Kai Hagbard wrote:Hi Casey - Exactly where do you stand in all this and why (if you dont mind I ask)?
Hi Kai,
I stand on the following:
- "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
"I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
"Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
"Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
"In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." (Isaiah 45:18-25)
There is no clearer expression of the Covenant of Promise in the Bible than this, and I accept that Covenant of God with all my heart. It was the purpose of Jesus allowing Himself to be "lifted up" before the world.
In the creation story, God created Adam in His Image, but Adam was not entirely in God's Image because Adam did not know good and evil as God does.
Being Good, the only way for God to teach Adam evil was to allow Adam to use his free will, and to decide to learn evil on his own. God placed the tree of knowledge in the garden - but commanded Adam not to eat from it.
Adam ate from it anyway.
God knew this would happen, yet He set it up even so. There's only one reason for Him to do so - because He is Good, He follows His own Law, He does not kill - even in self-defense as Jesus Witnessed to us.
God takes all responsibility for everything we do, however, because He created us and the evil
we do would not happen if He had not created us.
Man did not fall - rather man did the Will of God.
God's way looking at what Adam did is recorded in Genesis:
- "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever..." (Genesis 3:22)
Thus did God elevate man from the status of perfect robot to the status of mortal gods, as witnessed elsewhere in Psalms,
the Key of David:
- "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods." (Psalms 82:1)
"I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." (Psalms 82:6)
"Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods." (Psalms 97:7)
"I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee." (Psalms 138:1)
Confirmed by Jesus:
- "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John 10:34-36)
Far from "falling", then, God has loosed mankind to learn good and evil, thus also Love and Compassion and Mercy, on his own.
IMO, we've done that now. We have enough information and history under our belts to understand that we will never be perfect as God is perfect, that we are incapable of even running the earth without God's presence among us.
Today we are sons of God, as the Bible says - mortal little-"g" gods that kill and slaughter, steal and lie, accuse and cast out.
To be Sons of God, endued with the full measure of God's Spirit as Jesus was upon His baptism, we, as a people, need to admit our inability to be like God - which is what we've been attempting to do all these years.
- "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
Today that son of perdition is revealed, and he is US in the form of the imperfect Body of Christ that is today acting as God, is sitting in the temple of God, and with most Christians who fornicate with government today is shewing himself that he is God.
That Wicked son of perdition is we, you and I, as we continue supporting the evil of the world we've been sent into rather than witnessing Jesus Christ and ministering unto sinners and those who have nothing as He did.
By doing so we give all power of the Kingdom over to Satan rather than God.
The Plan of Salvation is akin to a loving father allowing his son to learn the dangers and benefits of FIRE while the father is present. When the lesson is learned the father will be there to heal and comfort the son.
The son will not misuse fire again...
In our case we must submit to God, a symbolic 144,000 of us, and voluntarily surrender that part of free will that prevents us from attaining perfect Love for Him and perfect Love for our fellow creations, as Jesus Christ Witnessed to us that we must have.
When we do that, we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye at Jesus' return, finally made complete in the Image of God as He set out to do in the beginning without doing evil Himself.
- "Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion" (Jeremiah 3:13-14)
So yes, I hold God to the above promise, that all peoples whom He has created will in the end be saved and become my brothers and sisters under God. This is what He Wills, according the Apostle. And who are we to stand against God's Will because we are too lazy to spread the Gospel. He has it all taken care of, obviously.
Thus I guess I would be called a "Knee-Bower".
- "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Luke 13:34-35)
Casey