own time with the restoration of the
nation of Israel in 1948 and the return of Jerusalem
to the Jews in 1967. The establishing of that tiny
nation in the Middle East is a living proof of God's
work in history.
No other book has been attacked as severely
as the Bible. Atheistic governments have tried their
best to remove this book from their lands, but God's
sovereign hand has preserved this book. We are happy
that the Bible is now being made available to the
people of Russia, a country formerly under the rule
of atheistic communism, after so many years of
prohibition. We must realize that it is God's hand
that has made this possible. The preservation of the
Scripture is one strong evidence that God is alive
in the world today.
GOD MANIFESTED IN THE
SON
Hebrews 1:1-3 says
that God, having spoken to man in many ways in
ancient times, one day decided to speak to man
personally in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God
coming in the form of man. His coming declared God
(John 1:18). Through Him man sees God Himself (John
14:9). The Gospel of John records that when He was
on earth, He told others one hundred fourteen times
that He was God. In His last discourse with His
disciples He made reference to His being God over
fifty times. The miracles that He performed could
not have been done by anyone unless this one was
God. He ordered and controlled the laws of nature,
changing water into wine (John 2:1-11), quelling the
storm (Matt. 8:23-27), and feeding five thousand
with five loaves and two fish (Matt. 14:14-21). He
healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out
demons (Matt. 4:24; 8:28-32; 11:4-5). He spoke words
of wisdom which only God could utter (Matt.
13:53-56).
After thirty-three and a half years of
living on earth, He died a supernatural death. His
death was a fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old
Testament. He foretold His death to His disciples
before the event happened. At His death He declared,
"It is finished," meaning that God's work of
redemption was done. The death of all world leaders
marks the end of their influence and career, but the
death of Christ formed the beginning of Christianity
and the ushering in of an earth-shaking faith. It is
no wonder that the centurion and soldiers who
guarded Him at the cross confessed, "Truly this was
the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54). His death was the
death of the God-man. At His death the sky became
darkened and the tombs were opened, and many bodies
of the dead saints were raised. It was God who had
died for man! No historian can explain the power
that lies behind the death of Christ. The life and
death of Jesus Christ are a living testimony to the
power and work of God.
GOD'S PLAN FOR MAN
The above
discussion has proved to us that God is real and
living. But we must ask the most important question:
What is this God doing today? What is His plan for
man today? Acts 17:27 tells us that God wants man to
seek after Him and to know Him. He has displayed His
workmanship in the universe, and He has spoken in
His Scripture. He has even manifested Himself in
Jesus Christ. His intention is that we would know
Him. God has no intention to hide Himself. He
intends that man would come to know Him first as the
Creator and then as his God and his Father.
Second, God intends for man to worship Him.
John 4:23 tells us that God seeks for true
worshippers, those who would worship Him in spirit
and in truthfulness. He has no intention for man to
worship the things that He has created. The true
worship of God is to worship with our spirit. In the
past, man has set up many idols and worshipped these
things instead of God. But in both the Old Testament
and the New Testament, God forbids all forms of idol
worship (Exo. 20:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:14; 1 Thes. 1:9b).
He is the unique God. No other object is qualified
to demand our worship.
The true worship of God does not consist of
many rituals or forms. Neither the place nor the way
we sit or bow matters much to God. What He cares for
is that men would worship Him in their spirit. God
is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit (John 4:24). If a person wants to receive
radio waves, he must use a radio receiver. If a man
wants to receive a telephone call, he must pick up
the telephone receiver. In the same way, if a man
wants to worship God and contact Him, he must use
his spirit. One cannot hear color with his ears, nor
can one see music with his eyes. We need the right
organ for the right substance. God is Spirit and is
not anything material. This is why we must not
worship Him with anything material, but must worship
Him with our spirit.
The way to use our spirit is to pray by
calling on the name of the Lord Jesus (Rom.
10:12-13). If we will open our mouth and our heart
and will pray to God, our spirit will touch Him, and
God will be real to us.
The ultimate plan of God for man is that man would
express God. The way to express God is to be filled
with God. If we pray to Him and receive Him, God
will come into us and will fill us. He will not be
an objective God outside of us anymore, but will be
a subjective God inside of us. He will fill us with
Himself and will change our whole being. To be a
Christian is not merely to believe in some creeds or
to learn some teachings. It is to know God, to
worship Him, and to express Him by being filled with
Him.
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Can You Prove that
God is Real?
According to a recent national poll, 93% of all
Americans believe that there is a personal God or a
Spirit of power. However, nobody has ever seen God
with their eyes, and most people agree that God's
existence cannot be proven by logical arguments. As
many confirmed atheists say, if God's existence
cannot be proved, why should anyone believe that He
exists?
The ones who believe in the existence of
God, especially Christians, have written many long
books, short articles, and everything else in
between trying to prove God's existence to the
doubters. They have used examples from nature; they
have constructed logical arguments using scientific
facts and theories and philosophical considerations.
The nonbelievers have also written many books and
articles trying to show that God does not exist. The
believers remain believers; the doubters remain
doubters. Usually, nothing much is gained for either
side by these arguments. But we have found that
human beings actually can prove to themselves the
existence of God.
Finding a Common Ground to
Meet God
In order to find a person, we need
to find where the person is. In order to contact
something, we need to know the realm in which that
thing exists. Where is God? What realm is God living
in? Where is man? What realm is man living in? Is
there a common realm in which the two may meet?
God Cannot be
Contacted by Physical Means
It is nearly
without dispute that God, if He exists, is invisible
to physical eyes. The Bible tells us that God is
Spirit, living in unapproachable light. Although the
heavens manifest His glory, He Himself cannot be
detected with a telescope, microscope, or any other
instrument. He is in another sphere and of another
realm. Using our five senses to look for God is like
looking for sound waves with our eyes, listening for
color with our ears, or trying to touch a fragrance
with our hands. It is as futile as trying to watch a
television broadcast without a television set. The
physical sensory organs are not the proper organs
with which to contact God, for the physical realm is
not the realm in which God can be found. We must
contact Him on His "wavelength."
God Cannot be Substantiated in the Psychological
Realm
It is also impossible to substantiate God in
the mental or psychological realm. His wisdom is too
great for the limited mind of man to comprehend.
Mankind has not fathomed the wonders of nature; we
can fully grasp neither life, nor death, nor
existence after death. We have not yet explored all
the different forms of life on this planet,
including micro-organisms and mammoth creatures of
past and present. We have not yet fully explored the
microcosm and macrocosm of this universe. We have
not yet fully unearthed our own past history, nor
can we be certain of what will happen in our future,
even in such simple matters as the weather or the
timing of the next earthquake. Mankind does not even
understand himself, so how can we ever begin to
understand the Designer and Creator of the universe,
or comprehend the purpose for which all things (and
we ourselves) were made? God is too colossal,
universal, and multifarious in wisdom; no matter how
long we ponder, we can never imagine what He is
really like and what He wants. Finite beings have a
natural limitation comprehending the infinite One.
It is harder for a man to understand God than it is
for a worm to understand man.
Contacting God with the Human Spirit
Man lives in the
physical and psychological realms, but God is in the
spiritual realm. Therefore, man cannot physically
sense or logically prove God, but we are not saying
that it is impossible to contact God or to verify
His existence. No! It is possible when we use the
right organ. Whoever seeks Him will find Him.
As we have pointed out, God is Spirit. God desires
that man contact Him; this is why He made man with
three parts--body, soul, and spirit. The body is for
contacting the physical world, such as sights,
sounds, tangible objects, etc. The soul, with which
we think, feel, and decide, is for contacting the
things of the psychological world. But it is the
human spirit which is created especially for
contacting God the Spirit. Although we have used our
physical senses and psychological abilities all our
lives, most people have never used their spirit. The
human spirit is similar in nature to the Spirit of
God. Just as a light bulb shines when it is in
contact with the generator through the transmission
line, even so, when we contact God the Spirit with
our human spirit, we get filled with God and God may
shine through us. Once we touch God in this way,
nobody can convince us that God does not exist. At
that moment, we not only know that God exists but we
believe and He is real to us. This is not blind
faith, but seeing faith. It is no longer a
philosophical question but a firsthand experience.
What Type of Person Are You?
Different people
have different considerations before contacting God
with their human spirit for the first time. It may
be that you are one who has been seeking God. If
such is your case, you know that there is a God out
there somewhere, but you do not know how to contact
Him. All you need to do is begin talking to Him. The
Bible tells us that God became a man called Jesus
Christ 2,000 years ago. He lived a perfect and
righteous life which qualified Him to die for our
sins. Then the Lord Jesus resurrected to become a
life-giving Spirit so that He could come into us.
Now all you have to do is to say, "Lord Jesus, I
want to contact You so that I may know that You
exist. I want to have a living contact with You so
that I may experience You firsthand." By talking to
Him in this way, you will find Him, because He said
that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and
that he who seeks shall find.
If you are one who doubts His existence, you
also can say to Him, "Lord Jesus, I do not know if
You are God or if You even exist at all. If You are
real, please reveal Yourself to me. I want to know
You and contact You." If He is non-existent, there
will be no answer. If He is real, you will get your
answer, because He will reveal Himself to you. If
you are one who wants to know more about God, His
purpose for man, and the relationship He wants to
have with man, you can read the Bible and talk to
believers to find out more. Briefly, He is a God of
love and righteousness. His purpose is to have man
express Him and rule for Him in a corporate way. The
way He wants to accomplish His purpose is to enter
into man to be man's life by first entering man's
spirit, then saturating man's soul, and eventually
transfiguring man's vile body of humiliation so that
man may be one with God. In this oneness of God and
man, God lives in man and man lives in God, God is
man's life and man is God's living, God is man's
content and man is God's expression, and God is
man's authority and man is God's representative.
This wonderful relationship is possible when the
human spirit is mingled with God the Spirit. Say to
God, "Lord Jesus, use the Bible and believers to
tell me more about You and reveal Yourself to me
that I may know You."
If you want to prove God's existence for
yourself and begin to have a relationship with Him,
you can do so right now by telling Him whatever is
on your heart, in your own words. If you are sincere
and open with Him, He will reveal Himself to you.
You will never again say that nobody can prove God's
existence, because God Himself will have proven
Himself to you. You will have contacted Him for
yourself, just as we have. Nobody can argue with our
experience and your experience.
Bible
Verses for Your Reading:
John 4:24
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truthfulness.
1 Timothy 6:16 Who
alone has immortality, dwelling in
unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor
can see.
Psalms 19:1 The
heavens declare the glory of God; And the
firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalms 104:24 O
LORD, how manifold are Your works! in wisdom
have You made them all: the earth is full of
Your riches.
Deuteronomy 4:29
You shall find [him], if you seek him with all
your heart and with all your soul.
Zechariah 12:1 The
LORD, which stretches forth the heavens, and
lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the
spirit of man within him.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
And the God of peace Himself sanctify you
wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be
preserved complete, without blame.
Ephesians 3:19 That
you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
Hebrews 11:1 Now
faith is the substantiation of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
John 1:1 The Word
was God.
John 1:14 And the
Word became flesh.
Matthew 1:20-21 For
that which has been begotten in her is of the
Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you
shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will
save His people from their sins.
Hebrews 4:15 But
One who has been tempted in all respects like
us, yet without sin.
1 Peter 3:18 For
Christ also has suffered once for sins, the
Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He
might bring you to God.
1 Corinthians 15:45
The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving
Spirit.
John 20:22 He
breathed into them and said to them, Receive the
Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 11:6 For he
who comes forward to God must believe that He is
and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.
1 John 4:16 God is
love.
Genesis 1:26 And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness: and let them have dominion... over
all the earth.
2 Timothy 4:22 The
Lord be with your spirit.
Ephesians 3:17 That
Christ may make His home in your hearts through
faith.
Philippians 3:21
Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation
to be conformed to the body of His glory.
John 14:20 In that
day you will know that I am in My Father, and
you in Me, and I in you.
John 15:4 Abide in
Me and I in you.
Galatians 2:20 It
is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who
lives in me.
1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
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Why is God so
Hidden?
Why
do people have so much trouble finding God? Why is
there so much debate on whether or not there is a
God? Why are there so many questions concerning God?
Because God is so hidden. We cannot see Him, we
cannot hear Him, we cannot touch Him. If He were to
appear to us, stand in front of us, and talk to us,
then we would say, "O God, now I know that You are
real." Since He has not appeared that way, we are
all left wondering.
God Is
Spirit - Invisible to Human Eyes
The Bible tells us
that God is Spirit. Spirit is intangible and
invisible to the physical senses. God is in a
different realm than we are in. It is impossible for
us to see radio waves. We need a proper device, such
as a radio, to sense radio waves. It is the same in
contacting God. We need the proper organ - the human
spirit - to contact God.
Man Has a Spirit - an Organ to Contact God
God made man with
three parts - the spirit, the soul, and the body.
The body is for contacting physical things, such as
food, water, tables, chairs, etc. The soul is for
contacting psychological things, such as thoughts,
love, hatred, etc. The spirit is for contacting God,
who is Spirit. We were raised on physical and
psychological things. We are used to using our body
and our soul. But we were never taught to use our
spirit to contact God - we do not know how. God is
hidden only to our body and our soul, but God is not
hidden to our spirit. We can learn to contact God
with our spirit. Then we will say that God is not
hidden, but rather, is as available in our spirit as
air, water, or food. We cannot see sound with our
eyes, but we can hear it with our ears. We cannot
receive radio waves with our ears, but we can use a
radio to receive them. We cannot touch the fragrance
of a flower, but we can smell it with our nose.
Similarly, we cannot see God with our eyes, hear God
with our ears, or touch God with our hands, but we
can contact God with our spirit.
God Reveals Himself in Four Ways
Although God
Himself has not appeared before our eyes, we need to
consider if God has used other ways to manifest
Himself. Perhaps God is poetic and does not reveal
Himself so plainly, but chooses other means to hint
at His existence. Maybe God tries to hide Himself so
that only His true seekers will find Him. We have
found that God uses four ways to show Himself to
man. The universe displays to us the handiwork of
God, the Bible reveals to us God and His purpose,
Jesus Christ manifested to us the person of God, and
the true believers express God.
The Universe Displays God's Characteristics and
Power
The universe is
God's handiwork displaying His power, His glory, and
His characteristics. Nobody really knows the size of
the universe. The immeasurable size of the universe
tells us that the power of the Creator is even
greater. The shining of all the stars is merely a
shadow of all the glory of God. What brightness and
shining we would see if all the stars of the
universe were put together! Yet God's glory is even
greater than that. According to the Bible, all the
creatures on the earth, including man, express God's
characteristics. Vegetable life shows the beauty of
God. Animal life shows the liveliness of God. Human
life, created in the image of God, shows the divine
attributes of God, such as love and righteousness.
Air points to God as the atmosphere in which man can
live continually. Water points to God as living
water to quench and satisfy the thirst of man. Food
points to God as nourishment and strength to man.
The universe displays not only the existence of God
but also His power, glory, and characteristics. This
universe is full of the fingerprint of God.
The Bible Reveals God and His Purpose
The Bible, the
Word of God, tells us about God, His eternal
purpose, His heart's desire, His creation, His
relationship with man, and His salvation. Whatever
we need to know about God is recorded in the Bible.
The Bible is thick and hard to understand, but
anybody with a seeking heart spending time to study
the Bible will find out everything he needs to know
about God because He is fully revealed in it.
Jesus Christ Manifested God
Jesus Christ was
God become man who lived on the earth 2,000 years
ago. He was God expressed, God manifested, God in
the flesh. He expressed God's love and God's
righteousness. He was tender and kind to the people
around Him. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and
delivered the oppressed. He was the fullness of God
in a human body.
It is true that He was still somewhat
hidden. He was born in a manger, raised in lowly
Nazareth, apprenticed as a carpenter, and endowed
with an unpleasant physical appearance. According to
our natural expectation, God should have come in
glory and full of power, with thousands of angels
flanking Him on both sides. His voice should have
been like thunder. His face should have been shining
like the sun. This is why it was hard for the people
of those days to recognize Him as God. They did not
realize that God had to come in a lowly way to be
our friend and to save us. Later, He will come the
second time in full glory as the King of kings, but
by then it will be too late. Today we have to see
Him with our spirit as the glorious One.
True Believers Express God
When people
believe into Christ, they receive God's life into
them. They can be like Christ, expressing God. It
has been a problem that most believers have not
expressed God by living in the life of God. They
still live in themselves by their natural fallen
sinful life. There is jealousy, strife, envying,
division, and even greed among them, and God remains
hidden to the world. There are some, not many,
believers expressing God on earth today. By
contacting and living by God in your spirit, you can
become one of them expressing God.
You Can See God
Some say, "If you
can show God to me, then I will believe in Him."
However, God is not going to show Himself to
physical eyes in this age. He is revealing Himself
to the spirit of the people seeking Him. You cannot
see God with your eyes, but you can see God with
your spirit. To believe without seeing Him with
physical eyes is more blessed. God's desire is not
only to reveal Himself to your spirit, but to come
into your spirit and live inside of you. This is why
He created man with a spirit; He wants to come into
your spirit to be your life.
The way to use your spirit to see God is to
talk to Him. Say, "Lord Jesus, I want to see You in
my spirit. I want to contact You. I want You to
reveal Yourself to me. I want You to come into me
and live in me. Thank You, Lord." If you speak to
Him in this way, He will be hidden from you no
longer.
Bible Verses for Your Reading:
Isaiah
45:15 You (are) a
God who hides yourself, O God of Israel, the
Savior.
John 4:24
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truthfulness.
Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of Him, both His
eternal power and divine characteristics, have
been clearly seen since the creation of the
world.
Psalms 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament shows his handiwork.
Genesis 1:26.
And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion
over... all the earth.
John 4:14
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give
him shall by no means thirst forever; but the
water that I will give him will become in him a
spring of water gushing up into eternal life.
John 6:57
He who eats Me, he also shall live because of
Me.
Luke 24:27
And beginning from Moses and from all the
prophets, He explained to them clearly in all
the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Ephesians 3:9-11
And to enlighten all that they may see what the
economy of the mystery is, which throughout the
ages has been hidden in God, who created all
things, In order that now to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious
wisdom of God might be made known through the
church, According to the eternal purpose which
He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Timothy 3:16
Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was
manifested in the flesh.
Matthew 14:14
He was moved with compassion for them and healed
their sick.
Mark 8:2-3
I am moved with compassion for the crowd,
because for three days now they have remained
with Me and they do not have anything to eat.
And if I send them away to their home hungry,
they will faint on the way.
John 8:11
Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on
sin no more.
Colossians 2:9
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.
Isaiah 53:2
He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we
should desire him.
Matthew 11:19
The Son of Man..., a friend of tax collectors
and sinners.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which is lost.
Luke 9:26
For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of
this one will the Son of Man be ashamed when He
comes in His glory and the glory of the Father
and of the holy angels.
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Galatians 2:20
It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who
lives in me; and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
1 Corinthians 3:3
For if there is jealousy and strife among you,
are you not fleshly?
1 Corinthians 1:10
Now I beseech you..., that there be no divisions
among you.
1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all evils,
because of which some, aspiring after money,
have been led away from the faith and pierced
themselves through with many pains.
Ephesians 3:5
Which in other generations was not made known to
the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to
His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.
John 20:29
Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, you
have believed. Blessed are those who have not
seen and have believed.
Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you.
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The
Bible has been referring to God as "He" since the
beginning when Moses wrote Genesis approximately
3,500 years ago. In the latter part of this century,
some have begun to question whether God is male,
female, or neuter. This has become so intense that
recently some published a neuter Bible, modifying
all passages referring to God as male. Before anyone
modifies the Bible to neutralize the gender of God,
one should understand why the Bible refers to God as
"He." After all, the Bible is inspired by God, and
it would be inappropriate to make any modifications
which would change His meaning.
Mankind was Created in God's Image
Mankind was
originally created in the image of God; he was
created to express God in His life and to love God.
But man fell away from God through sin; therefore,
today we do not see mankind the way mankind was
intended to be. Instead of expressing the God of
love and righteousness, mankind took in Satan and is
expressing the devilish nature of hatred and
unrighteousness. Instead of loving God, mankind
loves many other people, matters, and things in this
world as replacements of God.
God Is the Father
God is abundant in His life. He wants many sons to
be His expression. In order for human beings to
become His sons, they must receive God as life. When
they have Him as life, they are begotten of Him; He
becomes their Father. In the Bible, the source of
one's life is one's father, not mother. Therefore,
the Bible refers to God as He.
God Wants a Wife
In Genesis, the
first book of the Bible, we are told that mankind
was created both male and female. This fact displays
something about God and His heart. After the man
Adam was created, God said that it was not good for
man to live alone and built a woman as his wife.
This indicates that God feels that He is alone and
wants a wife. God is perfect in Himself, but not
complete in the sense that He longs for a
counterpart to complement Him and to be His love. In
Revelation, the last book of the Bible, God has a
universal corporate bride: the people who are
redeemed by Him through His death, filled with Him
as life, and built into a corporate woman. In
between the first and last books, the Bible develops
this thought and reveals how God, through much
labor, accomplishes this task.
God Is the Husband of Created Mankind
God considers all
His people as a universal corporate woman. All
created men symbolize the "real man" - God. All
created women symbolize the real universal woman -
God's wife. Isaiah 54:5 tells us that our Maker is
our Husband. He is the "real man" of the universe.
He is all that is desired of in a "real man." He is
almighty, loving, kind, and righteous. He does not
get sick or die. He cares for the ones He created.
He is a great provider. He made the heaven for the
earth, and He made the earth for mankind with all
that is necessary, such as air, water, food,
material for clothing and housing. He is a universal
hero. He is always ready to save His created people.
He has all the qualities men seek to have and women
seek after in a man. What God wants is that His
created mankind, as a corporate woman, would give
all her love to Him alone.
God to Us Is a He in Life and in Love
In terms of the
source of life, God is our Father and we are His
sons. In terms of the relationship of love, God is
our Husband and we are His wife. Humans may receive
God as life to be His sons and at the same time
believe into Christ to become part of His corporate
beloved in the new creation. The Bible refers to the
believers as the sons and wife of God. As God is the
Father and Husband, the Bible refers to God as He.
As God's sons, we are all male and no one is female.
As God's beloved, we are all female and no one is
male. There is no male or female in the new
creation. As sons, we express our Father. As His
corporate wife, we love our Husband above everything
and submit fully to Him. But in either case God to
us is still a He.
The Dispute between Male and Female
In leaving God,
mankind became devoid of God's life and the love for
God, and therefore was not subject to God's
authority but under Satan's control. The
relationship between male and female has become
spoiled. Fallen men, because of the sinful nature in
them and their greater physical strength, have been
mistreating women for centuries. Unfaithfulness,
battery, slavery, robbery, physical violation,
mental abuse, discrimination, and even murder, in
most cases, were committed by men against women
rather than by women against men. There has been a
building up of resentment and animosity among
females throughout the past six thousand years of
human history. Therefore, within this century, there
has been a struggle for equal rights and legislation
against gender discrimination and for the protection
of women.
The men should not be blamed entirely. Women, the
symbols of God's corporate bride, did not submit to
men just as the whole of mankind did not submit to
God. The Bible says, "For a husband is head of the
wife as also Christ is Head of the church, He
Himself being the Savior of the Body. But as the
church is subject to Christ, so also let wives be
subject to their husbands in everything. Husbands,
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church
and gave Himself up for her."
Neither the males nor the females are capable of
absolute love and submission, respectively. The
dispute between the sexes is growing, and the rift
is greater than ever. That is why some people have
changed the Bible to refer to God as neither male
nor female to make this book "politically correct."
There is no light at the end of this dark tunnel of
dispute among mankind except one - turning back to
God the Father and Husband.
Coming Home to God the Father and Husband
What mankind needs
today is to come home to God the Father for life and
the Husband for love. God is the real "He" of the
universe. When we need life and authority to express
God and stand against the devil, He is our true and
life-giving Father. When we need love, protection,
provision, and pleasure, He is our real and proper
Husband. We the fallen "he's" and "she's" need
"Him." We the males and females need to be His
strong sons and His lovely bride. Open up and pray
to Him, "Lord God of heaven and earth, through the
redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I
want to come back to You. Be my life-giving Father
and my loving Husband." When more and more people
come back to God the Father and Husband, the
animosity between God and mankind, and among
mankind, will be dissolved, and the earth will be a
lovely and peaceful place to live.
Bible Verses for
Your Reading:
Genesis 1:26-27
And God said, Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion... over all the
earth... So God created man in his [own] image,
in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them.
Deuteronomy 6:5
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy might.
Titus 3:3
For we also were once foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving as slaves various lusts and
pleasures, spending our lives in malice and
envy, hateful, hating one another.
Hebrews 2:15
And might release those who because of the fear
of death through all their life were held in
slavery.
1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world
lies in the evil one.
Colossians 1:21
And you, though once alienated and enemies in
your mind because of your evil works.
Jeremiah 3:1
Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers;
yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
2 Timothy 3:4
Traitors, reckless, blinded with pride, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
Ephesians 4:6
One God and Father of all, who is over all and
through all and in all.
Ephesians 3:14-15
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
Of whom every family in the heavens and on earth
is named.
Galatians 3:26
For you are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus.
Genesis 2:18
And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the
man should be alone; I will make him an help
meet for him.
Genesis 2:22
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from
man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the
man.
Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.
Revelation 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let
him who hears say, Come! And let him who is
thirsty come; let him who wills take the water
of life freely.
Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your
wives even as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself up for her That He might sanctify
her, cleansing her by the washing of the water
in the word, That He might present the church to
Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such things, but that she would be holy and
without blemish.
Matthew 5:45
He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the
good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Ephesians 5:23
For a husband is head of the wife as also Christ
is Head of the church, He Himself being the
Savior of the Body.
Galatians 3:28
There cannot be male and female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:18
Being darkened in
their understanding, alienated from the life of
God because of the ignorance which is in them,
because of the hardness of their heart.
Ephesians 2:14
For He Himself is our peace, He who has made
both one and has broken down the middle wall of
partition, the enmity.
Isaiah 2:4
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall
rebuke many people: and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more.
Revelations 21:4
And He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there
be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the
former things have passed away.
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The word "truth" is commonly
understood to refer to statements that are true.
However, dictionaries also define truth as the
substantiation of a true assertion. For example, "I
have a computer" is a true statement, and my
computer is the substantiation of that assertion.
Thus the statement is truth, and my computer is the
reality of the truth.
The world is full of true statements and
their substantiating realities, but many of these
are temporal. "I have a computer" cannot be true
forever. One day I will not have one; hence, this
statement is not an eternal truth.
There is another type of truth - scientific
and mathematical laws and principles. These are
sought after by scientists and mathematicians. This
type of truth is quite useful and helpful in the
physical world. Yet it still deals with something
temporal.
There are many people who work to verify or
disprove supposedly true statements. There are
untrue assertions and lies in every walk of life,
including politics, law courts, families, etc. Thus
these people try to verify assertions in order to
confirm the truths or to correct mistakes and expose
lies. This is necessary for the benefit of society,
but the truths they seek are also temporal, not
eternal.
What we want to seek after are the eternal truths
and the experience of these truths until our lives
are affected by them now and forever. We should not
seek merely for temporal truths, but find the
statements of eternal truth with the substantiating
realities and endeavor to possess them now. What is
the truth and the substantiating realities?
The Bible Reveals the Truth
The Bible, the Word of God, the book
of truth, the guiding light to mankind for 3,500
years, the most translated book (over 1,900
languages), the best seller of all time (more than
500,000,000 copies printed each year), tells us that
God the Father is the truth, Christ the Son is the
truth, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and
the Word of God is the truth. We are seeking these
eternal truths.
God the Father Is the Source of Truth
First, the Bible says that God the
Father is the truth. Only God is the reality of all.
All things are out from Him, through Him, and to
Him. God is the source of all created things. God is
love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These
divine attributes are the realities and source of
the corresponding human virtues, which are merely
shadows. Man without God is devoid of reality and
apart from His life. Whatever truth man has in
himself is not truth before God. Whatever man thinks
of as truth is either temporal or self-deceiving -
this is not to mention all the lies man has told and
lived in. God is the only eternal reality. He is the
truth and the substantiation thereof.
Christ is the Embodiment of the Truth
Second, the Bible tells us that
Christ the Son is the truth. He is the only One who
is qualified to say, and did say, "I am the truth"
(John 14:6). He is the truth because He is the
embodiment of God. All that God is, has, and has
accomplished is included in Christ the Son. God the
Father is in Him, and He is in God the Father. The
two are distinct yet never separated. He is as
eternal as the Father because He is God. That is why
He is even called the Father of eternity. When man
sees Christ the Son, he sees God the Father. One of
Christ's names is Jesus, which means Jehovah (God)
our Savior. Another name is Emmanuel, which means
God with us.
Christ loves man to the uttermost with an
eternal love because the loving God is in Him as the
reality of love. He not only fed and healed His
unrighteous and ungodly enemies, He even died for
their sins. He was still praying for man while He
was being crucified by man and for man.
He was the guiding light shining on man in
bondage that man might be led from Satan's kingdom
of darkness to the freedom in God's kingdom of
light. This is because the shining God was in Him as
the reality of light.
He was holy and undefiled though living in
the defiled and defiling world. This is because the
holy God was in Him to be the reality of His
holiness. Though He was tempted by everyone and
everything around Him, He was without sin and
remained absolutely pure for God.
He was righteous in every sense because the
righteous God was the reality of His righteousness.
He was right with God, His family, the people, the
government, and even Satan and the demons.
There has never been a man as loving, shining, holy,
and righteous as this One who had God in Him as His
reality. Therefore Christ the Son is the reality.
Pontius Pilate, the governor of the Roman Empire who
executed Him, asked Him, "What is truth?" not
knowing that Christ was the truth. Christ the Son
not only lived a life to express God as His reality,
He also died for man who is trapped in unreality. He
resurrected to be the life-giving Spirit to give
life and reality to all who would believe.
The Spirit of Reality Makes God Real to Man
Third, the Bible calls the Holy
Spirit the Spirit of reality. The Spirit is not a
separate Being from God the Father and Christ the
Son. God is Spirit and Christ became the Spirit. God
the Father is embodied in Christ the Son. All that
Christ the Son has accomplished is included in the
Spirit. The Spirit comes from the Father and the
Son. When you call the name of Christ the Son, "Lord
Jesus Christ," you get the Spirit of reality. When
He comes to you, He brings to you all the divine
realities of the Father and the Son.
We seek to know the truth concerning all
that God is, all that Christ has accomplished, and
all that the Spirit can be to us. We also seek to
experience all the divine realities so that we may
be men not living according to temporal truths or,
worse, in lies and falsehood. Then we would not be
distracted and bound by temporal satisfaction and
physical enjoyment but full of eternal truth and
divine realities.
The Word Reveals and Conveys the Truth
The Word of God contained in the
Bible is also reality because it not only reveals to
us God in Christ as the Spirit being the eternal
truth and divine reality, but also conveys God, the
divine reality, into all those who believe. Jesus
said, "The words which I have spoken to you are
spirit and are life." (John 6:63). When we hear the
word and pray according to it, we receive the
spiritual realities that the word reveals. This way,
we receive the dispensing of God the reality into us
to transform our being to be like Him. For example,
when He demands that you should "love your neighbor
as yourself" (Matt. 22:39), the same word of demand
supplies to you the God who is love and who has
loved His neighbor as Himself. The only way you can
experience this supply is by praying with the word,
"Lord Jesus, I do not and cannot love anybody as
myself, but You can. Lord, I need You. Come into me.
Fill me up with Your loving self and love my
neighbor in me. Thank You, Lord Jesus." You can pray
with God's word this way to receive God as your
reality.
The Way to Receive
the Truth as Reality
All you need to do is
to pray, "Lord Jesus, I am tired of living in sinful
unreality. I want to come to know You as the one
eternal reality. Thank You for dying for my sins and
rising to bring me life. Be real to me right now."
Then He as the Spirit can come into you to be your
life and dispense into you all the divine realities
of God. Then God may live in you and you may live in
God to express all God's divine realities in all
genuineness in your daily human living on earth.
Bible Verses
for Your Reading:
John 17:17
Your word is truth.
Psalms 119:130
The entrance of thy words gives light; it gives
understanding unto the simple.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh,... full of grace and
reality.
1 John 4:16
God is love.
1 John 1:5
God is light and in Him is no darkness.
1 Peter 1:16
You shall be holy because I am holy.
2 Pet. 1:1
The righteousness of our God and Savior.
John 14:10
I am in the Father... the Father is in Me.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality
and the life; no one comes to the Father except
through Me.
Colossians 2:9
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.
Isaiah 9:6
His name shall be called... The mighty God, The
Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace.
John 14:9
He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
Matthew 1:21
And she will bear a son, and you shall call His
name Jesus, for it is He who will save His
people from their sins.
Matthew 1:23
"They shall call His name Emmanuel'' (which is
translated, God with us).
John 13:1
He loved them to the uttermost.
Luke 23:34
And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing.
Matthew 4:16
To those sitting in the
region and shadow of death, to them light has
risen.
Acts 26:18
To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness
to light and from the authority of Satan to God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance among those who have been sanctified
by faith in Me.
Hebrews 7:26
Such a High Priest..., holy, guileless,
undefiled, separated from sinners.
Hebrews 4:15
One who has been tempted in all respects like
us, yet without sin.
1 John 2:1
Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Rom. 8:20
The creation was made subject to vanity.
Ephesians 2:12
You were at that time apart from Christ...,
having no hope and without God.
Ephesians 4:18
Being darkened in their understanding, alienated
from the life of God.
1 Corinthians 15:45
The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
John 15:26
But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send
to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality,
who proceeds from the Father.
John 14:26
The Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name.
John 16:13
But when He, the Spirit of
reality, comes, He will guide you into all the
reality.
John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life,... the words
which I have spoken to you are spirit and are
life.
Ephesians 6:17-18
Receive... the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit
is the word of God, by means of all prayer and
petition, praying at every time in spirit.
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The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth, that God is the originator
of all things, that all things came into being
through Him, and that He created all things,
especially man, for His purpose. Before God created
the universe, there was nothing. He had an eternal
purpose, a dream, a plan, to fill mankind with
Himself as life and to build mankind together as a
corporate man to express Him and represent Him for
eternity. He proceeded to create the heaven, the
earth, man, and all things for His eternal purpose.
Evolutionists vs.
Young-Earth Creationists
Some Bible readers believe that God created the
universe approximately six thousand years ago with
all the living things that we see today. For ease of
writing, we will refer to these people as
"young-earth creationists." Many scientists dispute
this belief because of the abundance of physical
evidence to the contrary, including fossils of
dinosaurs and other living creatures, petrified
wood, etc., which points to a much older earth. The
young-earth creationists say that the fossils were
either created six thousand years ago or left as
evidence of the flood at the time of Noah. However,
many scientists use various scientific techniques
developed according to certain other theories, such
as radiometric dating, to argue that the fossils and
the earth should have existed for a few billion
years. In addition, based on this fossil record,
scientists have developed some theories of
evolution. Basically, they believe that there was an
evolutionary progression from no life to simple and
lower forms of life which then evolved into more
complex and higher forms of life. Some further
believe that this explains the origin of all the
life forms that we see today, including man, which
is directly opposed to the biblical record of the
creation of man by God from the dust of the ground.
In this article, we will use the term
"evolutionists" to refer specifically to scientists
who insist that man evolved from some lower forms of
life.
The young-earth creationists claim that,
according to the Bible, God created the heaven and
the earth six thousand years ago with all the living
things that we see today and that the fossils were
either created at that time or left as evidence of
the flood at the time of Noah. The evolutionists
argue, based on their beliefs, that the earth should
have existed for at least a few hundred million
years.
The Evolutionists'
Theories Became their Belief
The evolutionists have many theories and assumptions
which are not proven as facts. Many evolutionists
condemn young-earth creationists for blindly
trusting in beliefs based on their interpretation of
the Bible. However, the evolutionists themselves
believe in their unproven theories with blind faith
just as much as the ones whom they have accused.
Some have even used fossils to try to force-prove
their theories of evolution. However, pure science
is by observation; theories are secondary to the
actual evidence. If after many decades of research
they cannot find all the proofs they need to
substantiate their theories, they should not be too
strong in believing them blindly nor too bold in
teaching them to others as facts. Many biological
scientists are controlled by the widespread
acceptance of the evolution theories. If any
scientist were to challenge these unproven theories,
that one would be considered a scientific heretic.
Teachers and textbooks should stress that
scientists are still studying and what they present
are only theories. However, evolutionists have won
the approval of lawmakers and school boards to teach
their theories and beliefs in textbooks as pure
science. The fact that evolution is taught in public
schools does not mean that God did not create the
heaven and the earth with all living things. Courts
of law and school boards cannot legislate the
historical facts that happened many years ago.
The Sequence of
Creation according to the Bible
In
this article, we are not addressing the validity or
error of the theories of evolution, but pointing out
a third understanding that both the evolutionists
and the young-earth creationists may not have
considered.
The young-earth creationists have misunderstood the
Bible in this matter, so their difficulty in
convincing people of their beliefs does not disprove
the Bible. The Bible does not set an age for the
universe. According to Genesis chapter one verse
one, God created the heavens and the earth in the
beginning, maybe billions of years ago or longer.
The Bible does not give any record of how the earth
and the first living creatures came into being or
what things were like. However, it does indicate
that the most powerful archangel, now called Satan,
was given charge of the earth. At some time he
rebelled against God and was judged. At that time
the earth became covered by water, and all living
things on it were killed; then the earth became void
and remained in darkness. After another unknown
stretch of time, God came back to "re-create" by
first saying "let there be light" and then
continuing on to create all the living things on
earth. The fossils we find from hundreds of millions
of years ago were of the living creatures of the
original creation. The living things that we see
today came into being by God's "re-creation"
approximately six thousand years ago.
The Bible and the facts of pure science do
not contradict one another. The contradiction is
between the shallow and improper study of the Bible
by the young-earth creationists and the unproven
theories of the evolutionists. The fossils that we
mentioned above do not contradict the Bible; in
fact, they support the Bible. Historical records of
human culture mainly date back no more than six
thousand years, which matches what the Bible says.
If one would recognize all the theories as merely
theories and compare the scientific facts with a
more thorough study of the Bible, one would be able
to see that God created all things and that the
living creatures on earth today did not evolve from
the creatures that were here millions of years ago.
God and Judgment
It
is convenient for some people to believe that
everything evolved; it allows for the possibility
that there is no God, no accountability, and no
judgment after death. In such a case, some people
may consider that they have the license to do
whatever is right in their own eyes, that they can
be immoral if they choose without fear of a tragic
destiny. This obviates the need to live by their
conscience. If the universe was created by God for a
purpose, however, we all need to change our thinking
and lifestyle to fit into God's desire, purpose,
ways, and judgment. To deny the existence of God is
to act like the fabled ostrich which, chased to the
point of exhaustion, buries its head in the sand so
as not to see its pursuers. Just as the ostrich is
overtaken, so one day sudden destruction will come
upon all who try to pacify their conscience and
think that they are living in peace and safety while
refusing to repent to God.
Your most basic need is not to figure out
how God created man but to receive God the Creator
into you as life, because He created the universe
for this purpose. It is not good enough to find the
right answer; you must receive Jesus as your Savior
and life. He is the all-inclusive Answer to all the
questions in the world. To receive Him, just pray,
"Lord Jesus, thank You for creating me. Come into me
and cleanse me of all my unrighteousness. Fill me
with Your life that I may live properly according to
You and express all that You are, thus fulfilling
Your original intention in creating me."
Bible
Verses for Your Reading:
Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. And the earth became without form, and void;
and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness: and let them have dominion over... all
the earth.
John 10:10
I have come that they may have life and may have it
abundantly.
Ephesians 3:9-11
And to enlighten all that they may see what the
economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages
has been hidden in God, who created all things, In
order that now to the rulers and the authorities in
the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might
be made known through the church, According to the
eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul.
Isaiah 14:12-15
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said
in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet
thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of
the pit.
Hebrews 9:27
It is reserved for men to die
once, and after this comes judgment.
2 Peter 3:7
But the heavens and the earth now, by the same word,
have been stored up for fire, being kept unto the
day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
2 Thessalonians 2:12
So that all who have not believed the truth but have
taken pleasure in unrighteousness might be judged.
Acts 24:16
I also exercise myself to always have a conscience
without offense toward God and men.
1 Timothy 4:2
By means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, of
men who are branded in their own conscience as with
a hot iron.
Psalms 14:1
The fool hath said in his
heart, [There is] no God. They are corrupt, they
have done abominable works, [there is] none that
doeth good.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
When they say, Peace and security, then sudden
destruction comes upon them, ...and they shall by no
means escape.
1 Timothy 4:10
We have set our hope on the living God, who is the
Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
_____________________________________________________________
Have you ever
considered why God made you? Are you fulfilling the
purpose of your existence? Everything on this earth
is made for a reason. Whenever a thing loses its
meaning, it is thrown away or left to disintegrate.
A watch is made to tell time. It is well kept and
maintained until it stops running and is
irreparable. Then it is thrown out and a replacement
is purchased.
Visible
Man Expressing the Invisible God
The Bible tells us
that man was made in the image of God to contain and
express God. God is invisible but He made a visible
man with the purpose that man might contain Him and
express all that He is in His divine attributes such
as love and righteousness, which are two of the many
attributes of the invisible God. Even though man was
made in the image of God, he still needs God as his
life in order to express God.
Man to God is like a glove to a hand. Man, the
glove, is made in the image of God, the hand. Yet
man the glove does not have God the hand inside him.
A glove has a thumb and four fingers; it is shaped
like a hand, yet it is not a hand. The hand needs to
be inserted into the glove to make the glove full
and meaningful. Without the hand, the glove is a
meaningless waste. One "finger" of God is love.
Another "finger" of God is righteousness. Man was
created with the shape of those "fingers" yet
without the reality of the "fingers" - God Himself.
Man's Love
Compared to God's Love
The situation of man
today is absolutely different from the original
intention of God for man. Man may love, but man's
love is selfish and short-lived. Man's love is
neither all-inclusive nor eternally lasting. Man
only loves the ones whom he prefers, the ones dear
to him. Even his love to these ones fluctuates. A
man may love a woman and marry her, yet dislike or
hate her after they are married because of something
that she does.
God's love is not like that. God's love is
impartial and eternal. God's love is eternal because
God is love and God is eternal. He cannot stop
loving man. God loved man even after man had sinned
against Him and had become His enemy. Although man
was destined to die eternally, God still loved man
to the uttermost. In order to rescue man from death
back to Himself so that man may express Him, He even
became a man - Jesus - to die for man. His love for
man caused Him to enter into man to live in man so
that He could be one with man eternally. His love is
ultimate and perfect. His love is all-inclusive and
eternal.
Man's
Righteousness Compared to God's Righteousness
Man also has a problem
with righteousness. Without God, it is impossible
for man to be righteous. Firstly, man is not right
with God. Man does not know his Creator and does not
care for Him. Man even became His enemy. Secondly,
man is not right with others. Some rob, some steal,
some lie, and some kill. Even some congressmen,
judges and policemen break the law that they
legislate or are supposed to uphold. Where is
righteousness? Some employees use company property
such as the telephone, office supplies, copy
machines, and computers for personal use. Some evade
taxes. Some borrow things and never return them.
Man
without God is full of unrighteousness.
God is righteous to
the uttermost. He is righteousness. He cannot be
unrighteous with Himself or with others. His kingdom
is established on righteousness. He does not
practice nepotism. Even though He loved man, He
still had to condemn man for man's unrighteousness,
based on His righteousness. But He Himself paid the
price for man - the death penalty - so that He could
forgive man. He came and died for man to satisfy His
righteousness so that man would not have to die but
could take Him in as life and live in Him. He is
truly the loving and righteous One.
Man Trying
to Be Like God
Because man was
created in the image of God, man has the desire to
be like God. But when man tries to love and be
righteous, he cannot do it. Man is weak in loving
and acting righteously but strong in hating and
acting unrighteously because man has a sinful nature
in him and lacks the life of God. It is not possible
for man to love and be righteous unless he receives
God into him. When God lives inside of man, man can
love and be as righteous as God.
The Mosaic
Law was a Picture of God
God decreed the law
through Moses 3,500 years ago. When the people of
God heard the law, they told Moses that they would
do whatever God said. Soon after that, they
completely failed with respect to the requirement of
the law. The reason that they all failed is that the
law is a picture of God and a description of God's
nature and actions. Only God can fulfill the law.
Fallen man could never fulfill the law.
Man continued to fail until Jesus Christ
came. Jesus, as a man, was the embodiment of God. He
was more than able to fulfill the law. He was the
only man that ever lived who could do that. He even
uplifted the law from merely restricting outward
acts to regulating inward feelings. For example, the
law forbade adultery. But Jesus said that even to
lust after a woman in one's heart is to commit
adultery. As another example, the law commanded
people not to murder. But Jesus said that even to
hate another person in one's heart is to commit
murder. No man of flesh can fulfill this law, no
matter how much he determines and tries. What
everyone needs is the life of God. Jesus not only
taught the higher law, but He was also able to
fulfill the law with ease. He is ready to do it
again within everyone who believes into Him,
receives Him as life, and lives according to the
Spirit of God who dwells in all believers. What is
impossible for fallen man is possible with God.
How to
Fulfill the Meaning of Our Human Existence
What you and I need is
to receive this God into us. When we contain and
express Him, we are fulfilling the meaning of our
existence. Without receiving Him into us, we cannot
express God in His love and righteousness; we are
meaningless and are a senseless contradiction on
this earth. Our existence becomes a waste.
Today, God's name is Jesus, because God
became a man named Jesus two thousand years ago. He
died and rose for us. He is now the Spirit. When we
call on His name, God comes into us as the Spirit.
He will fill our being with Himself so that we may
express all that He is. He will fulfill the purpose
of your existence.
Pray, "Lord Jesus, come into me to be my life. I
need You to live inside of me so that I may fulfill
Your purpose in creating me. I want to express You.
I do not want to be a senseless contradiction any
longer. Thank You, Lord, for dying for me and coming
into me."
Bible Verses for Your
Reading:
Genesis
1:26 And God
said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over all the
earth.
2 Timothy 3:2
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
boasters, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy.
Matthew 5:46
For if you love those who love you, what reward do
you have?
Jeremiah 31:3
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
John 3:16
For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that every one who believes into Him would not
perish, but would have eternal life.
Romans 5:8
But God commends His own love to us in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:10
For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more we will be
saved in His life.
John 14:23
If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My
Father will love him, and We will come to him and
make an abode with him.
Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold
down the truth in unrighteousness.
Romans 1:21
Because though they knew God, they did not glorify
Him as God or thank Him, but rather became vain in
their reasonings, and their heart, lacking
understanding, was darkened.
Romans 6:13
Neither present your members as weapons of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to
God as alive from the dead, and your members as
weapons of righteousness to God.
1 John 2:29
He is righteous.
Revelation 5:9
You were slain and have purchased for God by Your
blood men out of every tribe and tongue and people
and nation.
Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of offenses.
Hebrews 9:22
Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
1 John 5:12
He who has the Son has the life.
Romans 8:3
For that which the law could not do, in that it was
weak through the flesh.
Romans 7:17
Now then it is no longer I that work it out, but sin
that dwells in me.
Romans 7:19
For I do not do the good which I will; but the evil
which I do not will, this I practice.
John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; grace and
reality came through Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:9
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily.
Matthew 5:28
Every one who looks at a woman in order to lust
after her has already committed adultery with her in
his heart.
Matthew 5:22
Every one who is angry with his brother shall be
liable to the judgment.
Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or
the
prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to
fulfill.
Romans 8:4
That the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the
flesh but according to the spirit.
Luke 18:27
The things that are impossible with men are possible
with God.
2 Corinthians
3:17 And the
Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom.
John 20:22
And when He had said this, He breathed into them and
said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.
Romans 10:13
Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
_________________________________________________________________________
There are many
religions in the world. Nearly every religion claims
that it is the only right religion. It is very
confusing to people who are looking for the truth or
are looking for God. Who should they listen to? Who
has the right answer? Which religion is right? Or
are they all right? Are they all good, since they
basically teach people to be good? Are they all
wrong? Let us consider these questions.
The word "religion" in the Bible means
"ceremonial service and worship to God." This is
generally the primary definition found in
dictionaries. But today this word may be used to
refer to any set of beliefs, whether or not this set
of beliefs includes service and worship to God. This
is the secondary definition according to
dictionaries.
Most
Religions Teach People to be Good
Man wants to be good
because he was created in God's image with an inward
desire to be good, as God is good. Man also wants to
worship and serve God because man was created with a
spirit within him that is for contacting God; this
gives him a desire to seek after God. Wherever you
go on the earth, you will always find people
worshipping something, whether it be the true God or
many false, man-made gods. You can never find any
animal worshipping anything, because only man has a
spirit that causes an inner seeking to know and
worship God. Not having God living inside of him,
man still wants to express God. Not knowing God and
His intention, man nonetheless wants to worship and
serve someone. It is this inner seeking that gives
rise to religion.
Most religions, whether they are according
to the primary or the secondary definition, mainly
teach people to be good by trying to activate the
good nature that is within them. Generally, they
teach people to love, to help and not hurt others,
to do good deeds, etc. They may even teach various
methods of achieving these objectives. Most of these
teachings and methods are moral and ethical. At the
same time they teach their people to ask God for
help. They also promise that God will reward their
people if they do well. But there has been a big
problem concerning religion - neither the teachers
nor the followers can live according to their
standards. Although there is a willingness to follow
them, there is a lack of ability to do so. This is
because sin dwells in the flesh of man, preventing
man from living according to such standards. The
sinful nature, expressed in selfishness, strife,
jealousy, etc., always overtakes man, causing man to
fail. Many get frustrated and either look for
another religion, form their own new religion, or
give up on religion altogether. Religious man is
incapable of being absolutely good, and his worship
and service can never satisfy God.
All
Religions View God Differently
Religions have all
different views concerning God and different
approaches to God. Most of the time these views and
approaches are not according to the revelation of
God in His word. Some have the true God, yet their
worship and service are not according to His desire.
Some have false gods, so it does not matter what
rituals they have - they will never arrive at the
true God. Each religion describes its "God" or gods
as the right one(s), and they are all different. By
logic, either they are all false or only one is
true. Some people say that they believe God is this
way or that way, but God does not change according
to people's beliefs. People cannot create their own
God according to their concepts. People need to find
out who God is and what He wants with man. It is a
tragedy that many people give their entire life to
false gods. They will end up getting nothing. We
must find the one and only true God and establish
our relationship with Him.
Simple
Descriptions of Some Larger Religions
According to the
primary definition, there are mainly two religions -
Judiasm and Christianity which includes Catholicism
and Protestantism with its myriad of denominations.
Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are considered
deviants from Christianity. They are considered
heretical by Christians. Islam seems to be talking
about the same God, yet its book of Koran is a
composite of human philosophy and many teachings and
stories from the Bible. There are many other groups
which are religions according to the secondary
definition, such as Buddhism and Hinduism. These do
not believe in the God who is the Creator and a
Person.
Although Judaism teaches people to worship
the true God, it is not a religion set up by God.
The Jews did receive their original revelations from
God through Abraham and Moses, but they formed a
religion around Moses' five books of law and
developed many traditions. By the time God Himself
came as Jesus, they were already so far away from
God that they could not recognize Him. They used the
law to persecute Him and eventually killed Him.
Christianity is also not a religion set up
by God. Although it had its beginning with Christ
who was God, it also has deviated from the main line
of what God wanted to do. It still has the name of
Jesus and the Bible and talks about the death of
Christ for man's sin. However, it has degraded so
much that it is of little value and usefulness to
God.
Man Was
Created to be Full of God
The Bible tells us
that there is only one God who created the heaven,
the earth, and man. His intention in creating man is
to coinhere with man. In other words, He wants to
live in man so that man may live in Him. He wants to
be organically one with man. He created man in His
image so that man may have His life to be His
expression. Man was to love as God loves and live
righteously as God is righteous. God also wanted man
to have His authority to rule for Him, to keep a
good order on the earth, and to defeat His enemy
Satan. Man failed God by receiving Satan into him.
Thus, man was ruined for God's original intention.
God's Way to Bring Man Back, Apart from Any Religion
Religion can never fulfill God's intention
for man, but God, being eager to bring man back to
His intention, became a man Himself. Firstly, He
showed man how God could live in man and man in God.
His living was that of a man coinhering with God. He
expressed all that God is, and He was without sin.
Secondly, He died for sinful man so that man would
not have to die. Thirdly, He resurrected to be life
to all those who would believe and receive Him so
that He could live in them. Receiving Christ in such
a way restores man to God's original intention. Man
may receive God for God to live in him and he in
God. Then when man lives, God is living in and
through him. This is the greatest wonder in the
universe.
All
Religions Fail God's Purpose
If you see God's
intention, then you will see that no religion
understands this, and all are doomed to fail. Man on
his own cannot love or be righteous as God can love
and be righteous. No teaching, method, nor practice
can help man make it. Only Jesus Christ made it
because He is God incarnate. He is now available to
live in you so that He may make it again in you.
Then you will be enabled to have the highest
standard of morality, as Jesus Christ did, and to
express God on earth to fulfill His intention and
satisfy His heart's desire. What you need is not any
religion but the living Christ entering into you and
living in you and you in Him. What you need is
Jesus. Say, "Lord Jesus, I need You. I do not need
religion. I do not need to try harder. I need You to
be my life. Lord, come into me to live in me."
Bible
Verses for Your Reading:
Zechariah 12:1 The LORD, which stretches
forth the heaven, and lays the foundation of the
earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.
Haggai 2:7 And the desire of all nations shall come:
and I will fill this house with glory.
Romans 2:21 You therefore who teach another, do you
not teach yourself?
Romans 7:18, 20 For I know that in me, that is, in
my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is
present with me, but to work out the good is not.
But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no
longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.
John 17:3 That they may know You, the only true God,
and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.
Acts 7:2 The God of glory appeared to our father
Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia.
Acts 7:30 An Angel appeared to him[Moses].
Mark 7:6, 8 This people honors Me with their lips,
but their heart stays far away from Me; While
leaving the commandment of God, you hold the
tradition of men.
Acts 3:15 And the Author of life you killed.
2 Timothy 1:15 All who are in Asia turned away from
me.
2 Timothy 3:1, 5 But know this, that in the last
days difficult times will come. Having an outward
form of godliness, though denying its power; from
these also turn away.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My
Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
John 14:23 My Father will love him, and We will come
to him and make an abode with him.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion... over all the earth.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that every one who believes
into Him would not perish, but would have eternal
life.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and
to save that which is lost.
John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the
Word became flesh.
John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I
live because of the Father.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily.
1 Timothy 3:16 Great is the mystery of godliness: He
who was manifested in the flesh.
Hebrews 4:15 One who has been tempted in all
respects like us, yet without sin.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for
sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous,
that He might bring you to God.
1 Peter 1:3 Has regenerated us unto a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the authority to become children of God, to
those who believe into His name.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is
no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in
me.
Colossians 2:6 As therefore you have received the
Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,
____________________________________________________________________________
This is the most frequently asked question
concerning God. If God is loving, why do evil people
flourish and innocent people perish? Why does God
not step in to help, deliver, and save? Millions of
people died in World War II. Many innocent people
are still dying all around the world today in war
and in peace. Babies are born impaired. Children
become crippled. Adults become paralyzed. Old people
become invalids. There is senseless killing, lying,
cheating, stealing, and robbing between and within
nations and ethnic groups, in "bad neighborhoods"
and "good neighborhoods," and in families. Who are
the victims? Mostly the innocent - the children, the
aged, and the nice people. Where is God? Is He not a
loving God? Did He not create man? Why does He not
help? Why does He let it happen? Isn't He in
control? We need to go back to the beginning to see
why things are the way they are and if there is a
solution to this problem that all humanity faces.
The Battle of Two
Kingdoms
The Bible tells us that before man was created,
Lucifer, the archangel who was the ruler over the
earth, had rebelled against God and become God's
enemy, Satan. The earth had become the kingdom of
Satan. Then there was a struggle between the two
kingdoms - God's and Satan's.
Man is to Express God
and Rule for God
Man was made by God in His image to express God and
rule for God. To express God is to love as God
loves, be righteous as God is righteous, and so on.
God has many divine attributes, and man was created
with the corresponding human virtues. Man is
supposed to live a life that expresses God's divine
attributes through his human virtues. To rule for
God is to be God's deputy authority, king of the
earth, to overthrow and replace Satan and to bring
in God's kingdom of love and righteousness.
Man was created perfectly. He would not get
sick or die. God provided everything that man would
need to live, to express God, and to rule for God.
For man's physical existence, God gave man air,
water, food, and sunshine. To make the environment
pleasant for man, God made trees, flowers, and
grass. To make the earth a lively place, God made
the animals. For man to fulfill his function -
expressing God and ruling for God - God made a
spirit within man and set man before the tree of
life. The tree of life signifies God becoming life
to man. If man would take God into his spirit by
eating the tree of life, man would have God as life
and be able to express God and to rule for God.
The Greatest Tragedy
of the Universe
Although God's intention would have been fulfilled
if man ate from the tree of life, God still allowed
man to choose between Him and Satan - signified by
the tree of knowledge. Satan came in disguise, in
trickery, and deceived man by making the tree of
knowledge seem very pleasant. Man chose the tree of
knowledge. Instead of God's life, man received the
satanic life into himself, resulting in sin, evil,
and death. The satanic life has been growing in man
for the last six thousand years.
Because man took in Satan's life, man is
under the control of the satanic nature inwardly as
well as the authority of Satan outwardly. The Bible
calls Satan "the god of this age." Man is blinded by
him. Man is lying in the hand of this evil one and
is unconscious of what the evil one is doing to and
in him. Satan's desire is to ruin and kill man. The
real and living God created man, but the god of this
age got into man. The universal tragedy is that the
very man who was to be king living in God's kingdom
has become a slave dying in Satan's kingdom. Satan
is destroying the man God created, so that the
condition today is not God's original intention.
God's Way of Saving
Man from Suffering
God loved man and still wanted to save man from
suffering back to Himself. However, even He had to
acknowledge the authority which had been set up. It
would have been unrighteous for God to remove this
deputy authority without the proper procedure. Also,
without the preparation of a proper replacement,
there would be a big chaos. With this in view, He
took some definite steps to bring about the defeat
of Satan and to bring in His own kingdom. First, He
came to earth as a man named Jesus Christ 2000 years
ago. He as a man set up a pattern for us, showing us
how man may love one another and be righteous by
God's life. Although He acknowledged the authority
of Satan over the earth and was subject to his
ruling outwardly, He did not succumb to Satan's
temptations. He was the one-man kingdom of God.
Satan had nothing in Him. Jesus did not have the
satanic nature; therefore He was inwardly free from
the tyranny of Satan. Yet He did not as a single man
take back the earth. This job requires many of us to
join Him.
For this He died to pay a ransom for all
mankind in order to redeem them from God's righteous
judgment of sin and resurrected to be man's life.
Now the way has been reopened for man to take God in
as life and express and rule for God, to become just
like Him and together to defeat His enemy and bring
in His kingdom.
All this happened 2000 years ago, yet most people
have not heard about or received this good news. The
world is still in chaos because so many are under
Satan's deception and control to resist God and live
by the sinful nature.
The Way to Stop All
Suffering
If you want to get out of this chaos, and
save the world from Satan's kingdom, you need to
save yourself first by receiving God into you
through calling on His name. Then He will start the
process of salvation inside of you. At the same
time, you need to spread the good news abroad to
your acquaintances. When enough people on earth are
filled up with the God of love and righteousness,
the kingdom of God will be brought in. People will
be living in peace, loving one another. There will
be no more robbing nor senseless killing. All forms
of evil will be removed from the earth. Would you
like to see this in your lifetime? What should you
do?
You may turn from Satan's kingdom of
darkness to God's kingdom of light, from Satan's
authority of death to God's authority of life. Say
to God, "Lord Jesus, come into me. Deliver me from
Satan's kingdom into Your kingdom. Forgive me of all
that I did under the tyranny of Satan. Save me now."
You will become a part of what God is doing in man
to end all the suffering in the world and to bring
His kingdom to the earth.
Bible
Verses for Your Reading
Luke 4:6 And the devil said to Him, To
You I will give all this authority and their glory,
because to me it has been delivered.
Isaiah 14:12-15 O Lucifer...! ...For thou hast said
in thine heart ...I will be like the most High. Yet
thou shalt be brought down to hell.
Colossians 1:13 Who delivered us out of the
authority of darkness and transferred us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our
image, ...let them have dominion.
Matthew 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 22:39 Love your neighbor as yourself.
2 Corinthians 5:21 That we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground made the LORD God to
grow every tree...; the tree of life..., and the
tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Zechariah 12:1 The LORD... forms the spirit of man
within him.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle.... And
he said unto the woman.
2 Corinthians 11:3 The serpent deceived Eve.
Romans 5:12 Therefore just as through one man sin
entered into the world, and through sin, death.
Ephesians 4:17-19 The Gentiles also walk in the
vanity of their mind, ...alienated from the life of
God..., because of the hardness of their heart;
Who... have given themselves over to lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness in greediness.
Romans 7:23 But I see a different law in my members,
...making me a captive to the law of sin.
2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this age has
blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the
illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God, might not shine on them.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the
whole world lies in the evil one.
Hebrews 2:14-15 Through death He might destroy him
who has the might of death, that is, the devil, and
might release those... held in slavery.
Romans 5:8 But God commends His own love to us in
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word..., and
the Word was God. And the Word became flesh.
Matthew 1:21 You shall call His name Jesus, for it
is He who will save His people from their sins.
John 6:57 I live because of the Father.
1 John 4:7 Love is of God, and everyone who loves
has been begotten of God and knows God.
Matthew 4:9-10 And he said to Him, All these will I
give You if You will fall down and worship me. Then
Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan!
John 14:30 The ruler of the world is coming, and in
Me he has nothing.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for
sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous,
that He might bring you to God.
1 Peter 1:3 God... has regenerated us unto a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:45 The last Adam became a
life-giving Spirit.
Hebrews 10:20 Which entrance He initiated for us as
a new and living way through the veil.
1 John 5:11 God gave to us eternal life... in His
Son.
Galatians 2:20 It is Christ who lives in me.
Revelation 20:6 They will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Revelation 11:15 The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ
Acts 2:40 Be saved from this crooked generation.
Acts 2:21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on
the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Mark 5:19 Go... to your own people, and report to
them... how He has had mercy on you.
2 Peter 3:13 We are expecting new heavens and a new
earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 21:3-4 God Himself will be with them and
be their God. ...Death will be no more, nor will
there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore.
Acts 26:18 To turn them from darkness to light and
from the authority of Satan to God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance.
__________________________________________________________________
Whenever a natural calamity such as an
earthquake, firestorm, flood, etc. occurs, people
wonder when the world will end. It is a serious
question that cannot be ignored. Some ask this
question because they are afraid to die. Others are
afraid of the day of judgment, while still others
are hoping that God will quickly bring an end to
this ugly mess that we are in and bring in His
kingdom of love and righteousness so that man may
live in peace and joy.
God, the only authority qualified to answer
this question, has spoken through His faithful
prophets, and His speaking has been written down and
compiled into one book, the Bible. Here we will
answer this question according to the Bible and see
how the present world will end.
God's Purpose of
Creation
We
must understand why God created the heaven and the
earth before we can understand when it will end.
God's purpose in creation is to have a group of
people created in His image, filled with Him as
life, built up as a corporate man to express Him and
to rule for Him over the whole earth. This indicates
to us that the world will not end without this
corporate man being built. God is still working on
this masterpiece, and you can be a part of it.
The Earth is Being
Used Up
The universe was created at least a billion years
ago. Ever since God created man six thousand years
ago, man has been using the earth's resources. In
the past century, man's consumption of these
resources has increased dramatically, to the point
that they are rapidly dwindling. If usage continues
at its present rate, our affordable oil reserves
probably will last no more than 50 years. If we
don't find another source of energy, cars will stop
running and electrical blackouts will be frequent.
The gaping holes in the ozone layer may dramatically
increase the incidence of skin cancer. Carbon
dioxide is increasing; the globe may become warmer,
and weather patterns may change, with more droughts
and flooding damaging farmlands and cities. Forests
are diminishing; there will be less habitat for
wildlife and less vegetation to create oxygen.
Aquifer levels are decreasing; there will be
shortages of water where it is most needed. Chemical
and nuclear wastes are seeping into our fresh water
supply and into the sea; this could result in more
cancer and illness related to polluted drinking
water and seafood. The air is being polluted every
second; respiratory problems are bound to increase.
The world population is exploding exponentially. The
supply of food and other essentials needed for
survival will soon be exceeded by the demand. Even
without a major nuclear confrontation, the earth, in
30 to 50 years, will not be the same as the planet
we inhabit today. The Bible tells us that one day
the earth's usefulness will be over, and it will be
rolled up like an old garment to be burned.
Three Major
Prophecies Signaling the End
The Bible does not say exactly when the world will
end, but it gives us three main signs to watch for:
1) the recovery of the nation of Israel, 2) the
return of Jerusalem to Israel, and 3) the signing of
a treaty between the antichrist and Israel. When we
see these signs, we will know that the end is near.
The Bible prophesied that the nation of
Israel would be formed again. The nation of Israel
lost its kingdom about 2,600 years ago, but the
Bible prophesied that Israel, the fig tree, would
bud again. Nobody suspected that it would be
possible. Hitler tried to destroy the whole race
through genocide, and that would have prevented it
from happening. Hitler died, but the people whom he
had tried to destroy became the nation of Israel in
1948.
The Bible also prophesied that Jerusalem
would be trampled under the feet of the nations
(people other than Israel) until the world was about
to end. That trampling ended in 1967 when Jerusalem
was returned to Israel.
The last sign is the signing of the treaty between
the antichrist and the nation of Israel. We don't
know who will be the antichrist, but we know that he
will be the ruler over ten nations situated in
Europe where the ancient Roman Empire was, and that
he will make a deal with Israel. The content of the
deal is not clearly stated in the Bible, but many
Bible students agree that it should contain terms
concerning peace and the rebuilding of the temple.
Once the treaty is signed, there will be seven years
left until the end of the world.
The Way the World
Will End
The Bible also tells us how the world will end. Here
are the highlights. The final seven years before the
end of the world are divided into two sections of
three and half years each. The first three and a
half years will be peaceful. At the end of that
period, God will have finished His work of producing
a corporate man full of Him as life. These people
are overcomers. Then He will take them up to heaven.
There they will defeat Satan, the devil, and cast
him down to earth. Then an unclean spirit will enter
into the antichrist and Satan will give him his
power. This will begin the last three and a half
years of the world. The Bible calls this period the
Great Tribulation. The earth at that time will not
be a place where anyone would like to live.
Antichrist will do much damage to humanity, and, at
the same time, there will be many natural and
supernatural disasters. At the end of the final
three and a half years, Christ and His overcomers
will come down from heaven to crush antichrist and
his army at Armageddon. Then the kingdom of God will
be brought down to earth, and Satan will be locked
up for a thousand years. At the end of the thousand
years, Satan will be released for a little while. He
will do more damage, but then he will be thrown into
the Lake of Fire. He and all of his collaborators
will be burned there for ever and ever. But the
people who are filled with God will live in God and
with God for eternity on the renewed earth. There
will be joy, peace, and righteousness. There will be
no tears, shortage, sickness, theft,
unrighteousness, or death.
If you do not want to be in the Great
Tribulation, you need to repent to God today and get
filled up with Him as your life. If you want to
escape Satan's damage and God's judgment, you need
to call on God by saying, "O Lord Jesus! Transfer me
from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. I
want to live in You and with You for eternity. Come
into me to be my life. I need You now." Then you
will enter into God's salvation.
Bible
Verses for Your Reading:
Matthew 24:36 But concerning that
day and hour, no one knows, ...but the Father only.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our
image...: and let them have dominion.
Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints...
unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His masterpiece.
Hebrews 1:10-12 The heavens are the works of Your
hands; They will perish... and they all will become
old like a garment, And like a mantle You will roll
them up.
2 Peter 3:12 The day of God... the heavens, being on
fire, will be dissolved, and the elements, burning
with intense heat, are to be melted away.
Hosea 9:10 I saw your fathers as the firstripe in
the fig tree at her first time.
Matthew 24:32 The fig tree: As soon as its branch
has become tender and puts forth its leaves, you
know that the summer is near.
Luke 21:24 And... Jerusalem will be trampled by the
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with
many for one week: and in the midst of the week he
shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
and... he shall make [it] desolate.
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a son, a
man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with
an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God.
Revelation 12:9-11 And... Satan... was cast to the
earth.... Now has come... the kingdom of our God...,
for the accuser of our brothers has been cast
down.... And they overcame him.
Revelation 14:1 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb...,
and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand.
Revelation 13:2 The dragon gave him his power.
Matthew 24:21 There will be great tribulation.
Revelation 3:10 The hour of trial, which is about to
come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them.
Revelation 11:13 And in that hour there was a great
earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell.
Revelation 16:16 And they gathered them to the place
which in Hebrew is called, Armageddon.
Revelation 19:13-16 His name is called the Word of
God. And the armies which are in heaven followed Him
on white horses.... And He treads the winepress of
the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Revelation 17:14 These will make war with the Lamb,
and the Lamb... and they who are with Him will...
overcome them.
Revelation 19:20 And the beast was seized, and with
him the false prophet.... These two were cast alive
into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone.
Revelation 11:15 The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He
will reign forever and ever.
Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold of... Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them,
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.
Revelation 22:3, 5 And there will no longer be a
curse. And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be
in it, and His slaves will serve Him; ...They will
reign forever and ever.
Revelation 21:3-4 Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, ...and God Himself will be with them and
be their God. And He will wipe away every tear from
their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will
there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore.
Matthew 4:17 Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens
has drawn near.
Ephesians 5:18-19 Be filled in spirit, Speaking...
John 10:10 I have come that they may have life.
2 Peter 3:13 We are expecting new heavens and a new
earth, in which righteousness dwells.
John 3:5 Unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Acts 2:38 Repent and each one of you be baptized
upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins, and you will receive the... Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:10 For if we, being enemies, were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much
more we will be saved in His life.
Romans 1:16 The gospel... is the power of God unto
salvation to every one who believes.
____________________________________________________________________
Many people are concerned about what happens
after death. Some say death is the absolute end of
life, therefore, they live a life without fear of
consequences. Others say that after death there will
be a coming judgment for which people must prepare
by living properly now.
There Will Be
Judgment and Life after Death
The Bible tells us that God exists and a life other
than our physical, tangible realm of here and now
also exists. What we can see is temporal and is
created by God, whom we cannot see. It is the
eternal and invisible God who, for a purpose,
created what is visible, including the earth, the
trees, the animals, and human beings. Just as God is
in the realm of eternity, so the life after death
determined by the coming judgment of God is also
after this presently visible realm.
Two Main Types of
Life after Death
1) Those who
fulfill God's purpose of creation, that is,
those who believe that Christ died for their
sins and resurrected for their justification and
who take God in as life to become one with Him,
will be with God, one with God, and ruling with
God over the whole earth. This is the best
possible thing that can happen to someone after
death.
2) Those who are without God today will be
apart from the loving God for eternity. They
will suffer pain in the lake of fire, being
burnt together with Satan (the devil) and his
fallen angels. The lake of fire was not prepared
for man but for Satan and his angels. However,
all mankind became one with Satan as a result of
the fall of Adam. Because some do not turn back
to God in spite of many warnings and
opportunities, God will have to give them up to
spend eternity with Satan and share in his
torment. This is the worst type of life after
death. We hope that as many as possible will
turn to God and be spared, especially you who
are reading this.
The Deciding Factor
for which Type You'll Have
In
order to live a life that will prepare us to face
the coming judgment, we must first find out what
will be rewarded and what will be disapproved. Many
people have the misconception that a person who does
good deeds while living on earth will go to heaven,
whereas a person who does evil things will go to
hell. This concept is not according to the Bible. If
you read the two types of life after death
carefully, you will see something different. The
deciding factor for what one's life will be like for
eternity is not one's behavior while on earth but
rather whether or not one has believed Christ's
death and resurrection and received God as life.
Man's Problem
Although man was created by God to contain Him, man
was still given the choice to take God as life or to
take Satan. Man chose to take Satan, who then
entered man and became the sinful nature in man. Man
became a sinner in his constitution and full of sins
in his actions. There is now an element within man
which loves unrighteousness and hates righteousness,
which loves sin and darkness and hates light. All
that God desired man to be, man is not. Man without
God remains in sin and is dead in his spirit, the
very part of man which was created to contact and
contain God. If man does not repent, man is doomed
to remain with Satan for eternity.
God's Salvation
But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great
love with which He loves man, is not willing to see
His created man become a victim of Satan and end up
in the lake of fire with Satan. It is this love
which motivated God to become a man to join in with
victimized humanity, to die as the perfect
substitute to rescue man from destruction. He then
resurrected to become a life-giving Spirit to give
life to all who would believe and receive Him.
When you receive Him into you, He will bring
the life of God into you. God will be your life and
be one with you. Then you must allow Him to grow in
you to fill your whole being. This will deliver you
from the Satanic nature that has been in you since
your birth. The more He grows in you, the more
you'll be free from Satan's tyranny. You will love
as God loves. You will be righteous as God is
righteous. You will express all God's divine
attributes, such as love, light, holiness,
righteousness, kindness, etc. After living with God,
in God, and one with God on the earth, you will
certainly be approved at the judgment. You will
definitely have a life with God, because you already
will have been enjoying His eternal life during this
physical life.
If you have not yet turned back to God and
received His life through Jesus Christ, your life is
still filled with Satan, and you are condemned
already. It does not matter how much good you try to
do, you will never be that good. You may be
righteous sometimes, but not all the time. You may
show love to all people, but you may actually hate
some of them secretly inside your heart. This is not
because you have no desire to be an upright person,
but because you lack the empowering of the divine
life. God is God and Satan is Satan. If you have
Satan but not God, you can never be perfect in this
life, and you will definitely be in the lake of fire
with Satan after the judgment. If you have God
living inside of you, you may be as perfect as God
in this life, and you will definitely be with God
and one with God eternally. What you need is to
receive Jesus by calling on His name and admitting
to Him that you are a sinner and that you need Him
as your salvation.
Pray this way: "O
Lord Jesus, I know that You have created me. I
know that I have sin and do not have Your life.
I believe that You died for me. Lord Jesus, come
into me to be my life. I want to be with You now
and forever." Then you need to read the Bible
and pray every day and meet with believers in
oneness so that you may grow up into Him and be
built with God's people. By this, you will be
assured of your destiny.
Bible Verses for
Your Reading:
2 Corinthians 4:18
The things which are seen are temporary, but the
things which are not seen are eternal.
Ephesians 3:9,11 They may see what the economy
of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has
been hidden in God, who created all things...
According to the eternal purpose which He made
in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Colossians 1:16 Because in Him all things were
created... the visible and the invisible,
1 Timothy 1:17 The King of the ages,...
invisible, the only God
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is reserved for
men to die once, and after this comes judgment,
John 3:16-18 Every one who believes into Him
would not perish, but would have eternal life...
he who does not believe has been condemned
already,
Romans 5:8 But God commends His own love to us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us.
Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised for our justification.
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the
Lord is one spirit.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am
in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Revelation 22:5,7 The Lord God will shine upon
them; and they will reign forever and ever. He
who overcomes will inherit these things, and I
will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and
you want to do the desires of your father.
Ephesians 2:12 You were... apart from Christ,
...having no hope and without God in the world.
Matthew 25:41 Go away from Me... into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels.
Romans 1:28 They did not approve of holding God
in their full knowledge, God gave them up
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 You turned... to serve a
living and true God and await His Son... who
delivers us from the wrath which is coming.
Genesis 2:9 The tree of life also in the midst
of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good
and evil.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose
life
Romans 5:19 Through the disobedience of one man
the many were constituted sinners,
Romans 7:20 If what I do not will, this I do, it
is no longer I that work it out but sin that
dwells in me.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship
Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
John 3:19 This is the condemnation, that the
light has come... and men loved the darkness
rather than the light, for their works were
evil.
John 12:46 I have come as a light into the
world, that every one who believes into Me would
not remain in darkness.
Ephesians 2:1-5 And you, though dead in your
offenses and sins... we also all conducted
ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh... and
were by nature children of wrath... but God,
being rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead
in offenses, made us alive together with Christ
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once
for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the
unrighteous, that He might bring you to God
Romans 5:18 As it was through one offense unto
condemnation to all men, so also it was through
one righteous act unto justification of life to
all men.
1 Corinthians 15:45 The last Adam became a
life-giving Spirit.
John 7:39 This He said concerning the Spirit,
whom those who believed into Him were about to
receive
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, long for the
guileless milk of the word in order that by it
you may grow...
Ephesians 4:15 But holding to truth in love, we
may grow up into Him in all things
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of
death into life because we love the brothers.
Mark 10:18 No one is good except One God.
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, not even
one
Philippians 4:13 I am able to do all things in
Him who empowers me.
Matthew 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as
your heavenly Father is perfect.
Romans 10:13 Whoever calls upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:38 Repent and... baptized upon the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.
_____________________________________________________________
Why Be a
Christian (When Many are Hypocrites)?
Why be a
Christian when many are hypocrites? It is true that many Christians are
hypocrites and are not as good as you are. You probably have never killed
anyone, robbed a bank, or swindled money from others, whereas some Christians
you know personally may have mistreated or defrauded you. Famous preachers of
Christianity have reportedly swindled hard-earned dollars from others. Some
priests may have committed fornication. Some pastors do not practice what they
preach. There seems to be no reason for you to become a Christian when many
Christians, even Christian leaders, are hypocrites. Except for one reason -
Jesus Christ your Creator died for your sins and wants to be your life!
Jesus Christ was Not a Hypocrite
Jesus
Christ was not a hypocritical Christian. He practiced what He preached. He
taught people to be righteous, and He Himself was righteous. He never defrauded
anyone, including the government. He never mistreated His creatures; rather, He
was mistreated by many, yet He taught people to have compassion on others, and
He even fed the poor. He was not greedy. He never swindled any hard-earned money
from others; rather, He gave up His glorious throne in the heavens to be with
man. He taught people to be kind, and He healed the sick without taking a penny
from them. He never committed fornication; rather, He honored marriage. He
taught people to be merciful, and He rescued a sinner from being stoned and did
not stone all her accusers who were also worthy of being stoned. He taught
people to love their neighbors as themselves, and He loved man and died for man.
As He was dying, He even prayed that the unrighteous mockers around His cross
would be forgiven. He kept His promises. He told His disciples that He would die
and resurrect, and He resurrected on the third day so that He could be life to
all who would receive Him. He was the first Christian. He was the pattern for
all Christians. Now He wants to live inside of you so that you too may be a real
Christian.
False Christians are Hypocrites
There
are people who call themselves Christians but do not contain the life of God.
For sure these are not Christians. Although they may claim to be Christians,
everything they do is out of themselves and not out of the inward empowering of
the divine life. It is not surprising that some of them mistreat others.
Defeated Christians became Hypocrites
There
are people who are Christians, who have received the one and only Christian -
Jesus Christ - into them, yet do not live by Christ, live for Christ, live out
Christ, and live Christ. They are real Christians, yet they do not live a
proper, normal Christian life. They do not live a life that expresses God. God
is love. God is righteousness. A true Christian, living in God, should express
God in His love and righteousness. He would never cheat or mistreat others.
Christians who mistreat others are still Christians, but at the moment that they
are mistreating others they are not practicing Christians. All Christians have
been like that to some degree sometimes. Only Jesus was never a hypocrite.
Real, Practicing Christians Express Christ
There
are some genuine, practicing Christians who have received Christ and are one
with Christ. They did not receive Christ by coercion or for convenience. They
were not just mentally convinced or converted. They received GOD into them.
Their living is becoming Christ-like, and they are not faking it. Christ is
living in them and they are living in Christ. Christ has become their life that
they may live out Christ. They live more and more by the Spirit of God who
indwells them. They not only take Christ's living on earth as their pattern, but
they also live the same way as Christ by the Spirit's bountiful supply. The
Spirit is the dynamic power in them causing them to express God. They are like
Christ living again on earth. They love people as Christ loved people. They are
righteous as Christ was righteous. They are little christs. For to them to live
is Christ. Christ lives in them to express God through them.
You Need to be a True Christian
You
should not be a false Christian or a defeated Christian. Even some priests,
clergymen, pastors, or preachers may be of these types. They may misrepresent
God to others, but you should be a genuine, practicing, and overcoming
Christian. It is worthwhile to be this kind of Christian.
Whether or not you should be a
Christian does not depend on the existence of the first type or the second type.
You should be a Christian because God created you to contain Him, to be one with
Him, and to express Him. You should be a Christian because you will have to pay
the penalty for your own sins unless you accept the payment which has already
been made for you by Christ's substitutionary death. You should be a Christian
because you need Christ to bring God's life into you. You should be a Christian
because you need to be a Christian. Even if everyone else is a hypocritical
Christian, you need to be a Christian. Even if no one else is a Christian, you
still need to be a Christian. Being a Christian is a matter of necessity and
truth. You need God, and God needs you. Being a Christian is a matter strictly
between you and your Creator. No one can decide for you. No one can pressure
you. You do not need to look at anybody else. You need to be a Christian for
yourself and God.
How to Become a True Christian
If you
want to accept Christ's substitutionary death on your behalf, if you want
Christ's life to come into you, if you do not want to be a false or defeated
Christian, if you do not want to be a hypocritical Christian, but you want to be
a genuine Christian, say to the Lord Jesus, "Lord Jesus, I thank You for Your
death for me. I want to receive You as my life. I want to be a real Christian.
Make me one with You. Come live in me now, and cause me to live in You to
express You." Then you need to join other true Christians to learn how to let
God's life grow in you so that you may express God more and more.
Bible Verses for Your Reading:
1 Corinthians 15:3 Christ died for our sins.
Romans 5:8 But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
1 Peter 1:18-19 You were redeemed... with precious blood, as of a Lamb without
blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ.
Hebrews 9:22 Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
John 10:10 I have come that they may have life.
John 5:21 The Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives
life to whom He wills.
John 5:40 Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is He who comes down out of heaven and gives life
to the world.
Matthew 22:21 Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar and the things
that are God's to God.
John 5:16 The Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him.
Matthew 15:32 I am moved with compassion for the crowd, because... they do not
have anything to eat. And I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they
faint on the way.
Matthew 14:14 He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.
Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who,
existing in the form of God... But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave,
becoming in the likeness of men... He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even
unto death, and that the death of a cross.
Mark 10:11 He said... Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits
adultery against her.
Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman in order to
lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
John 8:7, 10, 11 He... said... He who is without sin among you, let him be the
first to throw a stone at her. And Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where
are they? Has no one condemned you? And she said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said,
Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.
Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing.
Matthew 16:21 Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things... and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Acts 10:40 This One, God raised on the third day.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ.
Colossians 1:27 Christ in you, the hope of glory.
John 15:4 Abide in Me and I in you.
Galatians 2:20 It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
Romans 8:11 The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.
Philippians 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through
your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:31 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word
of God with boldness.
Ezekiel 34:2-3 Woe [be] to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!
should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with
the wool, ye kill them that are fed.
John 10:12-15 He who is a hireling and not the shepherd... sees the wolf coming
and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He
flees because he is a hireling and it does not matter to him concerning the
sheep. I am the good Shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me... I lay
down My life for the sheep.
Romans 9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon
vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the
excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Meekness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord
___________________________________________________________
What is a
Born-again Christian?
A recent national survey found that about fifty percent of the American
population claimed to be "born-again Christians." What is meant by the term
"born-again Christian," and what is the understanding of those people who call
themselves "born-again Christians?"
What Is a Christian?
The term
"Christian" comes from the Greek word "christianos," which means Christ-man, or
an adherent of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, this word was first used as a
nickname, a term of reproach, because the believers must have given others a
feeling that they were absolute for Christ. The apostle Peter used it later to
remind the believers to stand firm for Christ and not be ashamed. Thus, a
Christian is a person who is totally full of Christ, occupied by Christ, living
for Christ, living out Christ to express Christ, and even living Christ. By this
definition, most people who call themselves Christians actually are not. They
might have believed and received Christ, yet they are not living as adherents of
Christ.
Who Is Christ?
The name
"Christ" (translated from the Hebrew word for Messiah) means the anointed One.
Christ was anointed with a special commission. In Genesis, God had created man
to contain Him as life and to be one with Him. However, instead of taking God as
life, man took in Satan and was defiled, corrupted, and condemned to die
eternally. The Old Testament progressively reveals that, because He loved the
man whom He created, God wanted to redeem man from the righteous judgment due to
sin, save man from the corruption of Satan in his nature, be man's life, and
build man up as His living house, His dwelling place in spirit, so that God and
man could be one forever. Christ was anointed to accomplish this commission. A
Christian is part of Christ, His continuation and increase. A Christian is
someone who has been anointed together with Him to fulfill His commission in
union with Him. Together, all Christians corporately are the enlarged Christ.
Who Is Jesus?
The
Bible tells us that, in fulfilling this commission, Christ became a man named
Jesus approximately two thousand years ago. "Jesus" means Jehovah our Savior,
our salvation. "Jehovah" is the ever-existing God. Jehovah is the name God used
before He became a man. After He became a man, He used the name Jesus. To us,
Jehovah is the God of heaven sitting on the throne, whereas Jesus is Jehovah
becoming a man to be our Savior, not only to die for us on the cross, to save us
from our sins and from eternal perdition, but also to save us as our life inside
from the corruption of Satan, saving us into Himself as our salvation and our
dwelling place. The Christ into whom Christians believe and to whom they are
joined as one is this crucified, resurrected, and exalted God-man, Jesus.
What Did Jesus Do for Us?
Christ
Jesus lived a genuine and perfect human life to express God. He went to the
cross to die for man because He was the only man throughout history qualified to
be a substitute. The righteous One died for the unrighteous ones. He also
crushed Satan to free man from his power of darkness. He resurrected on the
third day to become a life-giving Spirit. He prepared Himself and made Himself
available to man as life. He removed the sin that man should not have had. He
redeemed man and prepared him as a cleansed vessel. Now He wants to give man the
life he needs. All man has to do is to receive His salvation and take Him as
life.
First Birth versus Second Birth
From our
physical birth by our human parents, we have a dying physical body; a corrupted
psychological organ (the soul), consisting of the mind, emotion, and will; and a
spirit that is dead and incapable of contacting God. By receiving Christ as our
Savior, we are born of God. The Spirit of God comes into our human spirit to
regenerate it, enliven it, with the life of God. This is to be born again. First
we are born of our parents, then we are born of God. The first birth gives us
the opportunity to have the second birth. The first birth produces us as a dirty
vessel; the second birth cleanses us and fills us with the divine and eternal
life of God. The first birth destines us to die; the second birth results in
life eternal. In the first birth we are cursed, but in the second we are
blessed, not with material riches but with God.
A born-again Christian, therefore, is
a person who has made his beginning, receiving Christ as his new life in his
spirit. Every genuine Christian is a born-again Christian, and once a person has
been born again he can never lose this divine life within him. As he continues
by living as a Christ-man, his thoughts, his speech, and his deeds become those
which are out from Christ, in Christ, for Christ, and expressing Christ.
How to be Born Again
If you
sense the oldness and deadness, the emptiness and vanity, the confusion and
frustration, and the tragic destiny of the first life, you need Jesus. Only He
can enliven you by bringing the life of God into you to give you a new birth, a
new life. Only thus can you be born again to be a Christian, a Christ-man, an
adherent of Jesus Christ, full of life, joy, peace, rest, purpose, and
fulfillment in God.
Say to Him boldly, "Lord Jesus, I
need You as my Savior. Save me from eternal death. Give me God's life. I want to
be born again of God. Make me a Christian." Then you will receive the life of
God to make you a born-again Christian.
Bible Verses for Your
Reading:
Acts 11:26 The disciples were first called
Christians in Antioch.
1 Peter 4:16 But if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify
God in this name.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to
announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the
captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who
are oppressed.
Acts 10:38 Jesus, the One from Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy
Spirit and with power.
Hebrews 1:9 Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your
partners.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image... and let them have
dominion.
John 10:10 I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.
Romans 5:12 Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately
wicked: who can know it?
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8 But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16 Every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have
eternal life.
Hebrews 2:14-15 That through death He might destroy him who has the might of
death, that is, the devil, And might release those who were held in slavery.
Colossians 3:4 Christ our life.
Ephesians 2:22 In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place
of God in spirit.
2 Corinthians 1:21 But the One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and
has anointed us is God.
1 Corinthians 12:12 All the members of the body, being many, are one body, so
also is the Christ.
Matthew 1:21 You shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His
people from their sins.
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM.
Exodus 6:3 By my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Jonah 1:9 I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the
dry [land].
Romans 5:10 We will be saved in His life.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from
the law of sin and of death.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
Hebrews 4:15 One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf
of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God.
1 Peter 2:9 You may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light.
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that He was buried, and that He has been raised on the
third day.
1 Corinthians 15:45 The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into
Him were about to receive.
Ephesians 2:1 And you, though dead in your offenses and sins.
John 3:5-6 Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to
become children of God, to those who believe into His name, Who were begotten...
of God.
Romans 5:17 Those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 God... has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenlies in Christ.
Ephesians 3:16 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to
be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man.
Romans 6:4 We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His
death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory
of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old
things have passed away; behold, they have become new.
John 10:28 And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish
forever.
Ephesians 4:17 This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer
walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Meekness, self-control.
_______________________________________________________________
What is the
Meaning of Baptism
The word
"baptize" means to dip into or to immerse. Hence "baptism" is immersion. This
term has been used by Christians for many years to denote a ritual of sprinkling
some water on new believers, "christening" babies, or immersing people into
water upon conversion. However, this word has a much deeper meaning and
significance.
Crossing the Red Sea Symbolizes Baptism
The
story in Exodus fully symbolizes baptism. When the people of God, the children
of Israel, were enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt, God sent Moses to bring them out
of bondage into Canaan, the good land which He had promised them. Pharaoh
signifies Satan, usurping and enslaving the God-created people. Egypt signifies
the Satanic world, which is the means by which Satan possesses, distracts, and
enslaves the God-created people so that they are not able to come to God. People
toil all their lives in this world. Some are successful in accumulating riches,
power, status, fame, etc. Many more have mediocre achievements. Yet all
accomplishments and achievements may be chains that bind. Most live in poverty
and strife, having no peace or rest. This, too, is a form of bondage. Rich or
poor, all are under slavery all their lives, and all are dying and die, bringing
nothing with them. This world is a gigantic system of slavery. Both the "bond"
and the "free" are under Satan's usurpation.
The Good Land Signifies God as Everything to Man
The good
land signifies God being the complete enjoyment for His people. God's people, as
His kingdom, should live in and labor on the good land so that they may have God
as their food, drink, clothing, housing, and protection.
Moses Signifies Jesus being Our Salvation
Moses
signifies Jesus Christ the Savior coming to defeat Satan to free His people from
this enslaving world. Christ wants to redeem all the God-created people and
bring them into Himself as the good land so that they will live in Him and He
will live in them. He and they will become a mutual abode. He will be their life
and they will be His living. He will dwell and act in them and they will be His
habitation and expression.
God's People were Saved through Water
In order
for Moses to save the children of Israel from Pharaoh and his pursuing army, he
needed to bring them across the Red Sea. By the power of God, he opened up the
Red Sea for the people to pass through. When Pharaoh and his army tried to
follow after them, the water closed up and they were drowned. Thus the children
of Israel were delivered from Egypt. The Red Sea was a picture of the water of
baptism. The crossing of the Red Sea by God's people signifies baptism. The
drowning of Pharaoh and his army signifies the destruction of Satan and his
power of darkness over the believers.
Believing and being Baptized Is the Way of Salvation
We were
born in sin with a sinful nature, the controlling power of Satan within us. We
were also born in this Satanic world under his slavery in our outward
circumstances. In order to be saved, we not only have to believe into the Lord
Jesus Christ, we also have to be baptized so that we may be delivered from the
world and so that the hold of Satan on us may be removed. Therefore, the Lord
said in Mark chapter sixteen verse sixteen, "He who believes and is baptized
shall be saved." Believing is half of salvation and baptism is the other half.
If the children of Israel only believed that God would deliver them and did not
take the step of passing through the Red Sea, they would still be in Egypt in
slavery. Some people say that it is enough to believe, but according to the word
of the Savior, we need both to believe and to be baptized.
Being Baptized into God
The
water of baptism also signifies the Spirit. To be baptized, immersed, into water
signifies being dipped, immersed, put into God, who is the Spirit. The Spirit is
invisible, but water is visible. When the baptizing one puts you into water, by
faith, he is putting you into the Spirit. Visibly, you are being immersed into
water, but invisibly, you are actually being immersed into God. When you believe
and receive the Lord by prayer, the Spirit enters into you to regenerate your
spirit so that you will have God as your new life. When you are baptized, you
are put into the Spirit so that you will have the Spirit as power for you to
have a new living. God comes into you and you go into God. Then you will have a
new life within and a new living without. Inside, you will have Christ as your
life; outside, Christ will have you as His living. Therefore, baptism is not a
ritual for people to perform. It has an intrinsic significance that is beyond
human eyes and minds.
Being Transferred into God's Kingdom
The Lord
Jesus also said, in John chapter three verse five, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." To be born of the Spirit means to receive the Spirit into our spirit. To
be born of water means to be baptized. By being born again of the Spirit and of
water, one may be transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God,
from being enslaved by Satan to being set free by the Spirit in Christ.
Believing is Before Baptism
We need
to consider the "baptism" that many people received when they were babies. That
was a ritual their parents chose to perform on their unwitting babies with the
good intention that their children would be for God. God gave man a free will to
choose to receive Him or reject Him. Therefore, when those babies grow up they
need to choose for themselves. If they choose God, then they have to believe and
be baptized. According to Mark chapter sixteen verse sixteen, they need to
believe first before their baptism can be effective. If you are in this
category, then you must decide for yourself once and for all whom you would
choose. If you choose God, then you need to believe into Christ and be baptized
into Him.
Practical Points concerning Baptism
Today,
most people think that they can only be baptized after a certain waiting period,
on certain important days, in big designated buildings, with special water, by
ordained persons. These concepts are not biblical and do not have to be
followed.
When should we be baptized? According to the Bible, there is no need to set a
time or a waiting period. In Acts chapter two, when three thousand people
believed, they were baptized that day. There were many similar cases. People
were baptized immediately upon believing.
Where should we hold baptisms? According to the
Bible, baptisms may be held wherever there is water. Examples in the Bible
include the Jordan River, people's homes, and water by the roadside.
Who may baptize? Traditionally, the clergy, such as
priests, ministers, and pastors, were "ordained" to baptize people. But
according to the Bible, there is no ordination or restriction to a certain
class; rather, all the Lord's disciples have been commissioned to baptize.
Anyone who has the faith to preach the word also has the right to baptize,
because baptism is not a matter of ritual but a matter of faith.
Whenever you want to receive Jesus Christ as your
Savior and life and be transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of
God, pray and ask the Lord to come into you, and be baptized immediately
wherever you find water by anyone who has the faith to immerse you into God. The
person who had enough faith to give you this article should have enough faith to
baptize you.
You may pray, "Lord Jesus! I want to be delivered
from the slavery of this world. I want to be freed from Satan's hold on me. I
believe that You came to save me. Come into me that I may have You as my eternal
life. Amen. Thank You, Lord."
Bible Verses for Your Reading:
Exodus 3:7-8 And the LORD said... And I am
come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up
out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and
honey.
Matthew 11:28 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you
rest.
Matthew 19:23 Only with difficulty will a rich man enter into the kingdom of the
heavens.
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is reserved for men to die once, and after this
comes judgment.
Hebrews 3:5-6 And Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant... But Christ
was faithful as a Son over His house, whose house we are.
Colossians 2:6 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk
in Him.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and
I in you.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you
have from God.
Ephesians 2:22 In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place
of God in spirit.
1 Corinthians 10:1-2 All passed through the sea; And all were baptized unto
Moses... in the sea.
Psalms 51:5 In sin did my mother conceive me.
Romans 5:17 For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil
one.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13 In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body... and were
all given to drink one Spirit.
John 3:5-6 Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God... that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Colossians 3:4 Christ our life is manifested.
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the
authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance.
Acts 22:16 And now, why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized and wash away your
sins, calling on His name.
Acts 8:36 And as they were going along the road, they came upon some water, and
the eunuch said, Look, water. What prevents me from being baptized?
_______________________________________________________________
What is the
Christian Faith?
As
Christians, we are, above all, believers. We believe in the Bible, in God, in
Christ, in the Spirit, and in God's redemption and salvation.
The first item of our faith is that
the Bible is the Word of God. Concerning the Bible, the apostle Paul says, "All
Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Tim. 3:16a ). The Scriptures were written by godly
men under God's inspiration. We also believe that the Bible contains the
completed divine revelation. All aspects of our faith are founded on the Bible
and controlled by the Bible. We accept what the Bible says in full, from Genesis
to Revelation, and we reject any thought of man that goes beyond what the Bible
says. The Bible is the true and objective gift from God that offers to us His
revelation concerning Himself, His full salvation, and His plan, or economy, for
man. Because the Bible is the Word of God, we believe in its accuracy and
maintain its infallibility.
Concerning God
Of
course, the major topic of the Bible is God, and God is the object of our faith.
From the revelation of the Scriptures we believe that our God is uniquely one
yet triune. Although it is beyond our human comprehension, the Bible clearly
shows that God is at the same time uniquely one (1 Tim. 2:5 ) yet distinctly
three (Matt. 28:19 ). He is eternally the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The
Three of the Divine Trinity are distinct but not separate. Where the Father is,
the Son is also, as the Lord Jesus tells us in John 10:38, "...the Father is in
Me and I am in the Father." The same mutual indwelling also exists between the
Son and the Spirit as well as between the Spirit and the Father. Among the Three
of the Trinity, the Father, as His name implies, is the source of the Divine
Trinity; the Son is the expression of the Father; and the Spirit is the
realization of all that the Son is and has. But these fine points of our faith
are not mere theological difficulties. Because our God is triune, we have a way
to experience and enjoy Him. The apostle Paul clearly relates the Three of the
Trinity to the experience of the believers: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2
Cor. 13:14). According to the New Testament, all Three--the Father, the Son, and
the Spirit--are in the believers (Eph. 4:6 ; Col. 1:27 ; John 14:17 ).
Concerning Christ
We
believers are called Christians because we are men and women of Christ. Christ
is the most wonderful Person in the universe, and we are joyfully called by His
name. Christ is eternally God. In eternity past, before creation, He was God; He
is God now; and He will be God forever. And yet one day He became a man, our
Lord Jesus. Hence, Christ is both the complete God and the perfect man. Without
abandoning His divinity, He was conceived in the womb of a human virgin, was
born as a baby, lived a human life on earth, and died a vicarious and
all-inclusive death on the cross, thereby accomplishing our redemption. But He
did not remain in death. After three days He resurrected to become a life-giving
Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b ). The power of His divinity swallowed up death, and His
humanity was resurrected and glorified. Today He is both our Redeemer and our
life. He has ascended to the heavens and is in glory, ever yet fully God but
still fully man. As such, Christ is now the Author of our salvation and the
Perfecter of our faith (Heb 2:10; 12:2). He is seated in the heavens, carrying
out His heavenly ministry and accomplishing God's economy (Acts 5:31; Heb.
8:1-2). We look to His imminent return, when He will come back with the kingdom
of God and reign over the earth in the millennium (Rev. 1:7; 11:15; 20:6).
Concerning the Spirit
The
Third of the Trinity is the Spirit. As the Father is the source of the Divine
Trinity, the Spirit is the consummation of the Divine Trinity. All that the
Father has and is, is embodied in the Son; and all that the Son is, is realized
as the Spirit. For this reason, He is called the Spirit of reality (John 15:26;
16:13; 1 John 5:6). The reality of what Christ is and even of what the Triune
God is, is the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit carried out the incarnation of
Christ (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20). Because He bears to us the humanity, human
living, and death of Jesus, He is called the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7); and
because the divinity and resurrection of Christ are made real to us by Him, He
is called the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). He is also called the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, indicating that He is the source of the bountiful supply to the
believers (Phil. 1:19). The Spirit of Jesus Christ is compounded with His
humanity and death and with His divinity and resurrection. This Spirit is the
Spirit of life and the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 8:2, 11). As the Lord Spirit, He
transforms us by renewing us (2 Cor. 3:18; Titus 3:5). The all-inclusive Spirit
is our holy anointing (2 Cor. 1:21; 1 John 2:20, 27), as typified by the
compound ointment in Exodus 30:23-31. As such, He becomes a seal and a pledge to
us (Eph. 1:13-14). Daily the Spirit comforts us as our Paraclete (John
14:16-17), supplies us in our Christian walk, and intercedes for us (Rom 8:4,
26). Such a Spirit was breathed into us as our life essentially (John 20:22) and
was poured out upon us as power economically (Acts 2:1-4, 17). In the age of
degradation, this wonderful Spirit is intensified sevenfold as the seven Spirits
of God (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). Eventually, this intensified Spirit, as the
consummation of the Triune God, becomes one with the redeemed, regenerated,
renewed, transformed, and glorified church, which is His bride, for the
manifestation and expression of the Triune God in eternity (Rev. 22:17)
Concerning God's Redemption and Salvation
The
Triune God is indeed wonderful, but man falls far short of what God intended him
to be. Man has fallen and is hopelessly lost in sin. Yet because of His great
love for man, God in Christ came to redeem man to Himself. Formerly, man
belonged to God; but through the fall of our first ancestors, all our race was
enslaved to the devil and to sin, and we came under the heavy demands of God's
righteousness, holiness, and glory. We were absolutely unable to fulfill the
requirements. But Christ fulfilled all the requirements through His death on the
cross. This accomplished an eternal redemption for us, and this redemption is
the base of God's full salvation. Because of Christ's death, God forgives
sinners of their sins (Eph. 1:7), reconciles them, His enemies, to Himself (Rom.
5:10), and justifies them by making Christ their righteousness (Rom. 3:24; 1 Cor.
1:30). Based on Christ's redemption, God regenerates the redeemed with His
Spirit (John 3:5-6) to consummate His salvation, that they may become His
children (John 1:12-13). Now possessing God's life and nature, the believers
enjoy a daily salvation in this age (Rom. 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:2; Phil. 2:12) and the
eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9) in the coming age and in eternity. This salvation
is a salvation in life (Rom. 5:10), not merely a salvation from eternal
punishment. The life that we enjoy in this salvation is the Triune God Himself
realized in Christ (1 John 5:20) as the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14). This is
symbolized by the river of water of life, flowing in the New Jerusalem, and by
the tree of life, growing in the river (Rev. 22:1-2), both of which are for the
eternal life supply of all God's redeemed people. This is God's full, complete,
and dynamic salvation. "So great a salvation" (Heb. 2:3)!
____________________________________________________________
The
Message of the Gospel
Before
the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, He charged His disciples to go forth
and preach the gospel everywhere (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15). We, His
believers, bear this burden joyfully, for God's power to save everyone who
believes is contained in the gospel. Man's highest honor is to proclaim the
gospel to men. The gospel we proclaim is abundantly rich and extensive. It
is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says it most clearly: "To
me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel" (Eph. 3:8).
Thus, our gospel is simply Jesus Christ Himself.
Christ's Person
Christ is God, from eternity past to eternity future. Of the Three of the Triune
God, He is the Son of God. He was the Creator of all things. All things came
into being through Him (John 1:3). In time, He became a man and partook of our
nature. He is the perfect man, having our created nature but without sin. He
died on the cross as a man to fulfill all the righteous requirements placed on
us by God. Thus, He has become our Redeemer. But even further, He is our Savior.
Yet His salvation is not only from punishment, but much more it is a salvation
in the divine life (Rom. 5:10). When He was born to be a man, He was named
Jesus, which means Jehovah the Savior or Jehovah the salvation (Matt. 1:21). He
is the Christ, the Messiah (John 1:41), the One anointed by God to accomplish
God's plan or economy (Eph. 3:11; 1:10). When He was on this earth, He was
called the Lord (Luke 2:11; Matt. 3:3) because He is eternally God; and after He
resurrected and ascended, He, as a man, was made Lord of all (Acts 2:36). He is
the last Adam, who became a life-giving Spirit in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45) to
enter His believers and give them life (1 John 5:12). Today He is their life and
their resurrection (John 11:25; 3:15; Phil. 3:10).
Christ's Accomplishments
Christ is not only a wonderful Person but also One who has accomplished so much.
His accomplishments are just as much a part of our gospel as His Person. His
first major accomplishment was His incarnation. Christ was conceived of the Holy
Spirit in the womb of a human virgin (Matt. 1:18, 20). When He was born, He was
fully God and fully man, a God-man. As a man, He experienced human living for
over thirty years. He lived as a lowly man (cf. Isa. 53:2) and touched all kinds
of people. He experienced human sufferings, sorrows, despisings, rejections (Isa.
53:3), trials, and temptations (Heb. 2:18; 4:15). This God-man even wept (John
11:35). Indeed, He was fully man.
After experiencing a full human
living, the Lord Jesus accomplished an all-inclusive death. He died as the Lamb
of God to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). On the cross He was lifted
up as the bronze serpent, just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the
wilderness and the children of Israel lived (John 3:14; Num. 21:4-9). Though He
was in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3), He did not possess the
sinful, serpentine nature (Heb. 4:15). He was made sin on our behalf (2 Cor.
5:21), and He died to deal with our sinful nature as well as with the source of
our sin, the old serpent, who is the devil Satan (Rev. 20:2). His death was also
as a grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying (John 12:24). It not only
dealt with all the negative things in the universe but also released the divine
life to His believers that they might be His many fruit. By such an
all-inclusive death He accomplished His eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12).
Christ accomplished resurrection (1
Cor. 15:4) as well. His resurrection was God's vindication and approval of Him
and of His work and becomes the proof of our justification before God (Rom.
4:25). By His resurrection He triumphed over Satan, death, Hades, and the grave
(Heb. 2:14; Acts 2:31). Hence, after nullifying death through His death, He
brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel by His resurrection (2
Tim. 1:10).
In resurrection Christ came back to
the disciples and breathed into them that they might receive the Holy Spirit as
their life essentially (John 20:22). Then He ascended and sat at the right hand
of God, far above all in the universe (Mark 16:19; Eph. 1:20-21). After His
ascension He poured out the Spirit of power upon His believers that He might be
their power economically (Acts 2:4; 10:44-45). By this, He baptized all the
believers once for all into the Spirit and into His one Body (1 Cor. 12:13).
Christ's Attainments and Obtainments
Through all His accomplishments, Christ has attained and obtained a number of
things that we proclaim as our gospel. He has attained to the height of the
universe, far above all (Eph. 1:21). As the God-man, with both the divine and
the human natures, He has attained to the peak of divine attributes and human
virtues. In His human living He lived out the divine attributes in His human
virtues. Then in His resurrection and as the exalted God-man in ascension, He
uplifted the human virtues to their highest degree so that the divine attributes
may be expressed in humanity for eternity. This glorified God-man has obtained
the throne (Heb. 12:2), glory and honor (Heb. 2:9), a name which is above every
name (Phil. 2:9-11), the Lordship (Acts 2:36), and the Leadership (Acts 5:31).
Christ's Work
Our gospel includes what Christ does in this age, at His return, and in
eternity. In the present age, Christ gives repentance and the forgiveness of
sins to save sinners (Acts 5:31; 16:31). He saves sinners to make them His
members for the building up of His church (Matt. 16:18), which is His Body (Eph.
1:22b-23). By building the church in this age, He establishes the kingdom of God
on earth (Matt. 16:18-19; 6:10). Further, He is the Mediator of the new covenant
(Heb. 8:6), which He established through His death (Matt. 26:28), and He is the
Minister of the true tabernacle, ministering to the believers the heavenly life
and heavenly supply of the divine riches (Heb. 8:1-2). He is the High Priest to
the believers (Heb. 4:14), interceding for them before God that they may be
saved to the uttermost (Heb. 7:24-26). In Him the believers have an Advocate
before the righteous God; He pleads our case and offers Himself as our
propitiation (1 John 2:1-2), the offering that appeases God for us. When Christ
returns, He will transfigure the body of our humiliation (Phil. 3:20-21),
thereby redeeming our bodies that we may enjoy the full sonship (Rom. 8:23).
When He returns, He will restore all things of creation, which have been brought
under the slavery of corruption (Rom. 8:20-23) through Satan's rebellion and
man's fall. He will bring God's kingdom to this earth, and the kingdom of this
world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15; 12:10).
In eternity Christ is the Lamb upon the throne with God (Rev. 22:1). He is the
Husband of all God's redeemed people (Rev. 21:9, 2). In the New Jerusalem, the
consummation of God's work throughout the ages, God and the Lamb are the temple
in which the redeemed serve God (Rev. 21:22), and the Lamb is the lamp of the
city (Rev. 21:23). In this eternal city, Christ is the tree of life, supplying
Himself as life to the entire city and offering healing to the nations forever
(Rev. 22:1-2; cf. John 15:1).
Whoever repents and believes in this
gospel will receive the redemption that Christ has accomplished and the
salvation that He has prepared for them. Their salvation is to be forgiven of
their sins, justified by God, reconciled to God, and regenerated and saved
through His Spirit. This is indeed the glad tidings (Rom. 10:15).
________________________________________________________________________________
The Meaning
of Human Life
Man's life is a mystery. Scholars, historians, and philosophers through the
centuries have sought to understand man and the meaning of human existence.
Despite man's endeavors to probe into the secrets of the universe, the universe
remains a mystery. Although many consider the universe and man's purpose on this
earth to be an insoluble riddle, the Bible, one of God's greatest gifts to
mankind, unlocks this mystery. The Bible is God's revelation to man. It reveals
the reality concerning God, the universe, man, the relationship between man and
God, the relationships among men, and man's obligation to God, as seen through
creation and the Scripture.
THE PURPOSE OF MAN
God's Word tells us that He is self-existing and ever-existing. In eternity past
God was there. At a certain point He made a decision to create man. God's desire
was to have this man express Him in His image and represent Him with His
authority on earth (Gen. 1:26-28).
This is quite meaningful. Before God
created man, He made billions of items in this universe. He created the plant
life, the animal life, and finally the highest life, the human life. We can
easily see that the plants were created for the animals, and the animals were
created for mankind. However, it is not easy to realize that man was made for
God's purpose. The Bible tells us in the very first pages of Genesis that God's
creation of man was different from His creation of all other things. He created
man in His own image. Let us illustrate this matter by using a glove. In the
regions of the world where there are long, harsh winters and extreme cold, most
people are accustomed to wearing warm gloves. A person's hand cannot fit into a
handkerchief because it does not have the image or form of the hand. Because the
glove is in the image, the likeness, and the form of a hand, it is able to
contain the hand. A glove is made in the form of a hand for the purpose of
containing the hand. In the same way, the human life was created according to
the image of God so that God could dispense Himself as the divine life into the
human life.
Man was created not only to express
God but also to be God's representative authority. God wanted man to rule over
this created earth with His dominion. Although God judged and sentenced His
enemy, Satan, the created man was committed with the responsibility to execute
this judgment. Man was to rule over a vast territory for God.
The unique way for man to express God and represent God is to receive God as his
life that man may become a counterpart of God. Man was created with the capacity
to receive and contain God's divine life. All of man's human virtues, such as
love, honor, and goodness, were created by God so that man may have God's life
and live out the divine attributes.
THE CREATION OF MAN
Man's life is the highest created life, much higher in quality than the plant
life or animal life. Not only so, man was created after God's kind. The animals
in God's creation were created after their own kind. Thus, the animal life
cannot contain or express the human life. However, man was made after God's
kind, with the ability and capacity to receive another life the divine life. In
this respect man is unique in all God's creation.
Not only so, man is a vessel, a
container (Rom. 9:21, 23). Because we are vessels of God, God wants to be our
content. Just as bottles are made to contain milk and beverages, we are made to
contain God. This is the reason that knowledge, wealth, material possessions,
and accomplishments can never satisfy us, because we were created to contain
God.
All human beings, regardless of their race or nationality, are vessels of God.
The Bible, the word of God, divides this vessel into three parts the spirit, the
soul, and the body (1 Thes. 5:23). Everyone is aware of his own physical body.
It is tangible, concrete, temporal, and lends itself to scientific
investigation. If we were to ask a chemistry professor, What are the physical
properties that constitute man's physical makeup? he might produce an analysis
chart and point out that human beings are composed of so many percent water,
nitrogen, carbon, and various other elements. As a professor of chemistry, he
would be correct, no doubt, according to his field of research. However, his
research would be limited to the physical part of man's being, the part that is
made up of the elements of the earth. Since the beginning of history man has
sought to be free from the imprisonment of his body. He has tried to find new
ways of pleasing his overworked senses, only to find that it all has been done
before. Although man has managed to prolong biological life, every man comes to
the point where he has to admit that the body is a dead end. God's purpose for
man does not focus on man's physical body.
After examining man according to his
view, a psychologist might say that besides man's body, man has an inward,
hidden composition. Man has a mind, a thinking organ. He also has emotions, the
faculty of inner feeling, capable of loving, hating, and being depressed and
elated. He might also point out that man has a will, a faculty for making
decisions. In short, man is a living, thinking, feeling, and deciding entitynot
mere animated dust but a real, living person, having a unique and distinctive
personality. He would say that our inner self, our psychological self, is our
real self, while our body is merely the outward shell of our being. Psyche, the
root of such English words as psychiatry and psychology, comes from the Greek
word meaning soul. Psychology is the study of the soul. The three faculties of
mind, will, and emotion compose the personality and are merely the components of
the human soul.
The last two centuries of human
history have seen the spectacular rise of the soul's powers. The great minds
such as Churchill, Einstein, Emerson, and Dostoevsky have contributed an
abundance of thought. The great wills have produced an abundance of decisive
action in government and culture. Without a doubt the soul has soared to its
peak in the past few decades. Yet in spite of man's great accomplishments, the
sense of inner emptiness remains. We can conquer the moon, but within ourselves
there remains some uncharted territory. We can study the world's great
philosophies and still not find the answer to the great questions concerning our
human existence. We can obtain the highest education and yet remain restless and
dissatisfied. Within the soul of man, the search for the meaning of human life
will always end in frustration.
Hidden and obscured, there is a
faculty deep within man that has remained a mystery throughout all the ages. It
is deeper than the soul. Just as the life-giving marrow is hidden within the
bone, hidden within the soul is the human spirit. The spirit of man was made
specifically to contain God Himself, to be filled with God. Man is never
satisfied because this deepest part still remains to be filled. Through the mind
man is able only to consider God and know God objectively, but through the
spirit man is able to contact God, contain God, and enjoy God.
THE TRAGEDY OF MAN - MAN'S FALL
Before man partook of God's life and nature in the tree of life, he was seduced
by Satan, God's archenemy, and thus became corrupted and fell into sin. The fall
of man is the greatest tragedy in the universe. Its effects are still with us
today as we witness the war, injustice, poverty, crime, oppression, and sickness
around us daily.
Because man disobeyed God's word, he
fell under God's condemnation, became separated from God, was deprived from
fulfilling God's purpose, and is destined to an eternal death in the lake of
fire.
Not only so, because of the fall, man
was corrupted inwardly in nature. Although man was created in the image of God
and thus possesses a good nature that matches God's nature, with virtues such as
truthfulness, goodness, holiness, wisdom, kindness, and valor, through man's
fall an evil nature entered into man and now wars against his good nature.
Because sin is in man, he is unable to carry out his good intentions.
Furthermore, man cannot escape his evil nature. The Bible says that in man, that
is, in his flesh, nothing good dwells (Rom. 7:18). Man wills to do good, but he
simply cannot do it.
Through the fall of man Satan as sin
entered into man, corrupting his body and causing it to become the flesh,
contaminating his soul so that it became the self, and deadening man's spirit.
Sin damaged man in three ways: it caused man's spirit to be deadened; it caused
man's mind to rebel against God; and it caused man's body to sin.
In his fallen state, man is like a
damaged and untunable radio that cannot receive and play music, but rather makes
meaningless noise. He is also like a beautiful and well-formed cup that has
fallen into the gutter and become covered with mud. Throughout history man has
tried every possible way to escape sin, only to find that good works, education,
ethics, ideologies, and materialism cannot save him from sin. Man has been fully
usurped by Satan and is under his control, totally helpless and unable to save
himself.
GOD'S REACHING OF MAN
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Savior sent from God into the world to
solve the problems of fallen and sinful men. He came almost two thousand years
ago to the Middle East as the embodiment of the Triune God. The Bible says that
in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). Not
only so, He is God incarnated. Hence, He is both the complete God and the
perfect man. He is more than a good man, a great man, a moral man, or a holy
man. He is the God-man. This God-man was nailed to the cross to accomplish the
work of redemption. According to the Bible, He died as 1) the Lamb of God to
take away man's sin (John 1:29), 2) the bronze serpent to destroy God's enemy,
Satan (John 3:14-15), and 3) a grain of wheat to release the divine and eternal
life of God and impart it into us (John 12:24).
Hence, God took two steps. First He
became flesh, born as a man called Jesus. After living a perfect and sinless
life and dying on the cross to redeem sinful man, He rose from the dead and in
resurrection changed His form from the flesh to the Spirit. Hence, the Lord
Jesus became the Spirit. This Spirit is called the life-giving Spirit. A crucial
verse in the Bible tells us that the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving
Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). God the Father is unapproachable. Although He came in the
Son to dwell as man among men, God the Son was still not able to enter into man
because He was in the form of a man with flesh and blood. By the Son's death and
resurrection, His form was changed from a physical one into a spiritual one. As
the Spirit, that is, as the spiritual air that we can breathe in, Christ was
able to enter into His disciples. Thus the entire Triune God the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit reaches man. In other words, when the Triune God reaches His
redeemed people, He is the Spirit.
Let us use a few illustrations to
explain this. Although the sun is unapproachable in itself due to its extremely
high temperature, it reaches us as rays of sunlight. The rays of the sun are the
reaching of the sun to us. In other words the essence, nature, and
characteristics of the sun are found and included in its rays.
We may also use the illustration of
ice, water, and vapor. Although the essence of all three are two parts hydrogen
and one part oxygen, their outward forms can change without altering any of
their essential characteristics. Vapor may be likened to the Spirit, which is
the easiest of the three forms to be received by man. The Spirit is the very
divine breath or air that can be readily received and experienced by man.
Furthermore, in the modern world
nearly every home has electricity installed in it. Although the source of the
electricity may be a hydroelectric power plant situated on a river, the
electricity reaches the homes by wires or cables. Christ the Son is the heavenly
wire, coming from God the Father, the divine power plant, to bring the supply
and power of the Spirit as the heavenly electrical current to us. Just as the
current of electricity is the electricity itself in motion, so the Spirit of God
is the flowing and reaching of God Himself to man. In other words, the Spirit
transmits God Himself to us. The application of the Triune God to us is the
Spirit. The Spirit is the current of the Triune God for us to apply; He is the
Triune God in motion.
Furthermore, it is vitally important to realize that the Spirit is the entire
Triune God. The Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the Son or the Father. We
may easily separate the two elements of oil and water, but it is impossible to
separate tea from water after the tea bag is steeped in the water.
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate
consummation of the Triune God reaching us. When the Lord Jesus took the step of
being transfigured into the form of the Spirit, that was the final step of His
process; He could change no further, for He had reached His goal. This was His
full development. We should not think that when the Holy Spirit reaches us, only
He, the Third of the Godhead, comes, and the Father and the Son remain in
heaven. According to the Bible, when the Spirit comes, the Father and the Son
also come with the Spirit. We can say that the Father is the source, the Son is
the course, and the Spirit is the flow. This is truly marvelous!
God today is the Spirit of life (Rom.
8:2). If you ask people on the street or in the shops who God is, some may say
that God is the Creator, and others may reply that He is their Redeemer and
Savior; however, not many will say that God is the Spirit. God is not merely the
Spirit; He is the life-giving Spirit.
To be a Christian is to receive the
Holy Spirit into our human spirit. Man can be likened to a radio, and the Spirit
of God can be likened to radio waves. Within a radio there is a receiver.
Likewise, within every man there is a human spirit as the recipient for man to
receive the Spirit of God. If a radio is turned off or the receiver is not
functioning properly, the radio waves will not be received by the radio. Today
many human radios do not function because their owners do not switch on by
exercising their spirit. People today are unable to contact God because the
receiver within them, the human spirit, is out of order.
MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD'S REDEMPTION AND
SALVATION
In order for us to receive and enjoy this wonderful One, we must turn our heart
to God and repent. The meaning of repentance is to turn to God. Previously, we
had our back toward God. Whether we were doing good or evil, we were turned away
from God. In order to receive God, we must first turn to Him. We must then
believe in and receive God. God requires that our heart believe and that our
mouth confess. The Bible tells us that if we confess with our mouth, Lord Jesus,
and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved
(Rom. 10:9).
The Christian life is a life bubbling
with the Lord every day, all the day long. As soon as we awaken in the morning,
we can call on the Lord and use the Bible to contact the Lord by praying in
spirit. Since there are three hundred sixty-five mornings in a year, we can have
a new beginning every morning by being revived in our human spirit. Not only can
we be revived by ourselves, but it is also good to speak with others concerning
what we have enjoyed of the Lord. This can be done face-to-face at home, in the
market place in town, or at work in a factory.
Such a wonderful all-inclusive Spirit
brings into us the divine, eternal, uncreated life of God. This life enables us
to enjoy Him, experience Him, and live Him out in our daily life. Whether we are
factory workers, housewives, farmers, professionals, or laborers, we can enjoy
such a Spirit and live by the unsearchable riches of this divine life. May the
Lord bless you and cause you to live according to God's purpose.
*** Articles are
taken from the Q & A section of "AMANA
CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE" ***
________________________________________________________________________________
If you have
further questions or comments, or you would like to have a
small group
Bible study with
us, please
contact us! Our
email address is
info@christiansoncampus.org
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