Without God, all is vanity, and life truly is meaningless under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
It is the spirit of vanity that either denies the existence of the Living God or elevates itself to be equal to or greater than the Living God.
The spirit of vanity is that artificially puffed-up spirit that feels compelled to always put itself before God.
It was the spirit of vanity that caused the fall of Lucifer and thus began the rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:16; Revelation 12:7-9).
The fall of Lucifer, the fallen angel, led to the fall of man (Genesis 3:23).
The fall of man led to the flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:5-8).
Although Noah and his sons and their wives had been chosen by God to survive the flood, their genetics were not perfect by any means; and so the fall of man continued after the flood and led to the calling of Abraham, the nation of Israel being born, and the line of Holy Prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord our God (Genesis 12:1-20).
Egged on by Lucifer after the flood, when humans had again multiplied, the fall of man again picked up steam and marched on through another 3,000 years of historic drama, leading eventually to the prophesied time for Jesus to appear and reconcile fallen man back to God (Luke 2:1-20).
The first appearing of Jesus as the Lamb of God has led up to a two-millennium-long period of grace so that the redeemed among fallen man could spread the Gospel [good news] of Salvation to the ends of the Earth (Matthew 28:19).
The nearly completed 2,000-years-long period of grace leads up to The Rapture, then to the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble,” aka the 7-year Tribulation, aka the “70th Week of Daniel.”
The end of the seven-year tribulation is marked by the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will lead to a thousand years of peace on earth, as well as God’s work of reconciliation with the Hebrew nation. Also taking place will be the caring for and reorientation of what is left of fallen man (Revelation 20:1-5).
At the end of the 1,000 years, after one last short-lived rebellion, Satan will be tossed into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-10).
The banishment of Satan is followed by the White Throne Judgment. Because they hated and/or rejected God and instead chose judgment, and by following their own free will in the footsteps of Satan, all whoever lived whose names were not written in the Book of Life are then also tossed into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
God creates a new Heaven and a new Earth (Revelation 21; Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13).
At that moment comes the total separation of good from evil forever.
That infamous meal that Adam and Eve had partaken of 7,000 years prior will have finally come full circle.
One might ask why God let all of this stuff happen and went to so much trouble to reconcile fallen man.
A simple answer might be because He felt like it or because He could.
A better answer would be because He created us in His image, and He loves us dearly, as well as greatly desiring our love in return and of our own free will.
God already has everything with one exception, and that is the love for Him from His children created in His image, to whom He gave the gift of free will, with which to love Him or reject Him.
God is allowing the unfolding drama of good and evil – with full knowledge of the aspects of each of those opposites beginning with Lucifer and the first fallen humans – to play itself out because love given back to Him by our own free will choice is a love that is real.
God also did it because He could… He felt like it… He wanted to… His ways are not our ways…He created and owns the universe.
He alone has the power to even do such a thing, and if He had chosen not to, I would not be here to write this down, and you would not be here to read it.
God our Creator bestowed the gift of free will to the angels and to humans, and through wrong choices by Lucifer, the other fallen angels, and sinful humans, it is we who have unleashed evil upon the earth, not God.
To cherish life and our free will to choose our own course and at the same time to blame God for allowing evil is unfair to God and completely hypocritical on our part.
God could have created robot humans or even chosen not to create the earth or us human beings at all; but instead, He did it, and He did it His way.
Of those choices God could have made, either to create us and give us free will, or create us as robots or to not create us at all, which choice do you prefer?
If we are honest, it is reasonable to say that most of us humans, at least the ones who retain some level of normal brain function here in these rather insane end times, would readily admit to preferring the freewill ability to choose rather than being a robot or an android, or to having not been created at all.
Once we stop unfairly blaming God for all the wickedness, He then is able to reveal to us an amazing truth;
God is not only not to blame for the wickedness that causes so much sorrow in the world, He is the exact opposite of that.
We begin to see how good God is and how He personifies every wonderful virtue we can name, such as grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Loving-kindness, faithfulness, truthfulness, perfect wisdom, flawless integrity, and pure holiness are all parts of the nature of our Creator.
God is also all of these things:
The wonderful, amazing creator of the universe and all of the beautiful things it contains.
The omnipresent, omniscient, all-knowing owner of supernatural powers that are far beyond human comprehension.
The Alpha and the Omega who declares the end from the beginning (Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13).
When I see the countless beautiful colorful birds, sea creatures, and other animals; insects and flowers; waterfalls, ocean waves, and rivers; forests and fruit trees of all kinds; starry nights, desert sunrises, and tropical sunsets; people who are kind and loving… and I really could just go on and on, but my point is:
It is bordering on overwhelming to know for an absolute certainty how great God is: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I embrace this truth with heavenly tears of gratefulness and complete awe.
We realize that it is not just some church cliché to say that God deserves all of the honor and the glory. He really does deserve all of it, and if it were possible that there could be more than “All of the honor and glory,” He would deserve every bit of that, too, and then some.
Yes, He allowed created beings of the fallen angel and humankind to have the free will to make a giant evil mess on this world we all share, but He provided a way – a beautiful and wonderful way – to have eternal life in an amazing new forever body and eventually in a magnificent new creation, free of temptation and wickedness forever. He has promised this, and God is incapable of promising anything that is not 100% true every time.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”
If you have not given your life to Jesus, today would be a perfect day to do so. He loves you so much. Ask Him into your heart to be your Lord and Savior, and you will be so happy you did. Trust in Him alone for salvation and eternal life, and join His forever family (Romans 10:9-10).
Shalom in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah.
Rick Segoine
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All are welcome to visit ricksegoine.net for free downloads of my book, From God to Eternity, as well as downloads of original gospel songs and story songs, also at no cost.