A Wrong Mindset

There is a mindset in Christianity that when God created the world, animals and people, that somehow it went off track when Satan used a snake to deceive Adam and Eve. Since then, God has been working to correct the error and save as many as possible.

This is a load of crap.

The God of the bible, the God of the universe, The God of all reality is no chump. He doesn't make mistakes and nothing and no one escapes His view. No, God does not run or hide from evil actions in disgust. God is everywhere, always. He has never been hiding. He has never been sleeping. He has never been "away". God is ALL powerful and ALL present.

Consider this, a teaching I heard from a pulpit once:

The pastor spoke about how God is not in charge over evil. He came up with a fictitious story to demonstrate.

A godly family was on their way to church one Sunday morning. A another man choose to drink and drive. The man, due to drunkenness, caused a car accident that killed the entire family. The pastor said it was not God's fault. That is true, in a sense. The pastor said it was not God's will for the family to die. This directly implies that God is not in control.

This is definitely wrong.

God can do anything, right? You say it, we sing it, we teach it, the bible writes of it. If in this scenario, God really wanted to save the family to stick with His grand plan, then why couldn't He give the drunk man a flat tire? How hard would it be to put a nail in the road, for Him who put a coin in a fish's mouth so Peter could pay a tax? Not hard at all, for the one who created all of reality in 6 days.

See a comparison of Peter being saved from jail, while James, the brother of John, wasn't in the book of Acts.

"What are you saying? That God wants evil?!"

No, God doesn't want evil, but evil is necessary, for His grand plan. If it wasn't, why put the tree in the garden or even allow Satan to interfere?

Even if God were only prescient instead of omniscient, He could surely see the possible outcomes, and if He didn't want it to happen, just change one small thing to fix it all. Obviously, the world as we know it was intended. This IS biblical. This is reasonable.

With this information, most just ignore it, like the pastor, because it poses some uncomfortable thoughts about God.

"Are you saying God is evil then?"

No, not even remotely.

Look, if you want to trust God and really have a close relationship with Him, you must wrestle with these thoughts. You must. Otherwise, you are creating a God who is not the God of the bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of Peter, James and John. The God, who in flesh form is Jesus Christ. You really don't want to do that. This is the same as worshiping an idol.

God has a plan and it IS laid out is scripture. It is not hard, but to see it, you have to put aside all the stupid teaching we have been taught since we were children, and study the book for ourselves. Look, I don't spend hours and hours in the bible. Years ago I made a vow to read only 5 minutes a day. Except for maybe 4 or 5 days, I have stuck to this vow for over 25 years. Just 5 minutes, on a few days maybe a little longer, but not by much. This simple act has opened up a world of truth to me. It just takes a little time.

I do not quote scripture in Greek or Hebrew often. I do not use big theological words. I am a simple man. I think making something complicated in order to appear smarter is, frankly, stupid.

God wrote His book using simple people, who just loved Him. He didn't make it hard, so the excuse that it was too complicated to investigate will not hold water on Judgment Day. Remember the man who buried his talent?? God is in charge, but we are accountable for how we respond to Him, or not.

Here are the basics of what God is doing:

1. God created the world focusing on His most important creation, man. See Genesis.

2. God put in paradise only one possibility that can mess up man's walk with God and cause him to be separate.

3. Satan tempts man with the possibility of becoming God themselves. Man does not trust God, so be believes the lie.

4. God in response acts as He said He would. Death, the separation of man and God now begins.

5. Man is now struggling to either get back in right relationship with God or still running off to become "gods".

Only two options exist.

6. God was always working the faith thing to bring those who seek Him into a relationship with Him. See Abraham, who was considered righteous by his faith. Hebrews 11

7. For the rest, God gives them the law, which is impossible for them to fulfill. It is an obstacle course proving who can be God. Jesus of course is the only one who did fulfill it. See the book of Galatians.

8. When Jesus comes, He fulfills the law and ends the penalty, making clearer than ever the path back to right relationship with God...faith. (If they had faith in God, the temptation for the fruit would have been rejected soundly)

9. The bible predicts the outcome. Many will accept the truth of God's plan and come to Him with faith and be resurrected in a perfect situation, which will never end. Many more will not and their story will end. (Hell is tossed into the Lake of Fire - the second death. See Revelation)

This is a simple outline of the biblical plan that God has created. It is not complicated and it is verifiable if you choose to look.

Faith in God, is key, over and over in the book. IT IS! You don't need to get "right" first, for you can't. You don't need to do anything to receive it, you can't. You just accept it and begin a journey of faith by getting to know the object of your faith, Jesus Christ.

That is it.

Good works come out of faith naturally. It will happen whether you intend it or not. This is also described in the bible: Romans 2:14

The big question is, what is God's big plan and why? These questions are not clearly answered. I figure that it is because God doesn't want it known...yet. I do fully believe that God is good, better than anyone and anything. I do firmly believe He knows what is best. I do firmly believe that God's plan will be awesome and NO ONE will ever be able to say to Him "that was just not fair!" No, I fully believe that when we do get to see it, if not in this life, the next, that all will drop to our knees and exclaim: "WOW! and it was so obvious too!!!

Mindset is everything. Where your mind is at, is where your heart has taken you.

Make sure you have the correct one.

It IS up to you...even though it always has been God's choice.