Are we telling Our Father irreverent, embarrassing things? Oh, no! God cannot be embarrassed by truth and what is above and what follows is truth. Let us SEE from the Scripture that…
IT WAS THE WILL OF GOD THAT MAN SHOULD BE SUBMERGED INTO EVIL OF SUCH A MAGNITUDE AND POWER THAT HE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO EXTRICATE HIMSELF FROM IT BY HIS OWN POWER, WILL, WISDOM OR OWN ABILITIES! (see details in Chapter 9[11]) MAN WOULD END UP EXACTLY WHERE LUCIFER HAS ENDED UP AS SATAN! TRUE? DO WE SEE IT?
YET, there is one basic and crucial difference. Lucifer-turned-Satan was not given the chance to repent and be saved; man has been given that chance. Why? One basic reason that I see is that LUCIFER WAS NEVER TEMPTED by any one! On the other hand, man will be purposely exposed to temptations by Satan and allowed to fall. Furthermore, man – now possessed by Satan – will be required to overcome all those great forces of evil and darkness outside and inside of himself BY FAITH (seeing himself) AND BY HIS FREE WILL DECISIONS AND BY HIS WORKS OF THAT FAITH AND BY THE POWER OF GOD, Who allowed him to fall into that sin and evil and death! And then God would save man from it all by sacrificing His Own Life for the man! Man never knew and experienced THIS KIND OF LOVE from any one anywhere, not even from God as his Creator. Furthermore…
MAN WILL BE REQUIRED TO DO WHAT SATAN AND ALL HIS FALLEN ANGELS COULD NEVER DO, NOT BY HIS KNOWLEDGE OR UNDERSTANDING, BUT BY LOVING GOD WITH THE KIND OF LOVE THAT GOD HAD FOR MAN, BY GIVING HIS OWN LIFE FOR GOD AND FOR BRETHREN AS GOD DID FOR MAN! (1Jn. 3:16)
THIS MAN WILL BECOME THE TRUEST AND THE MOST VALUABLE ‘JEWEL’ IN THE HANDS AND HEART OF GOD, HIS CREATOR, FATHER, SAVIOUR, LORD AND HUSBAND! (Rev. 21:7,9) THIS MAN WILL FULFIL THE FINAL PURPOSE AND DESIRE OF GOD, HIS CREATOR! WILL THIS AFFECT YOUR FUTURE LIFE, DECISIONS, FAITH AND WALK? OR WILL YOU REMAIN THE SAME?
There is a definite Design of Our Father in His everlasting Plans and Counsels with a very definite Eternal Purpose. My only question at this point is: IS OUR FORM OF CHRISTIANITY FULFILLING ANY PART OF THE ABOVE PURPOSE OF GOD TO HIS SATISFACTION? What do you SEE and believe is the true answer to this question?
g) LET US PAUSE for a moment and digest in our spirit, in our conscience and in our heart what has the Spirit shown us thus far. We might keep asking ourselves seemingly many reasonable and logical questions about these spiritual mysteries. I believe we may get the answers in a different, supernatural way.
Let us SEE and understand what the Father has been keeping in His Heart and Mind as a mystery for any human being who is not foreknown and predestinated by Him to be the future Bride and Wife of His Son and His Eternal Companion. It is clearly written in the Word that…
“He that LOVES NOT KNOWS NOT GOD; for GOD IS LOVE”. (1Jn. 4:8)
So he that loves not cannot know His Word either because, as we already know very well, the WORD IS GOD. (Jn. 1:1// 1Jn. 5:7) WITHOUT LOVE WE CANNOT KNOW GOD NO MATTER HOW MUCH INFORMATION WE POSSESS ABOUT HIM. This truth must yet penetrate our soul and we must start to SEE it before we are able to believe it. LOVE is the greatest Force-Person in this Universe; it causes us to multiply, to retain God in our being and also keep us in His everlasting Presence.
It is equally clearly written that “though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge (so I can write books and sermons, teach them, preach them); and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains (and build great ministries, churches and seminaries), and HAVE NO LOVE, I AM NOTHING”. (1Cor. 13:2)
Do we register this truth in our hearts? NO, we don’t! Because we do not SEE the reality of ourselves and of our love, we can only try to imagine ourselves and our love.
WE MAY ALL BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE LOVE, and we may thereby say truth. But the all important question is: WHAT KIND OF LOVE do we have and show and live? With our mouth we may show much love, but our heart may go after our covetousness. (Ez. 33:31) In our natural soul we have “natural love” which is NOT the love that God means and seeks and desires from us! Our natural human love is SELFISH; it is NOT the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22) It is mostly emotional love seeking pleasure and self-satisfaction; it is not a suffering love, disciplining love (except for some parent’s love for children). It is not a commitment of one person to another for the times of adversity, suffering and burden-bearing (Pr. 17:17)… even though couples may have made such promises at the altar. Our natural human love does not bear all things, does not believe all things, does not hope all things, does not endure all things… and does not rejoice in truth. (1Cor. 13:4-8a) Our love can fail and fail miserably and at times rather quickly; it can even change into hatred and separate what it united in the beginning! Since the natural selfish love is not the fruit of His Spirit, it is NOT acceptable to God. That’s WHY IN OUR NATURAL SOUL WE ARE NOTHING. (Gal. 6:3// Rom. 12:3) Do we see this truth? NO, we don’t! Do we believe it? NO, we don’t, we can’t believe it because we can’t SEE it!
How do we know that our “love” is true or not? If we reject any corrections of our errors, if we are offended and pricked by the smallest truth about our unacceptable deeds or reactions, if we insist on our opinions, feelings, convictions even in the face of clear facts that oppose them, etc., then it is pride and stubbornness that is in our soul and not love! In this state we are able to “love” only those that always agree with us, go our way, do not speak truth to us and do not try to correct us, discipline us or give us any advices of any kind. This is a clear proof that our “love” is SELFISH, therefore, it is RUBBISH! Pride, stubbornness, selfishness, the love of our own ambitions, plans, goals, desires and other “virtues” of our flesh cannot possibly coexist with the true love from the Spirit.
How many Christian couples are divorced? And how many live together only for “the sake of their children”? Why? Where has their first “true” love disappeared? And how could it disappear? Do they know? NO, they don’t! They have only experienced its disappearance and destruction without necessarily knowing or understanding the spiritual roots or reasons for it and the consequences of it. The most sacred union which God established as the fore-picture of Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:32) is destroyed before our very eyes and we have no power, no ability and no desire to save it. Do you know the true reason for this TRAGEDY? It is OUR PRIDE AND SELFISHNESS! It destroys the spirit of natural love before our very eyes rather quickly and efficiently and we in our natural soul can do nothing about it. We then suffer the consequences and begin living in separation and misery. And then we may continue to “serve God” believing that we are “effective servants of God”. (1Tim. 3:4,5) But selfishness, as part of our flesh, is SIN and sin separates, divides and then destroys. SIN separates not only man and wife, but man and God! The power of evil in pride and selfishness is clearly visible in any divorce and the couple carries the damage thereof for the rest of their life. Do you have your own experiences? Can you do anything about it without God? NO!
IF THERE IS ANY HUSBAND IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND THAT HAD THE RIGHT TO SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM HIS WIFE IT WOULD BE JESUS CHRIST SEPARATING HIMSELF FROM HIS UNFAITHFUL AND FORNICATING WIFE – THE ISRAEL-CHURCH. HIS FAITHFULNESS AND SACRIFICE SHOWS THAT TRUE LOVE IS PROVEN IN PAIN AND SUFFERINGS AND ENDURANCE AND IN EVIL, NOT IN PLEASANT FEELINGS, NOT IN GOODNESS AND NOT IN LOVING ONLY THOSE THAT LOVE YOU. (MT. 5:46)
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To be continued next week in chapter 5 – part 5
brother Hanola
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