As I See It (as if that mattered)

this is way long...but here goes

As I see it, as the Living Word of God reveals it, in the beginning God created.
He is first and above all the Creator. Many religions acknowledge at least that much. The Great Spirit! The Big Bang! But some religions teach that after God completed His creation, he put it in the charge of lesser beings and sort of went to sleep. Some religions hold that the creator is female, since apparently it is the woman that creates life. That made sense until medical science discovered, oh about 10 thousand years ago or so, that woman did not do it alone. So do we have a male and female godhead, co-creating?
The Bible does use the expression “let us…” Who’s the us? Jumping ahead
a few thousand years, a prolific writer, famous for long sentences and
a brilliant mind, proclaims the following. “Rom 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Rom 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. ..
And what does nature show?
Trinity.
Shell, Yolk, Egg. Skin, Fruit, Seed. Nucleus, Proton, Neutron, Body, Mind, Soul.
Father, Son, Spirit. Holy - Holy - Holy
At least, that’s the way the Bible puts it…that’s the way Jesus put it.
“Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Ok, back to the beginning. There is a part of the story that isn’t really clear. It affects the human condition. But the purpose of the Bible seems to be explaining God’s relationship with human kind, and this particular piece of the picture is a bit vague. The angels. In considering the angels, the whys and wheres and whens are not that specific. Information is sort of given on a need to know basis, and some of the narratives are subject to interpretation?
I would like to discuss Lucifer. His name is sort of like Pearl Harbor. I mean, Pearl Harbor sounds like a beautiful place, except that it is a place of war, tragedy, attack…and so no one thinks, Pearl Harbor - that sounds lovely. So we have Lucifer - which means light. Piece together some verses and we find out he was in fact the most beautiful creature God created - up to the time He made man that is. But few people say “Lucifer” isn’t that a lovely name.
So we know there was some kind of war in heaven. A falling out. One third of the angels followed Lucifer. Two thirds stayed faithful. And there are a lot of them. Legions upon legions.
Was this battle planned? The concept is hard for me to grasp. But as I see it, and this piece is all about how I see it, because of jealousy and a lust for power, we have thousand of spiritual beings who were driven from their heavenly home, with no hope of redemption. Which is ultimately why Lucifer and his legions so hate mankind. God created people with a plan for redemption in mind. Mankind can be redeemed. Mankind can be forgiven.
I guess it is common belief among those who believe the Bible is true, that Lucifer’s main sin was that he wanted to be worshiped like God. And the promise he made Woman in the garden was that if she ate the forbidden fruit, she too would be like God, knowing good and evil. Sounds a little like yin and yang to me. How can we know good if we don’t know evil? How can we know light if we don’t know darkness? How can we know love if we don’t know hate? In C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy, the devil explains to The Woman on an other world, that because her “sister” Eve dared to disobey God, God Himself came to earth to set things right. Eve had merely played her part to bring about ultimate redemption to all her children.
But listen to the interchange between Cain and his Maker.
Gen 4:6 The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Gen 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Gen 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
Gen 4:10 And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
God tells Cain sin was crouching at the door. He urges him to rule over it. But Cain fails. What did God expect?
And this from Genesis 6.
Gen 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Gen 6:7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
Gen 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Many theologians teach that God was not surprised that all the choices this creature made, to whom was given free choice, were evil. He was not really sorry that He had created man. We do not take these verses literally because of course God knows all things and nothing ever surprises Him and He never changes His mind. But I think that we must take seriously the fact that mankind’s evil behavior grieved God to His heart. That is pretty serious language. Our behavior hurts God still.
Ok, so now we have Noah, and the flood. And the eight people from which all tongues and nations descend. Be fruitful and multiply. What do they know about God? He is the creator. He is powerful. He punishes the wicked but protects those who follow His directions. Mankind were created in His image, murder was forbidden (Genesis 9:6) He promised never to destroy the world with a flood again. But that flood was pretty intense. Many cultures around the globe have a flood story. Perhaps, just to ensure safety, a very tall tower could be built. And so the LORD confused their language and scattered them over the face of the earth. At that point in time, everyone had the story up to Genesis 11.
Here the Bible is vague again. We aren’t told a lot about what happened to
all those other people. Focus narrows in on Abraham and the “chosen”
people. But that same, afore mentioned prolific writer tells us
Act 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
Act 17:27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
Act 17:28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'
Act 17:29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
God had not just sent them on their merry way. He had a purpose
for them, all of them. But enter good old Lucifer again. God had a
plan. Lucifer had a grudge. We see the way the seed of Abraham had
to deal with temptation and evil. We see how Lucifer and his legion
sought to destroy the race from which was destined to come the
redeemer. Remember, the “devils” had no hope of redemption. No
hope for forgiveness.
We can follow the covenant story, the redemption story in the Bible.
What of the people who were scattered? There stories vary; their
religions vary. Some it seems almost had it right. Some holy men,
prophets and priests did seem to get messages from God. But
many were deceived by devils, longing still, as did their dark master,
to be worshiped as gods.
As I see it, all the false religions of the world, have behind them a
devil, an evil spirit, presenting him or herself as a god. A jealous spirit
who would prefer that mankind never find this redemption that is
planned for them. Who take the truth and distort it. Who through
fear, or false promises keep the people they have trapped looking to
the shadows instead of turning around and facing the light. Who
would want their followers to believe that forgiveness doesn’t
matter.
Yet the truth is there for any who seeks it. It always has been there.
And there have been hundreds of wise men, priests and prophets,
who, upon hearing the “whole story”, cried a resounding “Amen!’
I am not willing to concede that all the people, the millions and
millions of people in the world, who died before hearing the
Christian Gospel, who still die without hearing, are damned to the
devil’s hell. But I know that God is good, and just, and merciful. So I
will simply trust that His plan for them lovingly reflects His true,
Divine Nature.
As I see it, the most important thing here, on this Easter Morning, is
Jesus. It can not be denied that Jesus existed in time and history.
It is a fact that he lived in Israel, and that he died on a Roman cross.
It is a fact that his teachings and his followers changed the world.
The way we number our days according to his birth, he broke time in half. Before Christ and after.
Was He God? Born of a virgin? Fulfiller of the Jewish prophecies? Savior and Redeemer? The only Truth. The only Way? The Once and For All sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin?
That, I suppose is a matter of faith!
But there was a Jesus. I believe there is still and always Jesus. And He is unique.
There is the Bible. The oldest book in existence, the first book ever printed. A book forbidden in some places where darkness prevails. A book people have died for. It is not as important as Jesus, but it is all about Jesus. From cover to cover. From “in the beginning” to “it is finished” and beyond. There is no other such book. Not even the Koran, though wars are being fought over it as well. Not the book of Mormon, though many of the followers of that book are very nice people who claim the name of Jesus - while teaching a false concept of Christ.
Consider the name of Jesus. Used as a curse. Who curses in the name of
Allah, Mohammad, or Isis?
Consider the cross of Jesus. Why? Why this bloody display?
The crucifixion of Jesus is unique. Every drop of His innocent blood shed. God’s divine plan of redemption. What man would think that one up on his own? Why the cross? To demonstrate the extent of Divine Love? And this is love!
To say forgiveness doesn’t matter. To say to forgive means we must judge and judgment is wrong somehow. To deny the fact that the Divine forgives and in turn requires His children forgive. To neglect the words of Jesus at His crucifixion - Father, forgive them…
Who would want people to deny or neglect such things?
One who hates people because they can be forgiven.
One more verse and one more comment, then I am done with this and will head off to church on this glorious Easter Morning.
Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
Joh 12:33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
It is Easter Sunday - Resurrection Sunday some are calling it these
days, because of the pagan root of the word Easter. New clothes and
candy and egg hunts. But the event in History that we remember this
day, the one that is a matter of faith although there is some good
evidence that it actually did occur. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the grave, this is the true deciding factor.
Jesus rose from the dead to ultimately prove that all He said was true.
There is no other…there is no other way. We can discuss Calvinism,
Lutherism, Catholicism. We can divide over the concepts of Free Will
and Divine Election. We can waste time and energy arguing doctrine,
tradition, styles and methods. But the thing is Jesus. He is the
defining factor. Some people ask questions and get blasted for asking.
Some people grab hold of one piece of the puzzle and
refuse to admit there are other pieces that are every bit as much as of
the big picture as theirs. But the thing is Jesus. Horrible things have
been done in His precious name. Some of His so called followers have
done great damage to others. Yet this is not His fault. And He is ever
there to forgive, and restore. He is alive! He has risen! He has risen
indeed!