Time
Is Within God.com
Have you ever considered how time might affect our view of our maker?
(pg 2 of 5)
Explanation: Start at our present ageLets move forward a few years. It might be within our own lifetime. It might be just after we have lived out our lives, but what I am going to write about (the next major crises) is not thousands of years away. Jesus said, (paraphrased) "You will NOT know the day or hour, but you will know the season." (Matthew 25:13) We are in the season of the end of this age. Many know this truth: Christian, atheist, agnostic or secular humanist--most know and are aware something is going to happen to this world. After the rapture of the church, sometime during the tribulation, there will be a short thirty minute silence in heaven. During that silence, toward the end of the tribulation, God will begin to judge the earth. What does that mean to the believer? First, for all those who have been sealed to Christ, they will be in Heaven. The church is long taken from the earth. At this point, no one on the earth will have any desire for turning. (Yes, everything we believe does matter.) The majority of the people remaining on this earth will not want to return back to God. Their sins will be complete. So for those, it will be too late. Most people don't like this part of truth, but there is a too far. When the eternal collides with the temporal world, the word of God says--"let he that is filthy be filthy still--let he that is just be just still." (Revelation 22:11) (Revelation 21:8)(Romans 10 4-8)(Romans 1 20) So refusing to trust in our maker, in the light of so much evidence creation itself provides, does that make us filthy? It all hangs on what we believe and who we really are deep down inside. However, the point is this-- there is a too far when refusing to believe God.
Likewise, concerning suffering, there too is a boundary. The point being, human suffering will one day end. Human suffering has a boundary and is part of the temporal universe and all its boundaries. This point is very important with regards to both all too personal or national suffering. There is an end of suffering coming for those that believe in God and love Him in all His ways. (Romans 8:28) (Galatians 3:23-25)There are limits to suffering long and short term.
There have been many limits to suffering, but there is one final limit coming. Toward the end of this chapter, it will be explained in more detail. There are short term limits for the opportunity to see humanity's suffering and a very long term permanent limit. I am convinced the suffering of mankind will not continue forever. I believe God has set a permanent limit to human suffering; yet, very few have a clue as to how truly devastating the dimensions of that limit will be or what it will entail. However, if you read very carefully, you will discover that there is a permanent limit to human suffering. This altruistic truth and is already marked in the heart of believers. It is just a matter of time until suffering will cease from the universe. Eternity is marked on our hearts. This is evident when we dream and wake before falling too far. We declare the limits of suffering when no matter how old we become we still believe in love. We are eternal beings. This is planted in our hearts from birth.
Depth Of Suffering
In the short term, at the end of the tribulation, the world will face horrible judgments for refusing light and love. Concerning those judgments, think of all the millions of souls that have suffered countless times, just since Christ said "It is finished" on His cross. Let alone the millions that will suffer during the tribulation in total spiritual darkness. If we can explain why the Father waited to take total control over this world since Christ said those words on His cross, you will have determined why God is just. (John 19:30) (Revelation 2: 20-23) Yet, during the tribulation, the Bible says over-and- over; "they refused to repent of their wickedness that they loved." (John 3:19) The Lord of the Host of Heaven even crises out, (paraphrased) "He is amazed after all that is done, they still will not turn." Even then, God would accept them (mankind) if men would turn from darkness. (Revelation 16:9) But why has God waited since the cross to take total control of this earth and human suffering? Why is there so much darkness? Do we really understand the dimensions of the question? Considering the history of earth just since the cross of Christ, which includes: the Roman period, the barbarian rule of anarchy, the feudal period of Europe, the Medieval, the Renaissance, the age of Metternich, the industrial revolution, the Great Wars and minor wars, the technological revolutions, and the secular humanist rise to power in the modern age--with all of those ages combined, God has waited for the fruit of the earth. (James 5:7)(Ezekiel 34:27)The fall was a crucial event for mankind and it plagues us even until this day. The Bible says, "He is longsuffering for the fruit of the earth." The Father waits for the fruit of the earth, which is you and me. This is perhaps the most important part of the equation when answering why the Father has waited so long and allowed so much darkness to continue. So I ask, "Who is the victim-God or man?" If we can answer this, we will know how we can trust in someone that has allowed so much to occur through the centuries. Is the fruit of the earth an important enough goal for the Father to allow short term and long term limits of suffering? Consider and answer that question for yourself. (John 3: 16)
Personal experience:
I wish to first share something of myself, since I have chosen to trust in Christ
over two decades ago, I know that I believe with all of my heart
that my Father God is love. He showed us that love at Jesus/Yeshua's cross. I have no doubt
that the greatest story ever told is the story of God coming to man
to call him friend. I, like everyone else, have had set backs that can not be
explained away. I humbly understand the
paralyzing hurts of this world. From mystery illnesses to serious accidents, I
am in the trenches of life just like you. Yet, no one can understand the suffering
of our age any better than Christ Himself. For me to say I am in the trenches with
you the reader in understanding the suffering of our age is one thing, but God in
His love does not sit in high heaven saying "you can deal with it!"
He came here and explained; (paraphrased)
"here is how I want you to deal with it; and, I am here with you."
(Hebrews
13:5)
Christ too lived in a
human body. Yet,
He lived
without fault.
(Isaiah 9:6)And this is where we pause and ponder. Is this perhaps the whole
reason Christ was crucified. No one can ever say "God did not live in a mortal
body, and He can't understand what it was like to be human." What I am saying is this, Christ
came and lived as a man just like us, yet, without sin. He instructed through His own
blood, tears and pain, because we are that important. We are important enough for God to give
His only
Son for mankind. That experience, exampled by Christ on this earth, is a major reason for
suffering. God inversely will not waste one drop of His son's blood that redeems
us from the curse of the law. Remember God did not sit in high Heaven and say "deal with it";
(Hebrews 7:27) He came and shared
in the suffering to win our hearts and minds through sacrifice.
Argumentum ad hominem
The Latin phrase Argumentum ad hominem is simply an excellent debate tactic that attacks one person in an argument to avoid that person's logic or reasoning. Our politicians love to use this tactic on T.V., but it is a poor excuse for turning a deaf ear. It follows the procedure of attack on a person and defaming their name or motive. This logic proceeds that we don't have to listen to that person. By Christ laying His life down on the cross and living just like you and me, no one can ever say, "God you were not there, so you don't have a clue what it was like!" God with us, Emanuel, was here with us and it was foretold hundreds of years ago. (Isaiah 61 1-3) Therefore, the only person in the universe that can judge mankind-is Christ-- because He lived here without sin, and the only person that can save mankind-is Christ for the same reason. These are exactly what the Bible predicts is the future of mankind. This will depend on what is JUST in Christ's judgment, because He was the only one without sin that lived here among men. (Revelation 20:11)In judgment, rest assured, God will be just. In the end, the scales will be balanced. Either we accept the permanent sacrifice for man, Christ himself, or we stand for our own actions before a Holy God at the Great White throne (Hebrews 7:27) judgment of Christ. As the Bible says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." We can never be good enough by our actions. We must accept what Christ did to cover our sins (BY FAITH), or we must stand before God and account for our own actions. Surprise, it does not matter how "good" you are to God, only that you love Him, and believe in Him, in all His ways.
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By going to the Contact Page , drop me a note and share your heart. I am listening.
Sincerely
Mark Stewart
The Latin phrase Argumentum ad hominem is simply an excellent debate tactic that attacks one person in an argument to avoid that person's logic or reasoning. Our politicians love to use this tactic on T.V., but it is a poor excuse for turning a deaf ear. It follows the procedure of attack on a person and defaming their name or motive. This logic proceeds that we don't have to listen to that person. By Christ laying His life down on the cross and living just like you and me, no one can ever say, "God you were not there, so you don't have a clue what it was like!" God with us, Emanuel, was here with us and it was foretold hundreds of years ago. (Isaiah 61 1-3) Therefore, the only person in the universe that can judge mankind-is Christ-- because He lived here without sin, and the only person that can save mankind-is Christ for the same reason. These are exactly what the Bible predicts is the future of mankind. This will depend on what is JUST in Christ's judgment, because He was the only one without sin that lived here among men. (Revelation 20:11)In judgment, rest assured, God will be just. In the end, the scales will be balanced. Either we accept the permanent sacrifice for man, Christ himself, or we stand for our own actions before a Holy God at the Great White throne (Hebrews 7:27) judgment of Christ. As the Bible says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." We can never be good enough by our actions. We must accept what Christ did to cover our sins (BY FAITH), or we must stand before God and account for our own actions. Surprise, it does not matter how "good" you are to God, only that you love Him, and believe in Him, in all His ways.
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Footnote: (Isaiah 61 1-3) (Some say that Christians, must have changed the book of Isaiah to make it look like Jesus' fingerprint in history 335 BC years before Christ's birth. Yet, the dead sea scrolls hidden by non-Christians called Jewish Essenes right after Christ's lifetime showed our copy of Isaiah as being the same.) Back to the story: |
CONTINUE to page 3
By going to the Contact Page , drop me a note and share your heart. I am listening.