Everything By God’s Will, But . . .
God had the foreknowledge that His will would be challenged
”“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”“ Revelation 4:11 NKJV
”Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.“ Psalms 148:1-5 NKJV
To be excited about the end of God’s story, we must first appreciate the beginning. Everyone, believer or not, has heard this verse: ”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.“ Genesis 1:1 NKJV. Fewer people have seen or heard this one: ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.“John 1:1-5 NKJV. The Word is Jesus!
For those who don’t know, John was one of Jesus’ first followers and probably the closest to Jesus of His disciples. Jesus even placed the care of His mother, Mary, in John’s hands as He was dying on the cross. John also was the last surviving disciple. He was thrown into prison for his faith but released later due to his old age, and died around 98AD. He was the only apostle who died peacefully. John’s gospel is full of the evidence of Jesus’s miracles, his death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and love for humanity. Jesus prayed for us, those alive now, before He went to the cross.
I wrote earlier about how Jesus changed the world. He is still changing the world, and will continue to do so to the end. And there will be an end to this world as we know it. We are getting closer. There are innumerable books written about the end times, the rapture of the church, the antichrist and the great seven year tribulation that follows, including the final battle of Armegeddon and the Second coming of Jesus Christ. I will leave that to the experts. Here is a good synopsis.
With all that being said, only God know when. We just need to be aware and watch. And I am watching with excitement! Those of us who love and follow Jesus do not worry or fret that there are wars, that the nation of America is facing its possible destruction as we know it. Though sad, and I guess I do pray God shows us His power and extends the life of this once great country, I am confident everything is proceeding as God knew it would. It isn’t His will that it goes this way, but He knew it would go this way. No, His will was that this would never happen; that Eve would have sought Him in the garden and not listened to satan, the snake. But He knew she would. His foreknowledge extends beyond time.
The amazing thing is, God sent prophets, as well as the disciples of Jesus, who prophesied about everything that is happening. Here are some verses from Timothy, a follower of Jesus and student of the Apostle Paul: ”But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,“ II Timothy 3:1-4 NKJV. I read that list and just have to nod my head. Yep, I see that happening now. You can read more of the verses in the article mentioned above. But it culminates in this: ”He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!“ Revelation 22:20 NKJV.
An interesting thing about God sending Jesus back “quickly”. God is outside of time. I have quoted this verse before, but will again. ”But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.“ II Peter 3:8 NKJV.
In all the time that has passed since creation, which in my estimation is a little over 6,000 years since I believe in the literal six day creation, God has been bringing people to Himself. He knew what choices every single human would make even before they were born. He is God! That is foreknowledge. We all have free will, but God knew what choices we would make, what sins we would commit, and when we would repent of those sins and turn to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. What about those who died before Jesus? God knows! We will just have to wait and see.
The most important thing? Be ready! If you don’t know Jesus, get to know Him. He loves all of us and there is NO sin too great for Him to forgive. The only sin that cannot be forgiven is when we flat out reject Him with no intention of ever changing our mind. Did you know God does not send people to hell? He doesn’t want any of His creation there. ”The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.“ II Peter 3:9 NKJV. People send themselves to hell. Heaven or hell . . . Our choice. I choose heaven!
God is good, all the time!
Whatever things are true, think on these things.
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