All The Same

Though God has created each individual with their own unique characteristics, nevertheless we all share much in common. We are all created by God, in the image of God, for God. And just as we all need food, water, and air in to live; so we all need God. Even those who deny and hate God do not live without Him. They can't. No one can. That is because all life comes from God. He is the eternal first Cause and Source of life. As the Scripture says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4). Speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, at the Areopagus in Athens, Greece; the apostle Paul said, 

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Therefore, since we are to offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:26-28; emphasis added). 

So we see the diversity of humanity in the words "every nation", "on all the face of the earth". And we see that all the different people have been predetermined to live in their own times and dwellings. But we also see what binds us all together. We are all "one blood" made by God, to know Him personally. And He is near to each of us. It is in Him that each and every one of us lives and have our being. 

But we also have this in common; we are all fallen, and share a corrupted human nature which we have all inherited from our first ancestor, Adam (Romans 5:12). And this corrupted human nature has broken the perfect relationship that humanity enjoyed with God in the beginning. By this nature, human beings are in a state of rebellion against, enmity with, and estrangement from God. 

But God, in His love, has never stopped reaching out to us. He revealed Himself through His prophets, despite their being sinners like all the rest of us. Their history and writings are recorded in the Old Testament. And they foretold the coming of a Messiah, a Savior who would take our sins on Himself and make reconciliation with Him available to humanity (Genesis 3:14-15, 2 Samuel 7, Psalm 22, Psalm 89, Isaiah 11:1-10, Isaiah 49:1-13, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 61:1-3, Daniel 9:25-26, Micah 5:2; and more). 

And so, the Creator of the universe, the Creator and owner of every human being, became a human being Himself, and came into the world to reveal Himself  personally to humanity (John 1:1-14). The message of Jesus Christ is for all people everywhere. It is the gospel (good news) of God's love for a world that hates Him, and His offer of forgiveness and reconciliation to Him. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, an angel appeared to some shepherds and said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11; emphasis added).  

For all our differences, we really are all the same. We are all made by God, in His image. We are all fallen sinners in need of salvation. And our Savior is God the Son, Jesus Christ. His salvation is available to everyone. All one has to do is accept it. 

Peace Is A Game, And I'm Not Playing.

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Jesus Christ; Matthew 10:34).

Churches sometimes try to go out of the way to please people and attract members. Their idea is to make the non-Christian world like them in hopes of peaceful relations in which everyone feels all nice and good. But those who faithfully walk with Jesus Christ are often met with hostility. And it only makes sense that it would be like that. The prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would be despised and rejected; so it stands to reason that whoever follows Him will be despised and rejected too (Isaiah 53:3). 

Faith in Jesus Christ reconciles sinners to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). And it produces peace among those who trust in Christ and follow His teachings (Ephesians 2). It is not, however, going to produce peace between the redeemed who have faith in Christ, and the unrepentant who do not. In fact, if one places his or her faith in Christ and follows Him, He guarantees that that person will be hated by the world, which is in discordance with God.

Jesus said to His disciples, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:18-19). He said "Woe to you when everyone speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets." (Luke 6: 26). And, conversely, He said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12). 

He said, "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22). To be at peace with God is to be at odds with the world which hates God, and vice versa. Just as to be sensitive to the world is to be insensitive to God, and vice versa. As the Scripture says, "...Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4).  

It's not that God, or His people hate the world. Indeed, God's word says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17). The problem is that the world hates God, and therefore hates anyone who is at peace with God. 

Jesus Christ is God the Son. He has existed from eternity past with the Father. The world hated Him because it is in rebellion against God. That is why they crucified Him. That is why the world loves sin, and even tries to distort God's word to justify whatever kind of wickedness in which they are living. That is why Cain murdered his brother, Abel (1 John 3:12). That is why people of the world think it should be o.k. to murder unborn children. And that is why the wicked continue to hate anyone who trusts in Christ and stands faithfully on His word. I think of Meriam Ibrihim and many other Christians down through the ages.

Jesus Christ did not come to bring peace to the world. Well, He did; but He didn't. He came to make reconciliation and peace with God available to all who believe in Him and repent (turn away from sin, and turn to God). And His word says to us, "Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." (1 John 3:13). Our business is to please God, not people (Galatians 1:10).

God Is Not A Drug

It has been said that religion, or belief in God, is an "opiate for the masses", a "drug to kill the pain" of living. When giving up cigarettes, I used to pray and ask God to be my nicotine. But He never did be my nicotine (yes, I know that's not proper grammar, it's ok). God is not a drug. A drug is something that a person is not designed to need, but on which the person develops a chemical or mental reliance. 

This developed dependence is a defect. It is contrary to the way that God made human beings to live. As such, it is a type of bondage. Anything that hinders us from living the life for which God made us; that hindrance is bondage. True freedom is the uninhibited ability to live the life for which our heavenly Father created us. That is why Jesus Christ said that whoever sins is a slave of sin, but that whoever is faithful to Him will be set free by the truth (John 8:31-36). Just as the Old Testament prophecy about Christ said;

"The Spirit of  the Lord God is upon Me,

Because the Lord has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound."

(Isaiah 61:1).

When Jesus first began to teach and to preach in the Galilean synagogues, He read this portion of Scripture aloud and told the congregation that the prophecy was just fulfilled as they listened (Luke 4:16-21). And as the Scriptures also say, "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage."; (Galatians 5:1) "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17).

God is not a drug. To live as He created us in His image to live - by faith, loving and being loved by Him and each other - is not a bondage from which to be delivered. But His good and faithful presence in our lives, and His revelation of Himself to us through His word, is sustenance to our souls; just as food and drink is sustenance to our flesh. As Jesus, quoting from the Torah, said  "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" (Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3). 

God is not a drug. He is our heavenly Father. He is the spiritual sustenance that is necessary to our souls. His love is not bondage, but freedom. God is love (1 John 4:8). And He made us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of love (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the reason that we, as human beings even have a concept of love. It is built into the core of our being, by God who created us.

God is not a drug to which to say "No". It is in Him that all of us are able to live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). No one has ever lived or done anything without God. Many have used their God-given gifts to disobey Him by doing evil, but in due time He will pronounce His righteous judgment and carry it out against the wicked. In the meantime, He patiently waits, allowing time for sinners to repent and be reconciled to Him by grace, through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. 

The Awesome Dinosaurs

The allegation has been made that dinosaurs and other fossils are "awkward" for creationist. But the truth is that dinosaur fossils, and fossils in general, attest to the reality of the Genesis Flood. 

For one thing, the shear number of large and small remains, encased and mineralized within the layers sedimentary rock all over the world is exactly what we would expect to find if the biblical account of a global Flood really happened. It is not, however, consistent with the uniformitarian assumptions on which the evolutionary view of geology is founded. 

Under the normal circumstance that we currently observe, an animal dies and its remains are eaten by scavengers and rot away; leaving no geological record of their existence. Only in the event of a great catastrophe do large numbers of both great and small animals become buried in sediments quickly enough for their remains to be preserved and mineralized; many of them being partly, some even mostly articulated.

Aside from that, within the fossils that are found; soft tissues, non-mineralized biological material is discovered. Dinosaur bones have been discovered having non-mineralized blood cells, vessels, nuclei, and skin tissues. Check it out: 

(https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/3-soft-tissue-in-fossils/). 

These findings show that the remains are not millions of years old. And so do all the instances in which radiometric dating methods are used on rocks of known ages and come up with wildly inflated "dates": 

(https://answersingenesis.org/geology/radiometric-dating/does-radiometric-dating-prove-the-earth-is-old/). 

Dinosaurs and fossils are no problem for Christians who take the historical narrative of Genesis as the divinely inspired truth. The difference between creationists and evolutionists is a matter of how we interpret the scientific data. Creationists can appreciate the great reptiles as a part of God's handiwork, which He created on the sixth day, along with all the other beasts, reptiles, and creeping things; as well as the first man and woman whom He made uniquely in His own image.

At that time, "in the beginning", there was no death, no suffering, no disease, and no carnivorism. The creatures with sharp teeth and claws would have used them for braking open such things as coconuts, and pineapples. But sin came into the world through one man, Adam; and death came as a result of sin. And everyone dies because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 5:12, 3:23, 6:23). 

And when human wickedness, and violence had reached a crescendo during Noah's lifetime, God sent a great Flood to destroy humanity from the face of the earth. But by God's grace, Noah and his family were saved. God warned Noah to build an Ark, which He instructed him to make approximately 500 feet long, 75 feet high, and 45 feet wide; having three levels, and rooms inside (Genesis 6). Large wooden ships with similar measurements are also detailed in other ancient historical texts (https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/the-large-ships-of-antiquity/).

So Noah followed God's instructions. The Flood came and the whole earth was covered (Genesis 7). And the turbulence of the earth caused the fountains of the great deep to break open, (Genesis 7:11) creating what we now refer to as tectonic plates. Massive amounts of sediment were moved from one place to another, swiftly burying beasts, reptiles, fish, and flying creatures; both great and small. The earth remained flooded for the length of a year, with the waters just beginning to recede about half way through the Flood year (Genesis 7:24-8:19). 

The face of the earth was dramatically changed. The receding Flood waters carved out many of the canyons that we observe today. And in the years following the Flood, tectonic activity broke the earth into continents, and caused mountains of sedimentary layers, with creatures buried in them during the Flood, to be pushed up into the clouds before they solidified and became the monuments that they are today. These monuments, laden with the remains of creatures, both great and small, including the great reptiles, stand to remind us of the judgement of a holy God, but also of His grace, by which He saved Noah and His family.

By that same grace, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came personally into our world and preached the gospel of His kingdom. His kingdom is at work in the world today through His followers, until it is is fully consummated by His return and His final judgement of the world which is in rebellion against His kingdom. He gave His human life on the cross to ransom many from sin (Matthew 20:28) and rose again so that by trusting in Him, we can be a part of His kingdom; reconciled to God who is love, and who created us in His own image for the purpose of love (2 Corinthians 5:12-21, 1 John 4:8, Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 22:37-40).