He who sits
in the heavens
shall laugh;
the Lord shall
hold them
in derision.
Then He shall
speak to them
in His wrath,
and distress them
in His deep
displeasure:
Yet I have set
My King On
My holy hill of Zion.
Psalm 2:4-6
Psalm 2:4-6
In all ages that man has been upon this earth God has revealed Himself and the fact that He was coming to bring to His people a redeemer. God revealed that fact to those men of God, the prophets, even to kings; further Jesus Christ selected certain men, the Apostles, and those that He willed and inspired to write about Him, even God promised that not even one jot or title would pass away from His Law: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law or the till all is fulfilled"(Matthew 5:17-18). Allow me to expand on those verses; a jot in Hebrew is a yod, and a yod makes the difference in a word. We use a tittle in our language, take the letter "O' and put attach a tittle like in the letter "Q", see the tail? That is a tittle. Man never was without that revelation and if not having that revelation spoken to them by the will of God they would never have been left destitute of the knowledge as man cannot know God without God intervening in their lives. The Omniscience God knew that His creation, man, in their limited nature could not have the knowledge of God, that is they cannot know the incorporeal and the uncreated. But God did not leave man destitute of the knowledge of Himself, even after Adam sinned bringing forth an inherited sin that needed a savior. Now if God had left man without the knowledge of Himself the existence of man would have no purpose. What use is it for an to be existent if he cannot know its maker? Men were created as rational, sentient beings, and being reasonable beings if they had no knowledge of the Word and the Reason of the Father, they would be nothing more than as the beasts of the field; they would know of earthly things but not heavenly things.
Did not God desire and intend that they would know Him? Yes! Did God not walk and talk with Adam in the Garden of Eden? Yes! Was not the knowledge of God present in the lives of the pre-flood people? Yes! In fact Adam was alive until shortly before the flood, and His son Seth was alive until just before the flood. How do you think that Enoch would know of God; how would Noah or his family know of God and what God required if not having that knowledge revealed to them? They did! God made man in His image, they have a share in the image of God, and that image is in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are made after the same image and likeness: "but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7). We are to become like Him: "and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). We are to become conformed to the image of God and this is possible by the faith given to us and the Holy Spirit that was promised to His children, to live in us. God came, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit, in order to save all who were predestined to be saved, and making Him to be apprehended. this is the method for the happiness that the Maker desired for men, for them to have a happy and blessed life. But what has men done in regards to what God has done? Men are foolish and this is the subject of the next blog. Even those chosen by God sin. All of His children need forgiveness of their sins and Jesus gave a formula for us in His model prayer: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 5:12). Forgiveness is available for those who are truly contrite in heart and the second part is that we are to forgive those who have trespassed against us; how can we expect God to forgive us if we are not willing to forgive others. Read the 1John; slowly, allow the words to penetrate your heart and see if your attitude and desire does not change. John full of love in his heart under inspiration from the Holy Spirit gives this advice: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.Beloved, if god so love us, we also ought to love one another" (1John 4:7-11). Love is the sign, a hallmark of a true Christian. It is this principled love, the Love of God in us that we do things that are loving for we are loving as God loves. Yes, we do things that are philanthropical, but that arises out of the love in our hearts that is the Love of the Father. I do not write this blog just to espouse knowledge, rather that your life is filled with faith, that you are changed from the inside out.
We know that
whoever is born
of God does not sin;
but he who been
born of God keeps
himself, and the
wicked one does
not touch him.
1 John 5:18
Today, Greet Your Friends, and Family In God's Love
Richard L. Crumb
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