WOULD THIS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
WOULD THIS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Over the years we have heard it from many people in various ways saying,
“Why has God made everything so difficult? Why does He hide Himself? Why all
the evil, why does He allow it? Why does He not just show Himself openly for
everyone to see?
Would changing all this actually make a
difference in our behavior? Would we be more faithful to Him? Where does all
the evil come from anyways?
Let us consider someone who did begin with perfection, who had
everything good, and had started out in the Presence of God. Let us direct
our attention to one event in particular. Although God did not elaborate on
this topic extensively, by it we can gain some insight,
and you can be sure that God will not allow this situation to be repeated. Obviously it did not catch
Him by surprise or off guard. No doubt you know the story of how and why
Lucifer/Satan, was cast out of Heaven. The Bible says that he was full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty from the day he was created, until iniquity was
found in him. Then he rebelled. (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-17). In
response, God had him cast out of heaven, and he (Satan) took a third of the
angels with him (Revelation 1:4). They
had it all, but for those angels apparently that wasn’t good enough.
Now like the
angels, we are created as freewill agents to be with God, to commune with Him,
and to serve Him. However, unlike Satan and his fellow angels who rejected God
and His goodness while living with Him in Paradise (thus leaving themselves no
chance of parole, so to speak), we begin our lives in exactly the opposite
situation. Our existence begins in a fallen world, separated from God, where
the Devil has free reins, and while we are bound to a sinful nature. It is here
and in this situation we make our choices. It is here that God tries our
heart.
Nevertheless, He has not left us without help or testimony. He has given us the tools of faith to perceive
Him, and a mind and heart capable of loving Him. He also gave us the Bible and
the Ten Commandments so we can know His will and discern what He says is right
and wrong. Much more than that, God did something utterly amazing . The Lord
Jesus Christ, the Holy Son of God Himself, took on human form and lived in our
world among us. To crown it off, He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross
then rose again from the dead - victorious as a human over all the powers of
darkness, sin, and death and thereby paid our way to Heaven. Now, when we come
to the God in Christ Jesus, we can approach Him in the purity of Christ, be
accepted of Him and be with Him, never to be separated from Him again.
So in this
life, under these conditions, we chose where we will spend eternity, and
forever there shall we be! If, in spite
of the present hardships we choose Jesus, our eternity with Him will be secure
and our fate will not be that of the devil’s.
Now let us ask ourselves, would our heart be any different toward God if
things were different? Jesus said to Thomas, “You believe because you can see Me. Happy are those who have not seen
and yet believe.” John 20:29. So what do we really need, something outside of us, or something within us?
Finally, what about all the evil and
injustice we see in this world, why that? If we look at them honestly instead
of blaming God, which we often do, are they not all acts of disobedience toward
Him. He commanded us to love Him, and to love one another. Who then is responsible? True love can only
come from someone with a free will. And if love is not being demonstrated, what is???
In conclusion, would we be any different toward God if we had the same situation as the Satan and the other angels who began their existence right in the presence of God Almighty? Would we be more faithful to Him than we are now? We have an opportunity to follow absolute Good and Perfection Who is Jesus Christ, why would we not be doing so now???
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