Broken yet fully loved

We are far more ¹broken than we are willing to admit but also far more loved than we can ever imagine or hope for - or are usually willing to believe.

Why do we struggle to believe that we are both broken and fully loved at the same time?

We fear if someone knew ²all our faults they would reject us and no longer love us. Why? Because admitting to or being seen with all our flaws usually results in rejection. 

We so greatly long to be fully and deeply loved, we fear ³losing it if we ever find it. We believe it's better to never be loved than to powerfully experience love and lose it.

The more we know we are loved - regardless of our flaws - the more we can admit ("own") them - not only to the one who loves us but to ourselves as well. 

Why does love free us? We are no longer concerned that admitting our brokenness will result in rejection. We know we are loved regardless of how broken we are. 

Love is the fuel of growth and change. Why?

Admitting our faults to ourselves and others is vital to our maturing. 

We can't and won't fix something if we don't think it's broken. And we can't admit our brokenness until we know we will not be rejected for it. Once we feel safe to admit our brokenness, we can be more honest with ourselves (and others) about our shortcomings.

We can admit our faults only to the extent we know we are loved despite them.

When we are loved in ⁴this way we desire to bring joy and honor to the only One who loves us this way. We delight in doing all we can to honor them. When this is for God, He in turn feels honored to be in a relationship with us.

For a discussion on loving yourself click here and here.

For a discussion on what it means to be broken click here. 

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¹We are not broken in the sense that we no longer have natural abilities, talents, or resources but in how we use these, i.e. do we use them to self-comfort instead of bringing comfort to others as we were *designed to?

Self-comforting is so common it is considered normal, not broken. We not only embrace it but applaud others who do this as well. "Loving ourselves" has become a cultural mantra in the West when it is actually the primary evidence and expression of brokenness. 

Our need to love ourselves is only because we have rejected God, the very source of love. How? Whenever we look to or go to something other than God for love, we are telling God we can do better at finding and experiencing love on our own than we can from Him, when in fact only God is the source of love, life, and all things. 

*We are in God's image, designed to be like God, which is to be other-focused - i.e. to give, not take. The more we give, the more we are like God, and the more we partake of and experience Him, i.e. experience love flowing to and through us to others.

We justify getting or taking because we think it will make us happy, more complete, and whole. Short-term it may, but the ultimate solution to our need for love is not taking it but receiving it from the Source, which enables us to pass it on to others. 

God is primarily what we need, but we refuse to receive what he offers, i.e. His infinite affections offered to us in and through His Son Jesus.

We reach the highest level of our design - God's likeness - when we give. But not to get but simply for the joy of seeing others receive life through us. And we can only give as God does when we are receiving love from the One who is the ultimate source of love, God himself. 

²This is what makes our family of origin so unique and significant. No one sees our flaws and strengths as much or as well as family. If we come from a loving family, this is where we feel safest... Or "more at home" to use a common expression. If we come from an unloving family, this is why for some thoughts of family are most painful. And also why we may fear letting others see us the way we truly are. 

³This approach believes you can't lose what you never had to begin with.

There is a saying that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

But what if you never love again? All you have is the painful memory of not having something (love) you still need and long for. Is this not the essence of hell itself? I'm not suggesting we avoid love for fear of never experiencing it again. I am saying no human can love us in the way we are designed for, i.e. perfectly and continuously loved, without interruption. Only God is perfect, perpetual, and endless love. 

⁴God alone consistently loves us in this way. He alone is perfect and infinite love.

Unbelief diminishs us

Because of our rebellious distrust of God and our subtle but passionate desire to make life work without him, we are no longer in a relationship with Him (as we were meant to be) and experiencing His infinite love (the necessary spiritual nourishment we were created and designed to have) with all the delight, bliss, and strength that comes from being connected to Him. As a result, we are stunted in our abilities and ¹never develop to our full God given potential. We are ¹far less than we were created to be. 

This is true not only spiritually and emotionally, but physically. As our health declines with age, we experience disease and eventually die. None of this was part of our original design. 

As well, our senses and abilities are only a fraction of what they were meant to be and we have the potential for (and will one day be if we are in Christ. In Christ, all of this will one day ultimately be reversed and eliminated).

If we are not restored to God, our diminishing abilities and the negative results will continue beyond our present existence and only increase. We will become even more fragmented, diminished and entrenched in the negative dispositions we now have and display, e.g. frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, depression, indifference to or even hatred of God, etc. 

Without connection and union with the Source of love and life we are like spiritual and emotional black holes collapsing in on ourselves from the void left by God's absence. We will only increase in our sense of emptiness. This will become even more acute over time with no chance of relief.

In our current existence we at least experience occasional temporary relief through the use of the various gifts that God gives us - both internal and external - but always with a constant search and hope for more (this drives all our actions when we are not connected and in union with God). 

In our next existence, without our Creator or access to His creation, we will be fully given over to our own devices and have no such experience or hope of love. We will have no access to the external gifts or the ability to exercise the internal ones, but only an perpetual longing and thirst for love - now masked by the use of God's gifts. This will be our hell.

So what is our problem? 

In this life, we try to build our sense of identity, meaning, purpose, and value trhrough ²everything but God. He is not our focus, His creation is - with access to and use of all the gifts this life brings us. 

However, created things are finite. We were created for the infinite.

If we refuse God's offer (again our choice) to restore us back to Him and our ³true identity, we will go into eternity continuing on this current trajectory. The difference is we won't have all the resources, blessings, and gifts we now enjoy and use to maintain our independence from God. 

Absent God, we attempt to use all things to maintain our sense of identity, meaning, value, and purpose. We are like rebellious children using all the good things our parents give us to avoid the very ones who gave them to us i.e. our parents.

If we return to God and abandon our rebellious attempts to make life work without Him, we will be restored to the true purpose of our existence, and experience our greatest potential, fulfillment, and the delight He longs to give us (you) in Him. Will you return?

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." - Rev 22:17

Are we truly rebels against God? For more click here.

Does God love rebels? Click here and find out. 

For a further discussion on why hell is our choice click here.
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¹Not unlike a malnourished child genetically encoded to be a genius or an exceptional athlete who never developed to their full potential. As a result, they developed with less than average intelligence or become wheelchair-bound because they never received the proper nourishment they needed and were designed to have.

²We use all the good gifts of God - meant to show us his love - to maintain our independence from God. Not unlike a rebellious child using the good things his parent provides to betray his parents.

³His beloved image bearers who are designed to partake in the community of love between the Father, Son, and Spirit - and all the delight that comes with and in it - in the same way they do (because we are like Him).

Hell - the continuation of our current path

Though the topic of hell is a difficult one, it is also a very misunderstood one. While we bristle at the concept of an eternal hell, we cope with hell on earth whenever we experience pain. i.e. most of us don't ¹seek God for answers or help when we go through pain and suffering - hell on earth - we deal with it ²any way we can - as long as it doesn't require us to directly engage with, depend on, or trust in God.

Because of our pain, we assume God has ³abandoned us and is therefore unloving and untrustworthy. But this is only true if we don't take the time to explore and understand what Christ did and went through to restore us back to the Father.

Humanity, as a whole, avoids God like the plague. At best we consider Him a last resort whenever we encounter pain, instead of the primary solution he is. But even then, we are not truly interested in God, only in relief.

However, if not for the pain and suffering in this life, few (if any) of us would ever consider God, much less seek Him. 

While we accept and settle for hell on earth as a part of living in this life, we bulk at suffering continuing beyond this ⁴present existence. 

But suffering only continues because we ⁵continue in life with no genuine interest or pursuit of God.

The good news is God has provided an answer and solution to pain, suffering, and death. But we typically reject, ignore, and even mock God's offer when we hear it. We do not seek or call out to Him for the solution. Why? We are not interested in God, only in relief.

What is that solution? Christ!  The eternal Son of God took on human form like us, so He could enter and embrace this world of pain, sorrow, and suffering (caused by us through our abandoning God) and took our hell (that we helped create) onto himself - physically and emotionally allowing it to kill him. He did this so we might not have to, but eventually be freed from pain and death forever.

And we will be freed if we accept his offer. If we reject His offer, we are left with our current strategy of dealing with pain and death ²without God, i.e. looking to ourselves (and anything we can get our hands on to cope with our pain) instead of God. We want (wanted) to be on our own and left alone. As a result, we are! i.e. we get what we want(ed). Hell is simply the continuation beyond this present existence of the course we are already on - one without God - (unless and until we know Christ).

The difference between using the coping strategy we now use vs when we pass into eternity is we won't have access to the ⁴resources we now use (and abuse) to numb our pain (our private and personal hell). Nothing will be available to quench our longings and spiritual thirst in our next existence (think of a never-ending consolatory confinement). All we will have are memories of how we tried to cope (but never completely did) and a never-ending longing and thirst for the current blessings of life we now have but will never be able to have again.

God doesn't send anyone to hell. It is the path we choose, create, and are currently on. It is not because there is no offer or solution to pain and suffering. But we go out of our way to ignore, deny, or ⁶ridicule it (and Him). In short, by rejecting God's solution and offer, we continue on the path we are already on and send ourselves into eternity without God. We are tenaciously committed to being our own god, even if it means continuing in our pain. God honors our choice.

The reality is to be in the presence of God, in our state of rebellious unbelief, who we want nothing to do with in this life, and unreconciled with him would be a greater hell than continuing on without Him as we currently choose to.

For a further discussion of heaven and hell click here.

For a discussion of whether we are rebels to God click here.
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¹We may seek relief and call upon God for it but this is not seeking God but simply relief and God only as a means to it - i.e. We treat God as a genie in a bottle to grant our wishes. We are only interested in God as a means of relief and not in God himself.

²We might give a "hat tip" or "nod" to God when facing death, hoping He will notice and it will be enough to appease God after living our whole life avoiding Him - or even ridiculing Him and pursuing the pleasures of creation instead of Him, who is the Creator of all things.

³The reality is we abandoned God (and continue to). He has not abandoned us but in fact, came to us and sought (seeks) us out in our rebellion, doing all that was necessary to restore us.

⁴We use the gifts of God to address our pain, yet we never acknowledge (thank) God as the Creator and Giver of those gifts. We don't actually object to hell as much as to not having access to all the blessings of life we use to try and cope with it now. We want the gifts of life as long as we don't have to directly deal with the Giver (Creator) of the gifts.

And what are those gifts? Anything in creation available to us (or within us) that we used to numb or cope with our pain, be that recreation, substance abuse, abuse of sex, food, our God-given talents/abilities, respect, fame etc etc.... all good gifts from God used (i.e. misused) by us to maintain our independence from God.

⁵Our existence doesn't continue beyond this life, so we might be punished. We continue to exist because we are like God and are designed to be in an eternal relationship with our Creator. If we refuse his offer to reestablish that relationship now in this life, we simply continue on the same path we now choose. 

⁶Have you ever wondered why people only use the name of Christ in a disparaging manner but not the name of Mohammed, Buddha, Vishnu, or some other religious figure? (Do people who live in a Muslim society throw around the name of Mohammad like we do Christ's name in the west? No. Why? Out of respect to Mohammad). It's as if we intuitively understand on a subconscious and visceral level Christ is the way and truth, but since our default disposition is antagonistic to God, we disregard and disrespect His Son and all He did to restore us. Why? The death of Christ to restore us back to God implies we can never fix ourselves. This is an insult to our arrogance. 

Why does God allow evil

The age old question is if God is good why does He ¹allow evil and suffering to continue?

But in the most important and ultimate sense He doesn't (and didn't). One day the scales of justice will be completely balanced. 

But what about now? 

At the very outset of our turning away from God, He reached out to us with an immediate - though temporary - solution. 

He also promised and eventually ²provided the permanent and ultimate solution to evil - along with all its fallout - in the most amazing and unexpected way. A way for anyone who receives it. Not necessarily the solution ³we would prefer but in a way that surfaces and exposes our core problem and why suffering remains - i.e. our distrust of the Creator. This is also the central truth the Book of Job seeks to reveal to us.

God is not indifferent to our pain nor has He abandoned us or lost control by allowing it to continue. Pain and suffering continue for good reason - but only for now. Our distrust of God must be ⁹fully exposed, with all its fallout, so we might recognize its true destructive nature and abandon it (the exact opposite of our abandoning God in Eden) and more fully enter into and participate in the glory of God - which is our greatest good and highest joy.

In short, God is using evil for good. If he wasn't, it would be ⁴removed. One day, when it has accomplished its intended purpose it will be. But not before then.  

So for now suffering remains for good reason and a good purpose. But we can only benefit fully from it when we trust Him. The greater our trust the greater our gain i.e. evil is always used for good if and when we trust His good and loving intentions in allowing it to remain. If we do not trust Him, suffering will only embitter and eventually destroy us. 

This may not be what we want or like to hear but that is because we don't see what God fully sees and knows is ultimately for the greatest good - our greatest good. 

In this life, God uses what was meant (by the destroyer - satan) for our harm and destruction (i.e. evil) and turns it on its head. He "redeems" evil if you will, and uses it to ultimately advance us not destroy or harm us. But only if we trust Him and this process.

Pain and suffering are now a primary (maybe the primary) means of turning us back to God when we aren't pursuing Him or drawing those who are pursuing Him even closer.

Our agenda and wisdom doesn't match God's, whose wisdom and intent are perfect. Ours is not. Again our distrust of God is our biggest issue (not our pain) and He addressed it - and is addressing it - perfectly through all He allows us to go through.

If and when we choose to remain in rebellious unbelief and defiance of God, suffering will overcome and embitter us (experiencing anger when we encounter pain is always a clue we do not trust Him and still may ultimately have a bone to pick with God. This is the real issue...not the "mystery" of why we suffer). 

Our biggest challenge is not suffering but remaining in our unbelief. This ultimately leads to our permanent ⁴separation from God (whereas our present separation, along with all the suffering it brings, is only temporary once we turn back to Him). But if and when we turn to Him we are told (and over time come to realize) that God uses suffering (evil) for the good of those who trust and love Him (if not in our immediate circumstances, in our ultimate circumstances i.e. in eternity). Otherwise, if we refuse to trust Him, pain will embitter and ultimately destroy us. It is the path to perpetual pain.

So in the most important and ultimate sense evil has been dismantled and can no longer destroy us in the way our adversary intended, as long as we trust our Creator. Why?

1. The day is coming - and has already been put into motion - when pain and death will be done away with completely. The resurrection of Christ is our proof. His resurrection was the first fruits of what is to come. Life ultimately wins over pain, suffering, and death. If we trust Him we too will ultimately rise one day and overcome death just as he did.

2. The presence of evil is (for now) a means to turn us back to God and draw us closer to Him.

3. The presence of evil provides a means and opportunity for us to advance spiritually. We actually gain when, ⁸by faith, we overcome evil and suffering - just as Christ did when He, on our behalf, overcame it. This is the exact opposite of what we are naturally inclined to believe and what our adversary intends. Because of our pain, we are given an opportunity to become more like Christ if we receive it by faith i.e. believe that God is accomplishing our ultimate good not harm, through our pain.

In the most significant and ultimate sense evil and suffering have not only been forever ⁵disarmed and more than defeated but are also being used for the very opposite of what we think i.e. good. He not only put into motion the eventual and complete removal of all pain one day but until that day arrives he "redeems" and uses it for the good of those who love and trust Him. 

How did God accomplish this?

When Christ became a man and fully embraced the harm, damage, and hurt (pain, evil) we cause each other - and let it kill him (instead of us) - He overcame death, evil, and suffering by 1st embracing it fully until it killed Him and then forever disarmed it when he ⁶came back to life. As a result, if we believe and accept all that Christ did, we too ⁷will overcome the pain, suffering, and death we bring (brought) into the world and raise to that very same life that Christ rose to - i.e. a life of bliss and glory with the Father of life, love, and all things. 

We are not only "victims" of pain but the perpetrators (cause) of pain. But Christ took care of all of it by submitting to it until it killed Him and then came back to life and declared victory over death and pain forever. 

Christ's ⁵resurrection changed how we look at and deal with pain and suffering. Evil and death did (does) not have the final word, life did (does) because of Christ! For this, He deserves (and will receive) our highest praise and gratitude forever and ever, amen!

We can no longer question whether God is good. In and by Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection God proved and established His goodness beyond question. In and through Christ good and evil met and good won.

Christ fully embraced all aspects of our pain - physical, emotional, and spiritual - by His obedience unto death. Now He offers victory over death via His resurrection, so we don't have to die but be ultimately will be delivered from it. The offer of complete and ultimate freedom from pain is available to all who receive it. 

All of this was done for us, as well as for the rest of creation. Evil, pain, and death were (and are) not only permanently defeated - at the very moment Christ came back to life - it is now being used to reverse our separation from God practically. He first did this legally and continues to do this in our day-to-day walk - as we put our trust in Him. Because of Christ, the pain will eventually be eliminated altogether.

⁸Christ completely disarmed evil and dismantled its ultimate destructive effect - death - forever. Now he offers a life of infinite bliss to any who will accept His offer of restoration to Him and eventually complete freedom from pain and death forever.

Does this answer the question of why God allows evil to continue? Maybe not for many. But it can give us a helpful glimpse into the answer if we let it. 

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job click here.

For a further discussion on the value of paradox click here.

For a further discussion of how big is God exactly click here

For a discussion of how pain can help us see Christ's love click here

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¹God did not cause us to rebel or cause our brokenness or the pain and all the suffering in the world that followed. The world is broken because we (like Adam and Eve, our original ancestors) continue to choose to distrust God - i.e. God didn't break us or the rest of creation, we disconnected and broke (short-circuited) that connection when we turned away from God. 

If God provides us a warm house filled with light - and tells us we are safe if we remain inside - yet we step outside into the cold dark night, guess who moved? A hint...it wasn't God.

God loves and values our ability to choose to such a great extent that he gave us the choice and freedom to rebel and reject Him - because choice is a key part of us being like God and partaking of Him to the greatest extent possible - ⁹without our actually being God (which we can never be by virtue of being created). The consequences of our choice are far less significant to God than our ability to freely make them.

Some deny the existence of evil but that is only because of how evil is commonly defined. To get an accurate definition we must go to the source, the Bible itself. How does it define evil (and good)?

The following definitions are found in the original Hebrew. 

Emphasis my own:

Evil - H7451b  רַע - ra  (948c); from the same as H7455; evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity: — adversity (7), calamity (4), disaster (2), evil (94), harm (2), harmful (1), hurt (1), ruin (3), surely (1), trouble (2), unpleasant (1), wickedly (1), wickedness (1).

H7455  רע - rôa‛BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs') Definition:1) badness, evil 1a) badness, bad quality 1b) wilfulness 1c) evil, badness (ethical) 1d) sadness

Good - H2896b  טוֹב - tob  (375a); from H2895; a good thing, benefit, welfare: — enjoy *(1), good (66), good thing (3), good things (2), goodness (1), graciously (1), happiness (1), happy (1), pleasant (1), prosperity (8), richer (1), well (1), what is good (1), what is good (4).

H2895  טוֹב - tob (373b); a prim. root; to be pleasing or good: — any (1), did well (2), done well (1), fair (1), go well (1), good (1), good (5), high (1), merry (3), please (2), pleased *(2), pleases (4), pleases *(2), pleasing (1), well (8), well-off (1). 

We could sum these definitions up as follows:

Good - God himself and all the benefits, provision, and pleasure that come in knowing him and being in His loving presence, and being known and fully embraced by Him.

Evil - Injury or harm (e.g. death) that comes to us due to the absence of God (because of our turning away from Him in rebellious distrust) and all the good things he provides. 

Before man's rebellion, the Bible doesn't say they did not know good, it says they did not know good and evil i.e. good in contrast to or compared to evil. We can only fully understand and appreciate goodness when it is absent, just like we can only fully appreciate light and warmth when things are cold and dark.

Are we evil? For a discussion click here.

²The solution is only God can restore us, we can't restore (save) ourselves. And the way he does this requires us to trust Him and His provision. 

This was established at the very outset of mankind's rebellion when God provided Adam and Eve with animal skins to cover their shame, resulting in the death of another living creature (the consequences of our rebellion and God's warning of death). 

The ultimate provision was also promised at that time in the child (seed) of the women i.e. a living being after the image of man as well as God (i.e. the Son of God and man - Jesus) would be the ultimate sacrifice leading to the eventual end of all pain and destruction for any who trust in God's provision.

The sacrifice of a living being for the rebellion of another seems severe and barbaric but this only indicates our lack of understanding of the severe nature of that rebellion and the severe harm it causes. Our rebellion is destructive with very real and severe consequences. It causes harm, destruction, and death. God doesn't cause death (we do). He provided the solution for death i.e. the death of someone other than us who took the consequences for our destructive choices and their resulting conduct.

God warned the day we rebelled we would die. Death was simply the natural outcome of our disconnecting from life i.e. our Creator, who is the very cause and source of life, not death. The natural or organic (and reasonable) result of cutting ourselves off from the source of life is death. When God said the day we eat we would surely die was not a statement of judgment but the simple reality that to disconnect from life results in the opposite i.e. death.

Once we rebelled the damage had been done. The only option was for something else to die in our place for the consequences of our disconnecting from the Source of life if we were to be restored and avoid our own death. 

The harm and destruction caused by our rebellion matter and could not be ignored or pretended not to matter. Someone or something had to suffer the destructive consequences of our rebellious distrust of God if we were to escape those consequences ourselves. 

Sacrificing another for our benefit (so we wouldn't have to reap the consequences of our distrust) isn't barbaric it is an act of severe mercy. What is destructive, evil, and barbaric is our rebellion, not the sacrifice made to spare and rescue us from its consequences i.e. our distrust. The evil, pain, and suffering in the world are the consequence of our rebellion and a clear indication of how severe our rebellion is. 

³We'd prefer He simply removed evil altogether so we can go about our life uninterrupted as long as and only if it doesn't involve God i.e. require us to trust Him. We love and embrace the benefits of creation. We simply do not want to trust the Creator. Ironic when you think about it. How can we justly accept and love the good benefits that someone offers yet reject them?

We prefer being our own god, only without the consequences. We don't want God, we only want relief. We attempt to gain that by using the good gifts of creation without fully acknowledging the Creator - the loving Giver of those gifts. To use an old idiom and analogy, we want to have our cake and eat it too.

If God is good why does He allow evil, is the wrong question. Why? It is based on the following wrong assumptions.

1. God must be the ¹cause of evil (and is therefore evil himself).

2. He doesn't know what He is doing by allowing it to happen in the first place (and by giving us the ability to choose) or allowing it to continue (this assumes we are wiser than the Source of all knowledge and wisdom... a little arrogant on our part wouldn't you agree?).

3. We have no responsibility (or choice) for the ongoing evil, pain, and suffering in the world i.e. our rebellious distrust of God isn't the actual problem, God is i.e. evils existence is not our fault or problem to solve, it's His - or so we think. 

But He didn't provide the ultimate solution to our pain because He had to, but because He choose to i.e. out of love, not obligation.

These assumptions reveal the true condition of our heart i.e. an arrogant heart that does not trust or believe God is good, wise, and loving - as He claims (and proved through Christ) - in all he does or allows. We simply don't believe we need Him.

God is addressing evil but not in the way we prefer, expect, or demand. He's addressing evil not by removing it from our world (at least for now) but by removing it from our individual hearts - internally vs externally - one person and step at a time, so we will increasingly approach the world as we were originally designed to - full of love - His love. And this so the world might progressively be healed and become more whole again through us, to the glory of God, not just ours.

We play(ed) a primary role in the perpetuation of evil in the world so God intends for us to play a primary role in its resolution and elimination - to fix what we messed up by our distrust of God - who is all loving and worthy of total trust. Evil came into the world through us (our rebellious distrust) and God intends it to be addressed (resolved) in the same way i.e. us - by His indwelling and empowering love given to us by Christ and our total trust in this - His - perfect and infinite provision. 

The bottom line? A main reason evil exists is we, as Christ's followers have not done to others as we would have them do to us i.e. loved them sacrificially as Christ loved us. If we don't like the evil in the world, we don't need to look at or blame God, we need to look in the mirror.

However, God doesn't intend or expect us to do this (reverse evil) on our own i.e. in or by our own strength. Without God's love filling us, we couldn't if we wanted to. To love sacrificially requires being loved sacrificially.

What caused us to turn inward was our rejection of God's wise and loving direction (warning) and the subsequent loss of His love. This resulted in our no longer being in union with God which short-circuited our power to love others as we are designed to. As a result, our focus is on filling the void caused by God's absence, instead of on God and his infinite love. Our solution was and is now to pursue his creation for life and not the Creator. 

His absence (due to us rejecting Him, not Him rejecting us) resulted in us becoming takers instead of givers, hurting others instead of properly caring for them and the rest of creation. Only God and His love can heal the brokenness of the world but that is done in and through us by healing our brokenness first.

Of course, perfect restoration will not occur until Christ returns (though our legal standing has been fully restored). But the question remains... what role do we as followers of Christ play in ushering in that return. Maybe the primary role?

⁴and one day, when Christ returns and sets up His perfect - completed - rule (Kingdom) of love, it will be.

⁵God respects and honors our choice and will not force us to be with Him. To be in His presence against our will would be a greater hell than being separated from Him in eternity. 

⁶Through His resurrection, Jesus reclaimed all rule and authority over heaven and earth. The deceiver's (satan's) power is disarmed. He only has power over those who go along with him (a few willingly but many - maybe most - unknowingly).

⁷evil and the suffering that comes from it is a primary means of drawing us closer to God in this life. How? By revealing to us how our rebellious independence and distrust of God bring harm and destruction to others as well as ourselves. This dishonors God as well - in whose image we are created.

We are so inclined and quick to default to rebellious independence that suffering (the natural result of rebellion) becomes a necessary and useful tool to remind us of our true dependence on God for wisdom and guidance. Pain is the natural outcome of our rebellion, not unlike sticking our hand in the fire when we were told not to. Every time we do, we are reminded by the pain to remove our hands.

⁸By faith now but ultimately by experience in eternity.

Until we are permanently delivered from the presence of evil, pain, suffering, and death, how do we address it in this life? By faith. Unlike Adam and Eve (and us) - who sought (seek) to determine good and evil without God - Solomon sought God's direction in determining good and evil. This was the fruit of Solomon's humility and dependence on (trust in) God for wisdom. If we humble ourselves God will exalt us as well.

"Give your servant (Solomon) therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” - 1 Kings 3:9 ESV

⁹We are as much like God as possible without actually being God and Christ it is as much like us as possible while still being God. He is the God-man and the only one who is 

and forever will be. To Him be glory and praise forever! He earned it.

Love is power

Love is power. To be more precise, it is God's love that empowers us to pursue and honor him.

So how exactly does this work?

We are created by and for God. For us to operate as we were designed to, we must be in perfect union with God, who is the source of love, life, and all things. Without being “plugged in,” we are only operating on ¹temporary borrowed power.

Because we are ²finite in our love, life, and all things, it is not possible for us to love with sacrificial infinite love on our own i.e. in our own strength. God ³alone is the source of endless love. Not us or anyone else. If we are to love with God's love, we must have God's love flowing to, in, and through us.

And how does this occur? In and through Christ. It is because of Christ, God's love is freely and fully extended to us. If and when we choose to believe and receive it, it is poured out in us and out to others through us. But not without Christ. Without Christ, we are disconnected from God and therefore also from His perfect infinite love. 

For a further discussion on being empowered from within, click here. 

For a further discussion on the strength needed for self-denial, click here. 

Additional comments in footnotes below.

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¹What do I mean by borrowed power? Everything we are, have and use to sustain ourselves emotionally and physically comes from God, whether we acknowledge this or not. Without God we have none of these. He gives us these things as an expression of his love for us. If we refuse to recognize - believe - this, we will go into eternity without all that we now have and are i.e. it's temporary and borrowed. If we do not recognize this we will eventually lose it. We will go into eternity with only the memory of the things that we had and were, but no longer have (we may still be who we are now with all our gifts and abilities but no way to utilize them to derive a sense of value through their use). This will be the essence of hell - an ongoing memory and constant reminder of what we use to have but no longer have use of. We will be in a perpetual state of unfulfilled longing and endless thirst with nothing to quench it. This is the natural outcome of enjoying the good gifts of God in creation now without rightfully acknowledging him as the Giver of these and all things. 

²Though within ourselves we are finite in giving love, we have the capacity to receive and participate in (i.e. experience) infinite love - only because God is infinite and created us like himself so we might partake of him. Because we can receive endless love, we can give it also. 

But apart from God, we do not have within ourselves infinite love to give to others i.e. only God is the source of love, not us. To give infinite love, we must first receive and partake of infinite love. And that is only within and from God. He alone is perfect, none stop love. He alone is the great I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the cause, means, and end (goal) for all things. Because we are finite we must be plugged into the infinite source to partake of infinite love and in turn pass it on to others. 

We are like the batteries in a cell phone or electric car.

They can hold power but are not the power source. Overtime they run down and must be recharged. But when fully charged, can accomplish amazing things. If not charged they are a paperweight at best. 

We were not designed to be the source of infinite love, only the recipient, container, and conduit of it i.e. vessels of God. But, if we are plugged into the source, we can be the means by which infinite love - God's love - flows through us to others. The ⁴more plugged in we are - through believing and receiving God's infinite love - the more His love flows to and through us, and the greater we advance His reign of love - kingdom - and become all we were designed to be.

³God is - and has been throughout all eternity past - an infinite, overflowing fountain of endless love within and among the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. This was most clearly displayed in and through Christ.

⁴The more we believe and receive God's infinite love the greater our capacity to contain infinite love expands, i.e. unlike regular batteries, the size of our battery (our capacity) can grow with increased use, allowing us to receive and contain more love. God is always seeking to increase our capacity to receive and give love... to stretch and grow our faith. This is often best accomplished through pain and suffering. By these we become aware of our limits and need for infinite love. This is the essence of spiritual formation, aka sanctification. 

Is God free?

Can God act against his honor?

If God is all glorious - as He claims - to act against His honor would be contrary to his character and living a lie. God will not act contrary to his nature. In fact, He can not.

So is God not free? In this sense, He is not. His choices are determined by his character. This is not a limitation of God, it simply means God is who He is and He acts accordingly.

We would never say God is not free because he freely chooses to do whatever he wills and whatever He wills, he does. Nothing outside of God can ¹prevent Him from choosing what He wills or from carrying it out. But he also wills what his character "dictates" i.e. His choices are determined by his nature; who he is, what he is like, etc.

And what is God like? He is love, life, and light, and acts accordingly. These are some of his primary attributes that determine his choices.

What about us? 

How do our choices come about? We were designed for life, not ²death so we naturally choose whatever we ³think best brings us life, good, blessing, etc., not harm or destruction.

We are also free to choose whatever we want. But, what we want is determined by what we ³believe will be in our best interests i.e. what will bring us good, not evil, life not death, light not darkness. Unlike God, we don't know everything that needs to be known, to know with certainty our choices are best for us. Since we choose to be our own god, we cut ourselves off from the Source of infinite knowledge and must base our choice on what we believe is best. But we have no way to truly know what is best in the overall scheme of things because we are not all-knowing but finite. For a further discussion on this point click here. 

Also, in our current state of rebellious distrust of God, we cannot see God as He is - or ourselves as we truly are - and therefore we do not see what is best and why God is best for us. The Bible says we are spiritually blind and dead in our sin (the essence of sin is unbelief). Outside of Christ, we are rebels and enemies of God. To act as if we are god when he is the only true God is contrary to Him and actually opposed to Him i.e. we are taking the posture of being His enemy. If this seems harsh, it's simply because there is only one God. To claim we are Him when we are not is in opposition to reality i.e. God Himself, whether consciously or not. This disposition cuts us off from seeing and knowing him as he truly is. In a word, we are spiritually blind. 

So is humankind free to choose what they want? Yes, they are. This is not our problem. What we want is. We want the wrong thing. And we want the wrong thing because we died spiritually at our rebellion and can no longer see clearly spiritually. The bible characterized us as being spiritually blind. We want to be our ⁴own god when he alone is the only true God. 

This does not work and can not work because being our own god is contrary to the reality of what is i.e. who God is and how He designed us and the rest of creation to operate. It is actually living a lie.

For a discussion on why free choice is real and necessary click here. 

For further discussion on free will click here. 

For a discussion on how our "wanter" is broken, not our "chooser" click here.

For a discussion on how we are free yet bound click here. 

For a discussion on why Calvinists and Arminians are both wrong, click here, 

For a discussion on how hell is our own choice click here.

For a further discussion of how everyone lives by faith, including atheists, click here.

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¹Or cause God to choose what he does. God is his own cause. Nothing outside of him causes him to do what he does. 

²Due to our rebellion from God as the true source of love and life, we cut ourselves off from him resulting in death. Now we go about seeking to fill the void created by God's absence i.e. The absence of ultimate life - God Himself.

³What we believe, is shaped by our rebellion and therefore is skewed i.e. Since we rejected God by seeking to be our own god, we have set out to obtain life apart from him i.e. we have rejected God as a viable option. However, finding life apart from God is simply not possible because all life comes from and through him.

There is no permanent life outside of God but only temporary life through creation, which is soley sustained by God i.e. The life we find in creation is indirectly life from God.

⁴The inherent problem of being our own god is this requires infinite knowledge and power i.e. We must know what is best (which requires being everywhere present to know all there is to know about all that is, in order to determine what is best) and have the ability (power) to obtain it. In short we must be all knowing (omniscient), everywhere present (omnipresent), and all powerful (omnipotent) i.e. we must be infinite in every way, which we clearly are not. When we "get" this it clearly exposes the foolishness of trying to be our own god or even believing we could be.

The "last days" - two world views

The following is part 5 of a 5 part paper at 

https://thotsaboutgod.blogspot.com/2010/02/doom-and-gloom-of-dispensationalism.html 

I am posting this article separately for those who may not be interested in the weakness of the biblical claims behind the "last days" or "end times" teaching. I cover these claims in parts 1-3, particularly part 3 at the above link. If you wish to look at the rest of the paper after reading the below, click here or the link above. I have also put the link to the entire paper at the end.

5. Two World Views - two opposite approaches to our world

In parts 1-3, I addressed the more technical aspects of our understanding of key passages and the history of Dispensationalism in part 4. But are there any practical implications regarding this issue? Do these ¹two systems affect how we as the Church universal address our world today? I have already alluded to this in part 4 but wish to review this more closely in the following part (part 5).

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Let’s look at how each position deals with the moral decay in our society, the courts, and culture. Why do you think the Evangelical church, to a great degree, is resigned to let things continue to deteriorate morally, politically, and economically, virtually unchallenged? Whenever I have sent info or articles to my Dispensationalist friends regarding the current decline, their response is always, "It's a sign of the times and the imminent return of Christ." Then they go about their business as if there is nothing they can or should do. "Why try to fight it?" they reason. "It is all part of God’s plan and has already been predicted and predetermined," they might say. 

But how does a "Preterist" respond? (Preterist means references to the "last days" are about past events, not future ones. This is covered more in the full paper linked above). When things grow more oppressive, they pray even more earnestly and work even more diligently that God would reverse the trend to aid the advancement of His kingdom on earth. Reversal of moral corruption and the advancement of God’s kingdom is believed to not only be possible but is, in fact, God's desire, design, and will. The "preterist" sees current events as an opportunity to advance the Kingdom of God instead of a reason to "throw up our hands" in defeat and "hunker down" while we hold on and endure the decay until the Lord returns to rescue (aka "rapture") us out of this current mess. The Preterist view is the complete opposite of the all-too-common passive approach by a large number of dispensationalists.

The dispensationalists say it's all planned out, and to fight against the "signs of the times" is futile. These are the "last days." It’s all inevitable. Fighting this is the equivalent of "polishing the brass on a sinking ship" as one author suggested. Why bother?! The ship is sinking.

The "Preterist" however, says the current deterioration we are facing now is contrary to God's will (the advancement of His Kingdom on earth), and we must pray and work all the more earnestly for its reversal. The worse it gets, the greater the opportunities to do so because we are, in fact, called by Christ himself to this end. 

It is also during hard events that people are more open to hearing the good news that God has provided the way to return to Him. If the economy continues to deteriorate, what a significant opportunity to minister to people in need and point them to Christ as their comfort in a time of trouble! A very different mindset than shaking our heads at the downturn while we sit around gazing in the sky, looking and hoping for our Lord’s return to physically remove us from the world - wouldn’t you agree? Not unlike Israel, which expected the Messiah to rescue them from the hard circumstances of Roman occupation instead of their spiritual bankruptcy. 

Now consider how much greater an impact the church could have on our culture if they all held a historical/ preterist view of God's Word compared to a futurist view. Christians would be far more actively engaged in challenging and seeking to infuse God's influence into society today. And when we share Christ, it would not be as a fire insurance policy to "rapture" them out of this doomed world and save their "skin," but because they need Him to change their lives and deliver them from the MORAL decay of this present existence, not remove them physically from the earth. This would help advance His rule and reign on earth. Are you starting to see the difference? These are two VERY different views with two opposite approaches to our current world.

So there is no confusion, I am not suggesting that we change our understanding of scripture to be more effective in the world today. What I am saying is by aligning our worldview with scripture we will be more effective.

There is another very significant area that these two views influence. Would not the church be far more aggressive in seeking to point men and women of Jewish ancestry to Christ than we are today? Whenever Paul addressed the "Jew/Gentile" question regarding the gospel did he not say "to the Jew first, then the Gentile?" Yet this is not the attitude of much of the "Gentile" church today. (Actually, there should be no such distinction within the church. I am speaking only of our priority in advancing God's kingdom here on earth). How many converted Jews attend evangelical churches that you are aware of? How many converted Jews do you know personally? We know converted Hispanics, Asians, even Arabic/Moslems, etc. etc. don't we? Where are our fellow Jewish believers? Why are they not more incorporated into our evangelical churches? Why are there churches made up solely or primarily of "messianic Jews?" According to Paul, there is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile in Christ. Rom 10:12, Gal 3:28, Col 3:11.  Yet many evangelical churches and "Messianic Jews" today encourage and promote this distinction and have separate churches.

If we held a "Preterist" view, our focus, instead of seeking to support national Israel financially and politically, would be to reach them spiritually first. Yet we "Gentile" believers somehow (actually, it is clearly tied to a futurist view of the nation of Israel) ignore their needs spiritually and seek to advance them materially and politically instead. Was it not the focus of Christ while on earth to reach His fellow countrymen spiritually, and was this also not the same reason they missed the message of the Messiah? Wasn't it because they assumed His message of deliverance was earthly (i.e. political) instead of spiritual? Their desire for "political/earthly salvation" caused them to miss the actual message of Christ - and the Old Testament - altogether. 

Are we as evangelicals making the same mistake in seeking the political, earthly salvation of the state of Israel first, instead of their spiritual salvation? What is the greatest need of all men, the Jew first and then the Gentile? Is it not to find and recognize him as the Christ, the anointed one i.e. the Messiah and Savior first and foremost? Again, these are two unique approaches to this matter regarding the nation of Israel.

With this understanding, how differently might we handle events in the Middle East? Instead of sending billions in cash over the years to Israel, to aid them in defending themselves militarily, wouldn't they be better served if this money were used to send missionaries (of course, this is the church's role, not governments). 

And what best sustains "freedom and democracy" if not the gospel itself. No culture has ever advanced because "democracy" was the focus. The solution to man’s problems is not political but spiritual. When Christ is the focus i.e. the advancement of his Kingdom on earth through the conversion of individual men and women, it has always resulted in a dramatic change for good in society. In every culture where God's kingdom was advanced through the conversion of people to Christ; liberty, order, truth, and morality followed soon after and often for years to follow. 

There is a definite distinction between conversion to Christ and the “Americanization” of a country. I am not opposed to America. I love America for the freedom it historically has stood for and the creativity and generosity it still promotes. I love all aspects of America that recognize God's promises and grew out of a desire to honor Him. But what made America great was the humble submission of men and women to Christ and his rule/kingdom individually, which led to our submission to His rule collectively. Somehow, many in the church have confused conversion to Christ and “being American” as one and the same thing. That which is still good about America is only that which springs forth from a desire to honor God. 

America historically has been one of the best displays of this but is not the only example. Our loyalty should be to Christ first, and our country only to the extent it seeks and promotes Him and His rule over us. Everything wrong with America is exactly that which is the opposite of this. We should not be saying “America, love it or leave it” or “might makes right” but be considering how America as a whole has strayed from its original commitment to God and His truth. Understanding this is important, so we might pray with our eyes open and seek God to restore her original honor. When we, as a nation, honor Him again, not with lip service but with our resources, loyalties, and actions, He will honor us again as a nation. As long as we flippantly disregard honoring God, He will disregard us and continue to remove His hand of provision and protection.

Pro 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Spiritual awakening… a history.

Knowing the history of our past spiritual awakenings may be a clue to future ones. 

"The First Great Awakening" occurred in the North American Colonies in the early 1730s. Do you think this played any role in the formation of our country in 1776? Look at every spiritual awakening in history. History is full of examples of this very truth. Do you think it was because we were set up as a "Republic" that we prospered as a nation, or was it rather that we recognized God was the ultimate lawgiver to whom we must give an account and sought to design a government that best reflected this? Yet in today’s US of A, we wish to transport "democracy" around the world. Democracy, however, is not the solution to man's needs, Christ is and Him alone!!! "Advancing democracy" is like hanging plastic apples on a bush and saying, "See, it's now an apple tree" and then patting ourselves on the back for how good a job WE did!! 

Yet, the hearts of men must change first before any real and lasting change in culture can occur. And that is only through the work of Christ. We know this to not only true from scripture but from history.

As one pastor of my church pointed out, the difference between the Dispensational and Preterist camps is like the contrast between two armies - one planning to endure a siege, the other planning for an extended campaign of conquest. 

But we are speaking of spiritual conquest, not military conquest. Not only are the attitudes different, but their activities also reflect the needs they anticipate. In the army expecting siege (i.e. Dispensationalism), there would be little need for leadership development or generational transfer. With Dispensationalism they gear everything toward the immediate future, not for the long-term planning of building something that will help advance God’s kingdom for years to come for our kids and theirs.

This same pastor pointed out a quote he once saw on a futurist website: “Actually, it's always darkest...just before it goes completely black!” Not a very optimistic approach to the world. 

However, a historical understanding of scripture gives you a totally different attitude with huge implications for how we approach everything. With this understanding, you seek the advancement of the kingdom and see the importance of sharing this with all who will hear it. As our world becomes increasingly bankrupt, spiritually, morally, and financially, the appeal of Christ and the need for His solutions only become more apparent, and the opportunities only increase, not decrease.

The sad truth is in much of the American evangelical church, we have a pessimistic mindset about the advancement of God’s kingdom, and it shows. The reality, however, is that God is about advancing His kingdom. It’s just not happening to a great extent in America today due to the "doom and gloom" mindset of dispensational teaching.

·      According to the author Jim Rutz’s book Megashift, until 1960, Western evangelicals outnumbered non-Western evangelicals – mostly Latinos, blacks, and Asians – by two to one. As of 2000, non-Western evangelicals outnumbered Westerners by four to one. He says in 2010, that ratio should be seven to one.

·        "There are now more missionaries sent from non-Western nations than Western nations," according to the author.

·       Church growth outside of America is now breathtaking. Every morning, there are 175,000 more Christians in the world. And if current growth rates (8% a year) continue, there will be more Christians than the present world population by the autumn of 2032... about 8.2 billion.

Does the bible say anything about this?

Yes, through King Nebuchadnezzar'a dream.

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone cut out by no human hand, struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But …the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 

Further down, Daniel interprets the meaning.

Who is the stone? Christ! What is the mountain that filled the whole earth? The church universal. This is believed by both Preterists and Dispensationalists alike. 

The decline in the numbers above is no surprise because America is the strongest promoter of Dispensational theology.

When Christ said "the gates of hell will not prevail" against the church, our English translations don't do justice to the full meaning of the original Greek language. The verb tense in the original is the gates of hell will not withstand or stand up to the advancement of the church. (That was originally pointed out to me by a Dispensationalist interestingly, Dr. Ed Hindson who used to teach at Jerry Farwell's Liberty University). 

Talk about an optimistic mindset!!!! We are on the winning team, not just in eternity but here and now, and we need to act like it if we will have any chance of significantly impacting our world for Christ! How desperately the church needs to get a hold of this (myself included). How sad and unfortunate it is that because of the futurist pessimism (“It’s a sign of the times. The end is near. Hold on! Jesus is coming soon!” etc., etc.) permeating much of the church. We - the church - have disengaged to a large extent in speaking into our world. As a result, we look to the government to turn things around instead of Christ. 

Where in the bible does it tell us to look to government as our Savior? Nowhere!!! If we understood God has called us, - you and me - to be salt and light wherever there is darkness, and that the decay of our culture and society falls on us to address - by the power of His Spirit driving us and not our government - we would be on our knees day and night until His Spirit got a hold of us first. And then through us, He would get a hold of our fellow man and ultimately our culture and government. 

Government plays a role but as an instrument of God for change, not the cause of it. Desperate times call for desperate measures and desperate dependence on God and Spirit-driven action for God. Instead of enduring all the garbage and deception in the world as we look to the sky, hoping and waiting for Christ to come and rescue us from it all, we should speak out on the bankruptcy of this world and unapologetically offer the hope and power of Christ in this life and the one to come. How exciting, positive, and refreshing is that!?! May God give us the grace and understanding to see His heart regarding these things!

For a look at what the bible says about the promise to Abram (later named Abraham) regarding the nation of Israel, click here. 

For a discussion on how "last days" teaching aids the advancement of one-world government, click here. 

If you wish to read the rest of the paper this article is taken from click here.

If you wish to discuss any of the points addressed in this article or have questions, please message me at  

thoughtsaboutGod@pm.me Ask for Jim. God Speed

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*When referring to two systems I have Dispensationalism specifically in mind and not the broader category of Futurists. I do so because that was the camp I was in for years and am most familiar with. I have also been told by non-dispensational futurists that their view of the world is more optimistic than how I characterize Dispensationalists in this section. If so that is good. I never had an extended conversation with any while still in the Dispensational camp.