THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S
CREATION: INTRODUCTION
Post Date: 8-29-2019
The intent of this planned
series of articles is to illustrate the creation purpose of God. Why did God create the heavens and the
earth? What was His purpose and what was
His ultimate goal? The Creator is
Omniscient and timeless. There is no
past, present, and future with God.
Thus, He knows all things before they occur (in our manner of thinking),
which means that God knew that Eve would be tempted and Adam would sin; and the
result of that original sin upon the historical events for the past 6000 years.
The Church
Many
Christian leaders and various other pundits have recently lamented the vast
decline of individuals leaving the Christian faith or showing no interest in
becoming involved with the Christian faith i.e. participating in the services
and programs offered by various denominations.
Much of the negative influence can rightfully be attributed to the
modern culture and lifestyles promoted by the main stream media and television
shows but that is not the only effecting issue and perhaps it is not the most
important.
However,
it is my opinion that young people, in particular, are not interested in
aligning with an archaic church organization and its pre-planned activities or
even occasionally attending and I will attempt to explain.
The
heading for this section is entitled “The Church”. The Church is Biblically defined as a
community or congregation of Christian believers. However, the problem of the declining
membership problem (or abstaining from membership) is not necessarily associated
with the Biblical definition of Church as a congregation of believers but rather
the actual church building, its services, and/or its operating system. Such as: it can be a political organization; the worship
service is repetitive even when program changes are invoked; the programs lack depth
(such as Bible studies and Sunday schools); the preaching or lecturing,
although it may be based on scripture, rarely teaches anything new or answers
any of the thoughts given in the opening introduction of this article; and the
amount of Biblical education that is shared or learned by the participating
members through the preachers and teachers is lacking in substance or it is
repeated ad nauseas from year to year.
Below is an article that
well articulates the thinking and grumbling in regards to losing or not gaining
membership among Church organizations.
It’s part of a much larger anti-institutional swing
in American religion — one that’s left an unprecedented number of Christians
convinced they can practice their faith just fine without the church.
One such belief, shared by two-thirds of
respondents, was that “worshiping alone or with family is a valid replacement
for regularly attending church.”
What’s more concerning is how the view that church
is nonessential has infiltrated the pews, even though the Bible is pretty
clear, in both the Old and New Testaments, that Christians must “Remember the
Sabbath day by keeping it holy” and “not neglect” to meet together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day
drawing near.”
In a new survey, LifeWay reports
that a mind-boggling 65 percent of churchgoers agree with the following statement, “I can walk with
God without other believers.”
The
above article is mainly focused on denominational church building attendance or
a lack thereof. Two-thirds may think it
is not necessary to attend church to practice their faith, but many others have
no desire to attend a church building and its predictable services. The article never mentions or refers to the
content or the depth of the teaching and preaching. In his days, Paul told a group of believers
that he initially fed them milk but they needed more milk because they couldn’t
handle solid food.
1
Corinthians 3:2 NET I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were
not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready,
I
will admit that the majority of attendance based Sunday church services are
highly uninteresting and verges on being tiresome due to the continuous stream
of 1% milk, not even whole milk (You may have different opinions, but that is
mine). Some church organizations attempt
to design the service as entertainment, but even that approach can become dull and
tiresome after a while. What people
need, particularly young people, is information and instruction about God, His
purposes for Creation, the fact that everything is created by God and nothing
exists apart from Him, and that the laws of God were not aborted by the Cross
(i.e. nailed to the Cross as the saying goes).
Using
the book of Acts and various sections of Paul’s letters it would appear that
early groups of Christians were excited concerning congregation meetings even
with and absence of singers, choirs, instruments, sound equipment, and air
conditioning. What is the
difference? I believe the difference is
the message and the information given by Paul and other apostles/teachers
during these get-togethers. They were
learning something about their new faith and Paul’s letters confirm they were
not hearing the same message repeatedly.
What
were they learning from Paul? Just read
his letters and the Gospels and you will understand. For example, they learned that Jesus Christ
is the last Adam and he paid the redemption cost of the first sin against God.
The
understanding of the book of the Revelation as a prophetic history of the
Church is speaking of the history of what is now known as the Roman Catholic
Church, although it was just merely “the Church” until denominations caused it
to differentiate itself. Revelation 16
describes the bowls poured out for the destruction of the modern Babylonian
system called Mystery, Babylon.
Chapter
17 details and gives a description of the primary church of the Revelation
(i.e. the Roman Catholic Church) where it is referred to as a prostitute, or a
harlot, or a whore in some translations.
The church is called a harlot because at the present, it has deviated to
become the exact opposite of a righteous, ethical wife. Also note that Rev 17:5 calls the Roman
Church the ‘Mother of prostitutes”.
Revelation
17:1 NET Then one of the seven angels …… "I will show you
the condemnation and punishment of the great prostitute (whore / harlot) who
sits on many waters…..
Revelation
17:5 NET On her forehead was written a name, a mystery:
"Babylon the Great, the Mother of
prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth."
If
the Roman Church is the harlot and the mother of harlots then who or what would
be the harlot children? Well, these
children would be the offshoots of the Roman Church, or what is today known as
denominations. If you (the reader), are
currently experiencing a surge of self-righteous indignation of me referring to
your denomination as a whore, then I would suggest arguing with scripture. Many believe they are correct in their
teachings and doctrines but all are mistaken in some form or another.
Remember
that Martin Luther (originally a Roman Catholic) is considered the leading mover
and instigator of the Protestant movement that ultimately resulted in many current
denominations. The various
denominations, of course, have varying doctrines and rituals. Some consider their particular doctrines as
the only correct doctrines and believe that others who do not adhere to them
are doomed.
Saved From
What?
I
recall attending a Billy Graham convention in the Baltimore area during the 70’s
which was accompanied with the mass hysteria among many of the surrounding churches. Mr. Graham’s final call line was always, “you
must be saved”. But what exactly is one
saved from? From going to hell at death
is the usual answer of course and most people do not want to go to hell if they
are the least bit concerned – except for an insane few who say they would like
to be with their friends after death.
Going
forward for “salvation” at a BG convention is much easier than doing so in a
church service because no one knows you and it is not necessarily an
embarrassment. For some, on the way home
after the convention is over is merely going down to the bar and having a
couple of beers.
This
concept of being saved to avoid hell is basically all that most new converts
are taught or ever learn about their supposedly new faith. Some churches even teach all future sins are
forgiven (which is true) and that the laws of God were nailed to the Cross and
are no longer necessary for day to day living (which is not true). Thus if hell is avoided and there is no type
of legality to future actions then why go to church – everything is taken care
of.
As
any frequent reader of Freedom from Delusion should know, I currently do
not believe in a fiery hell of everlasting divine punishment. So, what is a person saved from?
The
word “saved” appears many times in the Gospels (and elsewhere) but the verses
most relevant for my explanation appear in John 3:17-18.
John
3:17-18 NET For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world should be saved
(delivered or preserved) through
him. (18) The one who believes (entrusts) in him is not condemned. The one who
does not believe has been condemned (to be punished) already, because he
has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
Note
that John 3:18 contains the phrase “The one who believes in him”. This phrase, “believe in Him” which is
repeated throughout the New Testament has caused much confusion to
teachers/preachers/ and those claiming to the “saved”. The Greek dictionaries, of course, offer
several definitions of the word “believe”.
The one most commonly considered is:
to
think to be true, to be persuaded of.
As the cast out demons exclaimed the name of Jesus and also as
James points out, the demons considered Jesus as the Son of God and they are
persuaded He has absolute power over them.
James
2:19 NET You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the
demons believe that -- and tremble with fear.
Therefore,
it can be said that merely believing that Jesus Christ exists and that He is
the Son of God and has the authority of God is not enough. One must entrust oneself (one’s life) to God;
allow the teachings of Jesus Christ to define one’s lifestyle; desire to uphold
and live according to the laws of God; become an active citizen of the Kingdom while
working to fulfill the goals of the Kingdom as it approaches. These qualities, of course, were not part of
the agenda of the demons.
To
understand the meaning of “saved” or “saved from what?” in the New Testament,
other Biblical concepts must first be understood. Many of these other concepts are either
unknown to most or difficult to know for most Christians and Bible teachers are
afflicted with spiritual blindness that God has cast over them.
Isaiah
44:18 NET They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes
are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.
Firstly,
there are two resurrections. The initial
resurrection will not include every pew sitter who claims they are saved. It will only embrace a smaller group known as
the overcomers, the elect, the Saints of the Most High God (Daniel 7), the
chosen of God, both living and dead.
When
this first resurrection occurs (hopefully soon) many lukewarm Christians and pew
sitters may become upset. After all,
their church leaders have been preaching the mantra of the Scofield Bible, Hal
Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, and other Dallas Theological Seminary writers as long as
they can remember i.e. there will be a
secret 2nd coming of Christ prior to the 7 year tribulation period
that will remove all Christians from the earth.
This will allow the Jews to restart their animal sacrificial system
along with the advent of a monstrous world dictator called the Antichrist. WRONG
Matthew
7:21-23 NET "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
enter into the kingdom of heaven -- only the one who does the will of my Father
in heaven. (22) On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we
prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful
deeds?' (23) Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me,
you lawbreakers!'
Matthew
7:21 is speaking of the first resurrection (which will include living elect)
about those who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (or God in Luke). They are the ones who perform “the will of my
Father in heaven”. Others (who are
living at the return of Christ) will state, “Hey, what about us? We did all kinds of wonderful things.” And Jesus will reply, “Sorry, but you must
wait for the second resurrection.
Although you may have done some wonderful things, you are never the less
unrepentant lawbreakers.”
After
the Millennial Kingdom of God (the end of 1000 years) the second resurrection
will take place (Rev. 20:5) called the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev.
20:11-12). This event will include every
person that has ever been born (or aborted) during the history of the planet
earth. Some will receive only a slight
punishment such as the saved who attempted to lead a lawful life but had not
achieved the level of the elect (see Matt. 7:21-23 above). Others will be given the refining corrective fire
of God for various extended periods of time (some perhaps for an age i.e. eon).
The
second and most important reason or concept has been mentioned earlier in this
article. The saved person desires to employ
all their efforts to advance the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Holy Spirit of God empowers them to
understand the will of God through His laws and to live their life accordingly. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are to go
to Africa or the Amazon as missionaries.
They are to act as expected i.e. a child of God; filled with the Holy
Spirit; a temple of God; and a replica of Jesus Christ in their actions and
attitudes.