An excerpt from, “Why Take a Boat When You Can Walk On Water”?
Throughout time, man has struggled with his own destiny. Where, in the scheme of things does man fit in? What is the human condition and is man accountable for his own conditional state? Is there a God that administers man’s fate? Can man be successful in love and business and still have an intimate relationship with God? Should man be uplifted to the world? Is mankind enslaved to evil? There are so many questions that plagues the mind of man. I remember as a child I used to feel like an orphan, lost and forgotten. I had a wonderful father, mother and two sisters, yet I felt as if I were alone in a foreign place. I would lie on the lawn at night and stare at the heavens, thinking, why am I here, where did I come from, what is my purpose? .As a childish mind would have it, I simply couldn’t see the reasoning behind my being. I felt God had abandon me, and I could not restore our relationship. Over time, I quit seeking God and became infatuated with the world. Even as the world became my reality the question was still in the back of my mind. I could not keep from wondering why and who I was. An awareness began to creep into my mind that added to the feeling of not belonging to the world. I will attempt to stay on course and tell you how I was enlightened and how my experiences may shed some light on you in your search for God. It is my best intention to convey some insight of reason through our shared position in God’s purpose
Please, LORD, Make The Confusion Go Away!
This text is an account of a confused boy turning into a wayward man and his struggle with his own condition and God’s involvement in it. Apparently, there are many questions that go unanswered simply because people do not ask or fear asking the questions in the first place. They fear rejection from their peers and worse they fear the answers to their questions because they don’t want to know their true condition. They see themselves as something, that in most cases, they are not. Sick is sick no matter if you know it or not. You can’t make it go away, so you may as well face it and work on getting well.
But as it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 29
Our relationship to God’s creation is a mystery in our eyes, and God wants it that way because if everything were known, there would be no faith. People simply can’t understand that they are as much a part of the creation as dirt itself. Truly, mankind couldn’t take the full measure of God’s revelation that’s one reason why God protects people from knowing the creation. The fact is; we see hear and feel in narrow ranges. Most colors and sounds are outside of our range of experience. If man could hear and see everything, then God Himself would be revealed, and God said no man hath seen me. He is beyond our comprehension and we are humbled at His presence and fear his mighty power. Even lowly angles instill fear in man when they come into his presence.
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. Mark 4:11
Ephesians 3:2 if, indeed, ye did hear of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me in regard to you, 3 that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few words 4 in regard to which ye are able, reading it, to understand my knowledge in the secret of the Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
THE NEVER ENDING CREATION
“And the Creation is Everlasting. “
Gen 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth.
God, being timeless, is reveling Himself in his creation. If the creation is an unveiling of God, then, it has to be timeless also. Ever changing, but nevertheless timeless.
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Exodus 3:14
So, if physical man in his limitations, and short duration, is to have an eternal relationship with an eternal God, and God with man, certain protocols must be followed. I will attempt to uncover some of the mysteries that God has placed upon mankind and perhaps help some people understand those protocols better.
Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Romans 16:25
God reveals His mysteries to man in accordance to man’s level of acceptance and willingness to participate with Him and His character. As I have said before, it is not within the comprehension of man to understand that which is outside his physical reality. Man can only function within the limits placed on him by God. God encompasses all things while man, on the other hand, only experiences what God allows within man’s domain.
Mar 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables:
The ability of man to adapted to God’s nature unfolds in his effort to demonstrate his created likeness of God. Kept in darkness, exposed to light, and left to contemplate his own destiny, has left man to his own explorations and resolve. Has Satan turned man’s mind inward in a attempt to mask God’s wrath or is it a matter of man’s arrogance which is part of his own divine nature? The fact is, Satan cannot turn man away from God. Man has to make the decision.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie :12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
So, God will give the unrighteous over to his/her own delusions. The thing is, if you chase a rabbet long enough you will catch him. If you turn away from God long enough, He will let you go. Now, that’s just plain sad.
Who is Man, and why was he created in the first place?
And God created man, in His own image and after His own kind. As an extension of Himself like Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Notice, He said, “Let us make man in Our image after our likeness.” This means God made man in accordance to His own nature as an image of His nature. He wasn’t just talking about a mirror image, but man was to have depth in the characteristics of His total being. When Jesus said,’ if you hath seen me, ye have also seen my Father’ was he speaking on our behalf also? If God is the creation He is also the creature and physically known then by its’ image.
John 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Ps 144:3 Jehovah, what is man that Thou knowest him? Son of man, that Thou esteemest him?
Ge 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
But why did God make man?
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
So, God created the universe and everything in it, for His own pleasure. In doing so, He wanted a creature to converse with. He created an extension of Himself so He may experience man’s consciousness as he went about replenishing the earth, subdue it and have dominion over it. But, why go through all this trouble? Why not make man like the lesser creatures, docile and submissive?
Revelation 4:1Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created,
Ah, so there you have it again, man was created for God’s own pleasure, and to share with God as He went about revealing Himself. Ah Ha! Now it’s starting to make since. What an honor! Helping God to experience His revealing of Himself, WOW! God gave man certain responsibilities and duties so man could develop in complementing His design. God does not need man in His ultimate plan but in order to experience His own handiwork, He elected to actively take part within His creation by making a creature of Himself, like Himself and for Himself. And why man? Because it pleasures Him to do so.
Man (Adam) chose to turn away from God’s instruction in the garden and God’s pleasure turned into disappointment. Adam took a probability and validated its reality For thousands of years man has endured tribulation because of one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience and man’s turning toward self before God.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
It seems sin was only a probability but was not active until Adam willfully disobeyed God.
So, here mankind is, caught in the sins of their forefathers. And, while trying to reconcile to God for the transgressions of their forefathers, they become mired down in their own disobediences.
While this writing is directed at how far man can go in his relationships, responsibility and abilities . . . it also must deal with opposing issues as well. The question of Christian’s success in worldly matters will come to view later.
God, Creation, Man, Principals and other orders all become intertwined in a net of laws and dispositions in a foundation of actuality. Where Man fits into God’s creation will a focus as we study the driving forces that involve man within the world. Does mankind simply choose to exhibit God through religion, or is religion man’s attempt at regulating self? The early church and to an extent present day churches, use religion to keep man under control. In the early Church, the fear of God kept people subdued, now God is portrayed as Love and man, goes willingly toward his/her own destruction.
Even though Christian’s were given the promise of God and Jesus sealed our fate with his blood, many look to the false promises of the world for satisfaction. The world is the reality of preference because it has been accepted as mankind’s awareness. When a Christian accepts the world as their provider, they also accept the possibility of the evil that it possesses. Evil is no more than a concept until allowed by man. Man is the only creature that can bring the principle of evil into force. Satan cannot bring evil onto man and God won’t. Man has to be the contributor to his own fate.
Earth is that part of creation that is within man’s power and under his dominion. But, it still belongs to God, is under God’s laws and is a gift to man. Earth was not given to Satan, it was entrusted to mankind as its’ caretaker. Satan only reveals principles of evil upon a earthly realm. Heaven, on the other hand, is that part of creation that exclusively belongs to God and only He has dominion over it. Man is invited into it only after he has made reconciliation to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Man is not capable of entering Heaven on his own, he must show repentance to Jesus Christ and be born as a new person in Jesus, to be accepted, then upon physical death he/she can be resurrected into Heaven.
In Conclusion
Creation responds to the will of God alone. The world cannot find its purpose within itself. This makes a relationship between God and the world essential because all things find their reality in God. God equips all there is, and the world acknowledges His presence in their freely receiving of it. The world centers in God, not because it is illusory, but because it was created as a relationship for God’s pleasure. God is revealing Himself by projecting Himself through His creation, and mankind is an intricate part of His design.
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