(pg 3 of 5)
Christ laying down His life unto death speaks volumes to our suffering--Christ exampled, from His cross, that suffering is not just academic but real. (paraphrased) Christ wept at Lazarus tomb for the families suffering, and Christ wept at the death of His friend John the Baptist. Through it all, Christ is not without feeling. Additionally, the Bible says Christ was "tempted in all points like as we are." (Hebrews 4:15) Though, in this chapter, suffering can be understood to a degree, every being that has lived on this earth understands that suffering is not merely academic--including Christ Himself. I for one had to face a real possibility at one time that I may not be able to see my son grow up. If we could see tomorrow, we would be like God, but that has been taken from us at the fall. However, whomever may raise our sons or daughters for that matter only God knows? Yet, we can know we can trust in the Father. Our greatest fears can be faced knowing the reality--God is just. (John 5:30) For those that do not understand or know this, I do not know how they can go through life day to day. For the parents of Little Carter who lost so much in this world, there is still hope all things will be made right by the last trumpet at the end of time. Why do we know this? Christ was here with us and is still with us right now. Our faith in Him is not just book taught intellectual jargon but a way of living. All of the previous foreshadowing is to make a few simple points, with deep compassion, for what some people may deal with as these words are read. Please understand; I am not without deep feeling, nor is Christ. At the funeral of Little Carter, we all wept like babies. My uncle said, "This is the saddest thing I have ever seen." I suspect; all the angels on the hillside were weeping with us. This grief stricken sudden loss has devastated my family, and they are good people who love God and this seemingly feels like it can never be explained or understood. Perhaps no human can ever explain a loss such as this, but I believe God the Father can when His books are opened. (Daniel 7:10)
God is not alone because He chooses not to be-just like you and me.
One thing is certain; God had a choice to live alone in the universe. In like manner, I easily could lock myself up in my room and refuse
to participate in the affairs of man. I could think, "What ever affairs are God's,
they are not mine." With the potential concern of not getting to raise my
own son, in which, is a fear of all parents. The uncertainty of all tomorrows
still looms. While trusting God with all the unknowns of tomorrow, we must
choose to trust God with all issues such as: a house note, a family, and a
refusal to live in isolation. With all the stresses of a family life, we must
chose to live by trusting in the Father to make all things right. And I just
like Little Carter's parents do not chose to live my whole life in solitude nor
have you chosen to live in solitude. Most humans do not live alone, and God does
not have to live alone either. When we are alone too long, we don't like it. The
single that have lived alone for years can understand this emptiness. Is there
something worse than the pain of loss? Yes, it is eternal loneliness? It is not
good for man to be alone and neither is it good
for Father God. (Genesis
2:18)
For those who have family and have never been without family, they may not truly appreciate
aloneness as pain. But consider Father's only two choices, to have the sheer joy
in creating you and me while believing we will love Him and trust Him, or Father
God could live alone forever. What a choice! You and I did not make the choice to
live alone and neither has Father God, and yes it is the same thing. By creating
the first being in His class to love, He created the possibility, and I argue, the
inevitability of someone falling--Lucifer. Do not kid yourself, Jesus knew what
Judas Iscariot would do before he did it, and He knew exactly what Lucifer would
do before Lucifer was created.
If God is not alone, then anyone with Him could stumble on their choices to look at darkness. (Deuteronomy 30:19) Don't say, it can't happen in a perfect heaven, it already has, and one out of three of those tempted fell in a day. The original and continuous fall has been serious business for the Father. He is not the agnostic god far off somewhere in the galaxy not worried about man. (paraphrased) The Father is right here where two or three agree. (Matthew 18:20)
Right implied not to be alone and to be loved!God made Lucifer and all things since He is the Alpha and the Omega of Revelations 22-- the beginning and the end. Or should I say, Time is within God. God knew, without a doubt, Lucifer would twist with one in three of His angels. If God inhabits the future and the present at the same time, and He does, then He knew exactly what was going to happen. In spite of His creation's potential to fail, Father made a decision to be loved just like you and me. Like the Father, when we choose to have a family, visit family, or go out on a date with someone, or just watch TV, we are interacting with the creation God had to decide to create. That is the exact same choice that created Lucifer and put Christ on His cross. There is no difference in our refusal to accept aloneness and the Father's refusal. In fact, the Bible says, (paraphrased)"before the (Matthew 25:34) foundations of this world, Christ was crucified." So yes, by choosing to create Lucifer and all the angels that turned, God chose not to live alone in eternity, but to have a chosen people that understand Him and love Him and trust Him. Because of His chosen people, the Father will not remain alone over the possibility of evil. Do you blame Him? I don't. Is this right to be loved for you and me-- and the Father-- a major point in our search to try to understand human suffering? You decide for yourself. A dear friend that went through a long painful end to a relationship she treasured asked me, "is it too much to ask to be loved?" I told her "No". It is not too much to ask to be loved. And that is when it hit me. It is not too much for God Almighty to ask to be loved either. At this point, take notes because it is going to get deeper.
Statistical failure and survival implied:
Out of all the wars that have been fought, out of all the carnage, the floods, the lost, the found and all those in between--it is a statistical fact that some will survive against all odds. Throw fifty men into battle, one will inevitably walk away without a scratch. That is God. He said over-and-over; (paraphrased) "I will have my peculiar people (Exodus 19:5), my royal priesthood, (1 Peter 2:9) and my chosen nation." God never changed His mind. He stated, "I will trade nations for thee." When God healed ten lepers, only one returned in the book of (Luke 17:12), and said "Thank you Lord." The fruit of the one is what it is all about? He has done so much for us all--giving us life and love and a chance to live--including Little Carter and my little boy that I so cherish. God is good. So, why is there all the darkness in our history? Remember there is statistical value of those that will survive and those that will fail. Is that part of the answer we have been looking for as to why the darkness is in our history? To God the Father, for the prize of those that will love God forever, at this moment, the loss factor does not stop His desire to create, but will this always be so? Does the loss and gain factors implied make the Father pause at the suffering of this age? Will the loss factor bring the suffering to a conclusion? I must caution this is not some kind of weird formula as to whom is lost or found in God's judgment. I just imply, some will always accept the Father and some will always reject Him just like the Bible indicates. Stay tuned. We are getting deeper still.
No experience-no hope.
From the first moment Lucifer believed in his heart
that,
"God is a push over.
I can do what I please. He will not stop me. I will raise my throne above His
throne." Lucifer created evil. Not God. To have His chosen people, God in Heaven
must remove the dross/impurities (Jeremiah 9, 7), just like the Old Testament says, so we
will be the refiner. I think it is only through such intense training that if we see darkness, then we will flee from it. The Bible
tells us, "Some are saved hating even their garments as filthy rags." (Isaiah
64:6)
O no, you think you can understand God in a perfect heaven and never turn from Him without experience, you forget, as mentioned, one in three of the angels that had known God for eons of time, turned from Him in a day. Think of Peter in the New Testament saying, "Lord, I will not deny you." (Mark 14:29) Jesus in turned prophesied, (paraphrased) "you will deny me by the crock of roosters." God knows the future, and He knows we will make mistakes. He just created a place called earth and a time called chance for us to make those mistakes and learn from them.
Example: My son started drinking after all his friends at the daycare. I told him not to do that. He inquired "why"? When he got sick, he discovered that his dad was not so wrong after all. Why is it we must learn from doing the dumb things instead of just listening? I don't know, but it seems to be in our very nature to learn this way.
So, is our determination to learn from experience necessitating the need for the fall and linear time to deal with that fall? The Bible encourages, "With experience we have hope." (Romans 5:4)
The Point is that if God did not give us time and a chance to grow up, then our first failure, in a perfect heaven, would be our last --just like Lucifer. No we need time and grace and experience. We have learned so much about things like: what is right, what is good, about listening, one's character in doing the right thing no matter what the cost. If we are going to talk about experience, we must consider that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 5:12)
In fact, for years, there have been questions of integrity on police officer exams. The exam would ask questions such as, "Have you ever stolen anything or lied"? If you answered no, then you failed the test. It is that simple; we learn from our mistakes; and, we have all made mistakes. So I ask again, is that part of the reason for human suffering? Answer that, and you can know if you can trust in the Father of all things. Even in the case of personal loss, like the loss of Little Carter, you can understand experience is God's teacher. The Bible says, (paraphrased) "this life is a school master to Christ." When Father God makes it right for this family and yours, we will all see He is just and right and Holy.
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