The Bible
There are books, books and more books but only one Bible. It’s different versions reflect the many attempts to capture the original. These, however, vary only slightly from each other and agree well in all but trivial details. They tell a story that begins with God, the Infinite, Eternal Being that created the entire universe and this world in particular. The Bible provides a description of our origins: creation, God’s test of His creatures, their failure to pass His test, and the terrible consequences that flowed from that failure.
Satan’s victory set the stage for almost all that followed until Christ came on the scene. God so loved and cared for His helpless creatures that He sent His Son to take the penalty for our sin. The Second Person of the Creator God took on himself the human nature and became the God-man. He wasn’t just part Gpd and part man. He was fully God and fully man. The creator of all things lowered Himself by taking on the nature of His creatures. He suffered and died a cruel death, paying the penalty we earned and deserved. . He died for the sins of all that believe in Him.
Sadly, no one believed, but God gave the additional gift of faith to all those He chose in eternity past. The sacrifice was necessary because God never changes His mind or goes against His Word. The penalty of sin is death and God the Son died for His sinful creatures. It was the way He chose to rescue us from Satan’s dominion and eternal damnation.
Here are Jesus’ final words of instruction He gave to His disciples and all who would follow Him:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19,20)
Our Lord assigned His disciples, and assigns all His followers today, two tasks. We are told: 1) spread the Gospel message and make disciples of all that believe. We are told: 2) make the nations Christian nations, nations whose people believe and whose laws reflect God’s Law.[1]
Cod’s people, though, those that should be countering Satan and executing God’s Great Commission today, have been very negligent of this their duty. Instead of working to make this world a Christian world, they have become Satan’s agents, spreading his lies. We are not in the last-days now and won’t be until both of these God-given tasks have been fulfilled.
To think that God changed His mind is both ridiculous and disrespectful. God is infinite, eternal, and omniscient. He knows the end from the beginning and never needs to change His mind:
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)
For over a century now, as God’s chosen people continue this great neglect, the world is becoming less and less godly. This past year has been especially notable as God’s enemies have asserted themselves in a world-wide takeover attempt.
It may appear that Satan has won but God is always in total control and is employing Satan to discipline His disobedient servants. They were too weak to resist the evil one a century ago and were sorely deceived. They will learn from the test that is about to begin and will soon see how foolish they’ve been. They will repent and weep bitterly as they suffer the consequences of their failure. But God is merciful and all things always work together for good for those that love God.[2]
[1] in the Sixth Century AD, the Roman Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora did just this. They rewrote Roman law to bring it into close agreement with God’s Law.
[2] Romans 8:28