God is the Awesome Creator of the Universe. He made the universe, and then chose a tiny speck on it to host His most special creation - human beings. The many things that are unique to the earth and unique in our human DNA and makeup point to the design of a Loving Creator.
The Bible teaches that God is love. God loves you. He wants you to enjoy His love. The greatest fulfillment that anyone can know is to give and receive God's love. We were made by God for that.
It has been said that God's love is unconditional but His blessings are not. God's blessings flow when you live in harmony with God's principles. The blessing can stop flowing when you start to think and act foolishly. Do not confuse God's blessings with God's love. If things are not working out nicely for you at the moment it does not mean that God does not love you. It does mean that you either need to change your thinking, be patient or both. We all have difficult times. Sometimes they are perplexing. But looking back, we can usually see how if we had been less ignorant, and if we had had more patience, it would have been much better for us. God wants us to have more knowledge and patience now. He wants us to be spiritually rich. It is God's will for us to be full of God's love, and to know the wisdom of God.
The greatest blessing we can know, the greatest riches we can have, is the riches of having an intimate relationship with Our Creator. To some doubters it may seem foolish, but truly, God does want to communicate with you and with me. God is good, and to truly know Him brings the greatest fulfillment and pleasure that anyone could know. If knowing a human person on a physical level through sex can bring pleasure and fulfillment, how much more knowing Almighty God on a spiritual eternal level through faith can bring pleasure and fulfillment! And how much more enduring and worthwhile could a true relationship with God be!
To be spiritually rich is to full of the personal knowledge of God. This can only happen when your spirit is made new through faith in God. Sin has marred us, but God wants to restore us. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus died on a cross to suffer spiritual death in your place, so that you could have spiritual life. He was forsaken by God that you could be accepted into God's family. After that Jesus rose again, proving His superiority over evil. That is the great love of Jesus for you.
I would like to prove to you that God wants you to be spiritually rich. Jesus said,
"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:
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We are corrupt.
We are viewed as "rotten" in the sense that we are corruptible. When we die, we are subject to decay. Morally we are born corrupt. This was by man's choice, not God's. The only way to be restored from the fall of the first Adam is to choose to be a child of the second Adam instead. We then have fellowship once more with God and can be renewed.
Scripture says,
Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Rom 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:
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless 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.
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Rom 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
Rom 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
1Co 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
1Co 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1Co 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
If God loves me then why am i viewed as "rotten" by Him for not taking the Bible in a literal sense?
In short, God loves us, whether we are sinners or not. His offer of salvation to you Agnostic is testimony to His love for you. You are not viewed as 'rotten' because you do not take the Bible literally, you are 'rotten' because without Jesus Christ,you will rot when you die and you will perish in the second death. It is simply a factual statement of our human condition, not the spewings of a malcontent God. "God is not willing that any perish" are you? Are you willing that you should perish because you are angry at God over the harshness of a sin-filled world? There is a devil who is the 'god of this world,' why not kick him in the balls instead?
Thankyou for you reply
Thankyou for you reply
What of the people who died before Jesus Christ and lived generally good lives? that confuses me.
I am not angry at God over a sin-filled world,
I am not angry in the slightest, i enjoy the debate, is that also a sin?
I am just confused as to why we should be punished for being human, just the way God made us.
Morally we are born corrupt. This was by man's choice, not God's.
Am i right in assuming you are referring to Adam? If so, musn't God have created man morally corruptible in the first place for Adam to have sinned? Then if that is the case, then why should man be doomed until Jesus arrived because one man was corrupted (as God gave him the ability to me).
Ah
So, a devil should be blamed for all the evil in this world?
i think not. Just people and their choices.
p.s. no metaphorical balls are being kicked
Moral corruptibility of Adam
Yes, Adam was corruptible. He had an untested perfection. The same could be said of the angels that fell and become wicked spirits.
If Adam had chosen to eat the Tree of Life he would have been incorruptible and never sinned. Sadly he neglected that tree and chose the Tree God had warned him about. He did not take dominion over the tempting creature (serpent or whatever) but instead submitted to it, giving the domination over this world to Satan.
We become guilty and corrupt when we make similar choices to what Adam made. I do not have all the answers here, to me these are the most difficult questions in the universe. But if we, the corrupted and flawed ones, are at times enabled to respond to God's goodness, we should certainly do so. If not, our condemnation is certainly deserved.
Incidentally, it is primarily for rejecting God personally that people are lost. God comes in different ways to people, but ways that are very real to them at the time. It doesn't happen all the time, but at certain key moments. Once God reveals Himself, you are very much responsible to turn to God.
Please read some of the many testimonies on this site and use them as evidence to decide for yourself if God does exist and speak to people.
Discussion can be useful
There are legitimate questions that can be asked and some of them have good answers that we know, while others have good answers that we do not know, because of our limitations.
In the end, after God reveals Himself, there comes a time for laying down the questioning and beginning to trust God as a small child trusts his or her parents.
Thomas had doubts about Jesus' resurrection, whether it was real, and so Jesus invited Thomas to put his hand in his side and check it out for himself. Jesus knew that Thomas needed this kind of proof.
Note that immediately after this Thomas worships Jesus and says "My Lord and my God". How unlike those who, after their principal objections are answered, look for other reasons to reject God.
Its more about whether you love truth. If you do, then God will reveal truth to you. Truth costs us something, it is rarely convenient, that is why most people prefer the lie at times.
What of people who died before Jesus Christ?
The sacrifice of Jesus applied also to people who lived before he died and rose again. Once Jesus rose, he also took to heaven all the people who had true faith in God who were in a place called "Abraham's bosom".
It is only and always people of faith who are accepted by God.
By "generally good", we probably mean somewhere just a little lower than the way we perceive ourselves.
How good are people though when measured against the Ten Commandments?
How good are people though when measured against the Ten Command
The question of how good people when measured against the ten commandments requires a sincere answer because no one was able to follow the commandment perhaps even with those who live their life practicing it. To me this commamdments will make you holy to the likeness of God. In fact, i think this might be the reason why Jesus summarized it into 2 commandment. A sincere answer that we are not able to even love our family memebers as our neighbor and we can not even maintain our toughts and desires in the manner he wanted us to do so. A sincere admitance of our wrongful thoughts, desires, our perception of love and our love of our self. Perhaps if we can genuinely accept Jesus and the gospel, we might be get 3/10. The truth is we all fell short of the required measurement by God. Not because the commandments is tough but because we are selfish.
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Referencing your previous post, If God loves me then why am i viewed as "rotten" by Him for not taking the Bible in a literal sense?
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