Chapter 2.
Jesus Wants To Lead You and Me
Through This Troubled World
And On Into Heaven!
Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward ... (Job 5:7 KJV)
Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV)
Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world. [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]” (John 16:33 AMP)
Lord, You are my Shepherd ... Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod of dominion and Your staff of support ... comfort me. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and then, I will dwell in Heaven, forever! (Psalm 23 paraphrased)
We Can Live Victoriously
In This Troubled World.
When God created us, He purposely placed us in a troubled and dangerous setting. Each of us races along the gauntlet of life, facing a series of difficulties and hazards. But, with the help of Jesus, we can survive these trials and even prosper. Eventually, we can cross the finish line as victors and ascend into eternal bliss. But, men and women, who reject Jesus and the Gospel, lead empty lives of unfulfilled potentials and drop into Hell when they die. God submitted each of us to the ordeals of life in the hope that we would pass the tests He would set before us -- trust Jesus -- and be “saved” from eternal incarceration in Hell. But, by His infinite foreknowledge, He knew that most men and women would be “lost”. For sure, He is well pleased with the few who make it to Heaven. It was for the pleasure of their company, He made mankind.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV)
Consider the Troubles We Face.
To fully understand the circumstances which led Jesus to leave Heaven to rescue repentant sinners from spending eternity future in Hell, we must examine the dark forces menacing us.
Trouble 1.
Evil Spirits Are Persistently
Urging Each of Us To Sin.
Satan wants to devour our souls. The Apostle Peter gave us this warning ...
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8 AMP)
And, it’s not just the Devil that’s after us. Billions of demons who report to Satan are also stalking us. They strive to keep us from going to Heaven -- even if we are committed to getting there. The Bible explains how this perilous struggle pitting mankind aagainst demonic forces began.
Before God made mankind, He had already formed legions of angelic beings to brighten Heaven. The Bible mentions various orders of angels: cherubim, seraphim, archangels and the four beings who are stationed near the throne of God, intoning ...
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Revelation 4:8 KJV)
In many ways, angels are not like us. They began their lives in Heaven. But, we began our lives far below with the possibility of ascending to Heaven, if we believe the Gospel and make God our Lord. Each angel was created directly by God. But, we were created by God in conjunction with our earthly parents. Angels have been in the presence of God all of their days, while, with a few exceptions like Adam, Eve, and those who knew Jesus when He lived among us, we who love the Lord worship an unseen, Supreme Being because of the testimony of the Bible. Angels will never die, but our earthly bodies will perish. And, only if we are Christians, will we receive a far better body to wear in eternity future.
However, we do share some important attributes with angels. Both, they and we will live forever. And, God has given each angel and each human a “free will” -- the freedom to have one’s own opinion of what is right and what is wrong -- and the capacity to do good and to do evil.
Amazingly, at some point in the past, even though they lived in Heaven, in the very presence of the Triune God, many of the angels rebelled against Him. Seduced by an arrogant, power-hungry archangel named Lucifer, one-third of the angels decided to worship him instead of God. Immediately, these wicked angels were evicted from Heaven. God will not allow sinful beings to dwell there. And, God stripped them of their corporeal bodies. They became invisible, God-hating spirits.
When did this rebellion occur? And, where did the wicked angels go?
Certainly, before this satanic revolt began, God had formed planet Earth and all its flora and fauna. So, as the mutiny in Heaven erupted, Adam and Eve were exploring and enjoying the Garden of Eden. Earlier, God had surveyed His creation and announced, “It is very good!” Genesis states ...
... God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
(Genesis 1:31-2:2 KJV)
On Earth, all was serene. However, that did not fit God’s plan for the human race. He had decided to submit men and women to strong temptations and grievous troubles -- to teach them how to live righteous, God-fearing lives while in the grip of these trials -- and to lead the few souls who freely chose to trust in Him and to worship Him, into Heaven when they died. He knew that the men and women who made it to Heaven would be wonderful additions to His celestial family.
So, God made Earth a dangerous and troubled place by forcing Satan and the other fallen angels to populate our planet. Even now, they are among us, urging us to turn our backs on God and to lead sinful lives. Today, we call Lucifer “Satan” or “The Devil”, and we call the other wicked angels “evil spirits” or “demons”.
Earth is just a waystation for these depraved angels. Eventually, they will be cast into Hell. And, that same fate awaits men and women who deny the truth of the Gospel Message and refuse to worship Jesus.
These demonic entities have a vicious antipathy toward you and me. They know they can never return to Heaven, and they abhor the fact that we can qualify to go there. They know they are destined for an eternity in Hell, and they want us to suffer the same fate. Also, they resent the fact that we have bodies, and they don’t. They want to invade our bodies and control us. They do everything they can to steer us into sinful behaviors.
But ... Praise the Lord! He helps Christians triumph over Satan and his wicked cohorts. When a man or woman becomes a Christian, he or she is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. From then on, evil spirits cannot inhabit them. The Holy Spirit will not let that happen. Yes, demons can whisper in the ears of Christians, but they cannot reside within them. And, of course, the Holy Spirit contradicts the urgings of wicked angels. He makes sure the conscience of each Christian accurately analyzes temptations to sin. Paul gave this assurance to Christians ...
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
(1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV)
As Paul noted, the Holy Spirit of the Triune Deity gives this guarantee to Christians.
Trouble 2.
When Someone Sins,
A Stain Is Put On His or Her Soul.
Satanic forces are vigorously trying to lure us into sin. We are enveloped by danger. Each time you sin, your soul is marked with an ugly stain. And, for sure, you cannot enter Heaven with soul-stains -- not even one!
We are in a tenuous situation, because there are myriad ways for us to sin. For instance, when you break any of these Ten Commandments, you sin ...
· Have no gods other than God!
· Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain!
· Keep Sabbath Days holy!
· Honor your parents!
· Don’t murder!
· Don’t’ commit adultery!
· Don’t steal!
· Don’t lie!
· Don’t lust!
· Don’t covet!
Further, when you fail to adhere to these rules, given by Jesus, you sin ...
· Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind
and strength!
· Love your neighbor as yourself!
Furthermore, ponder this list of “The Seven Deadly Sins” given by one medieval monk. He argued that when you exhibit any of these behaviors, you sin ...
· Lust
· Gluttony
· Greed
· Sloth
· Wrath
· Envy
· Pride.
And, many other rules could be articulated. So, it’s obvious ...
All have sinned ... (Romans 3:23 KJV)
... every one of us! And, we sin frequently, soiling our souls with menacing stains that could bar us from joining Jesus in the hereafter.
But ... Thank God! Jesus wants to erase our sin-stains. He does so for all who believe in Him. That’s why Christians love to sing ...
Jesus paid it all.
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.
In like manner, the Old Testament saints rejoiced in the power of God to erase sin-stains. As mentioned earlier, King David wrote ...
... [Lord] wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7 NLT)
And, the prophet Isaiah recorded this Message from God ...
... Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. (Isaiah 1:18 NLT)
Trouble 3.
By Sinning, One
Can Kill His or Her Own Spirit.
Within each of us, there is an invisible entity known as our “spirit”. The Apostle Paul made this clear in a letter he wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica ...
... I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless ...
(1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV)
Here, we see that we humans have three parts: a body, a soul, and a spirit. God is a triune being. We are triune beings, also. Paul urged each believer to keep all three aspects of his or her being blameless -- unspoiled by the ravages of sin. We often speak of our invisible components -- the soul and the spirit -- as if they are one entity, the soul. But, Paul told us we have two un-seeable parts: our soul –- which is our personality –- and our spirit –- which is our conscience and will acting together to control our behavior.
Often, our spirit is simply called our “conscience”. An ancient proverb helps us understand what our spirit is ...
The spirit (conscience) of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching and examining all the innermost parts of his being. (Proverbs 20:27 AMP)
Our “conscience” manages our personal list of “commandments”, which may or may not match God’s “Ten Commandments”. When it is consulted, our conscience tells us what we believe to be “right” or “wrong” behavior. Then, our “will” decides what we will do after we have considered the information given to us by our conscience. Usually, we do what our conscience suggests, but there are times when we decide to do what we believe to be wrong.
From within, the Holy Spirit works to bring the Christian’s conscience in line with the ethical teachings of the Scriptures, and He powerfully motivates the will of the Christian, urging him or her to adhere to godly ways.
But, non-Christians lack the presence of the Holy Spirit. They are highly susceptible to the wiles of Satan and his minions. For sure, Christians stumble into sinning at times, but quickly, the Holy Spirit within them strives to defend them and rehabilitate them, restoring them to a close relationship with the Lord.
Certainly, one universal truth holds for all of us, whether we are believers or non-believers: Sinning diminishes us. We all know persons who have degraded their physical bodies through sinful behaviors. Even worse, Paul noted, our unseen parts can be ruined by sin.
Sin can wreck the spirit and the soul. Paul revealed how this can happen in a letter to a young pastor named Timothy. He stated ...
... the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, [misled] by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron [leaving them incapable of ethical functioning], (1 Timothy 4:1-2 AMP)
Also, Paul gave us a vivid picture of the damage sin does to men and women in a letter to the Church in Ephesus. He declared ...
Once you [Christians] were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil -- the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. (Ephesians 2:1-2 NLT)
of a human being. Christians are protected from this damage by the presence of the Holy Spirit within them. But, sadly, an unbeliever’s spirit and soul can be killed by sinful pursuits. Such sinners cease being healthy, three-part men and women.
Trouble 4.
The Sins of Each of Us
Are Recorded as Debts in Heaven.
Debts None of Us Can Repay!
We Christians often vocalize ...
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer.
With His blood He purchased me.
On the Cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.
What “debt” are we singing about in this hymn? The same debt Jesus referred to when He was teaching His disciples to pray. He said we should ask the Lord to ...
... forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Matthew 6:12 KJV)
On another occasion, Jesus was again asked to provide a model prayer -- an example of how believers should pray -- and He said that Christians should ask the Lord to ...
... forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended or wronged us] ... (Luke 11:4 AMP)
By comparing these two examples of the way Christians should pray, we easily see that when we sin by breaking God’s Laws, we incur an indebtedness to Him.
Lawbreakers face penalties. In the courts of mankind, offenders pay fines or endure incarceration, torture, or execution. But, none of these “remedies” can erase a sin-debt we owe to God. If you break God’s Laws, you have no way to pay-off your debt.
Just as the ledgers of mankind’s courts track our debts to society, so the ledgers of the Almighty track our sin-debts. The Bible declares ...
... the wages of sin is death ...
(Romans 6:23 KJV)
This means, “When you sin you ‘earn’ a loss -- specifically, spiritual death -- which is the pre-cursor to you being sentenced to spend eternity in Hell.” Every time we think a wicked thought, commit a sinful act, or refuse to do the will of God, we incur another sin-debt.
The Apostle John said ...
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing —- being unrestrained by His commands and His will]. (1 John 3:4 AMP)
King David expressed similar thoughts in one of the psalms he wrote. After the prophet Nathan convicted him of the enormity of his adulterous sin with Bathsheba, David fasted and repented for many, bitter days. Later, he memorialized his sorrow by composing Psalm 51. Early in his lyrics, David spoke of his many sins –- seducing Bathsheba, killing her husband, and violating the Ten Commandments. But, quickly, David focused on the worst aspect of his transgressions -- he had offended God. He saw his sin as an indebtedness to the Lord. He wrote ...
Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight ...
(Psalm 51:1-4a NLT)
David saw the world as an expansive stage on which he and his people acted out their lives. The audience was the Almighty Master of the Universe. Yes, David owed apologies and recompenses to those on Earth he had offended -- though he could not undo the murder of Uriah. But, far more important was the offense he had foisted on the Lord. We, too, should understand that when we sin, we offend God most of all. We become indebted to Him.
So, unbelievers and believers alike face the same problem. None of us can repay the sin-debts recorded under our name in Heaven’s ledgers. For unbelievers this spells doom, a miserable eternity in Hell. But ... Praise the Lord! Believers have a source of debt relief. Jesus has paid their sin-debts, even those they have yet to incur. Here is how Paul expressed this wonderful truth ...
... although you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our transgressions, having canceled the certificate of debt with its legal demands against us, which was hostile to us, He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14 Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament)
Note: The phrase, “you were dead ... in the uncircumcision of your flesh”, refers to the fact that within a spiritually dead unbeliever the desires of the flesh have not been removed -- cut away -- from the roster of acceptable behaviors stored in his or her conscience.
Trouble 5.
The Curses
That Have Fallen on Our World
Work Against Us.
When God made mankind, He placed Adam and Eve in the beautiful Garden of Eden. Life there was idyllic. All the creatures of Earth lived in perfect harmony. None of them bullied or preyed on the others. The weather was gentle. The air was pure. The water in ponds and streams was delightful. The bugs didn’t sting or bite.
Curse 1. The Fall
Perfection persisted on Earth until Adam and Eve sinned. God had told them not to eat the fruit of “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”. Nevertheless, at Satan’s urgings, they did. The ramifications of their disobedience were catastrophic. A curse fell upon the Earth, its flora and fauna, and the human race. We call this landmark judgment “The Fall”.
Suddenly, “death” entered our world. Adam and Eve had been told they would “die” if they ate the forbidden fruit, so, immediately, they began the slow march toward old age and death that we all experience today. Also, many of Earth’s animals became predators, killing and eating other creatures. Some even threatened Adam and Eve. Thistles and thorns infested the fields. The climate was shattered into seasons, and the edible products of plants that had been in constant supply were only seen at certain times in each year. Making a living became a chore. God told Adam of these overwhelming changes with these words ...
... cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:17b-19 KJV)
To this day, men and women strive to put food on their tables. The Fall shortened and complicated our lives.
Curse 2. The Flood
About 1600 years after “The Fall”, the Lord was moved to drop another massive judgment on our world. By then, the members of the human race had debauched themselves in every imaginable way, mis-using the “free will” God had given them to engage in shameful, sinful behaviors. The Bible says ...
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created -- and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground —- for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
(Genesis 6:5-8 NIV)
In those days, only Noah and three of his sons and the wives of these four men were living God-honoring lives.
So, God decided to destroy most of the living things He had created for our planet, washing Earth with an immense Flood, even submerging the mountains of that day. Before the judgment fell onto Earth, God had Noah and his sons build a huge barge-like ark. Then, He had the eight believers in Noah’s family and a chosen set of animals board the ark and ride out the great, world-wide Flood.
When the water receded and Noah’s family disembarked the ark, they stepped into a highly revamped world. Before the Flood, much of the Earth’s water was stored underground. Vegetation was refreshed daily by a mist that rose from the soil. Rain was unknown. Since the Flood, most of the Earth’s water is in its vast oceans, lakes, rivers and clouds. Much of the Flood is still with us, covering 70% of our planet’s surface. As the sea is heated by the Sun, enormous, global weather systems are generated, sometimes bringing blessings and sometimes delivering devastation to mankind. For sure, the Earth is not as hospitable as it once was. Lifespans before the Flood were measured in hundreds of years. Today, most of us succumb in less than 100 years. Life is harder and shorter than It was before God judged the world with water.
Curse 3. Babel
About 700 years after the Flood, mankind triggered another crisis. Many political leaders and prominent philosophers turned against God. Atheism and agnosticism became popular. Seduced by Satan and his tribe of evil spirits, many men and women began to profess, “We are the Masters of our own destiny!”, and, “We are not under the thumb of some celestial divinity!”
The elites of that day decided to build an enormous metropolis surrounding a very tall tower, reaching far into the sky. They said, “This will organize our citizens into a manageable unit and demonstrate mankind’s power and glory. And, this will snuff out any remaining, old-fashioned, superstitious notions of a supreme god in the heavens. We will be glorified. He will be forgotten!”
Observing the arrogance of the men and women who were rebelling against Him, the Triune God -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- decided to crush the insurgency. God said ...
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth ... (Genesis 11:7-8 NIV)
For centuries, believers have wondered how far God went in changing the people of that day. Did He simply reload sets of brains with another language? Or, did He do much more? How deep did the changes go? Some suspect that God actually re-arranged the DNA of these humans, so that, when they conceived offspring, their children were quite different from themselves. Were skeletal forms altered? Were skin colors changed? Were other physical characteristics transformed? Is this when the human race was divided into a variety of ethnicities? We do not know, but it is an intriguing idea.
For sure, mankind spread across the globe. And, to this day, our differences divide us.
Summary
God chose to create the human race and place its members in a world bristling with troubles. He knew that all of us would sin, frequently. Without divine intervention, all of us would end up in Hell. But, Jesus came into the world to save repentant, God-honoring sinners from that fate. Most humans have scoffed at the Gospel Message brought to us by Jesus. Only a few men and women have come to believe what Jesus taught. These believers and the Old Testament saints will reside in Heaven eternally. It was for the pleasure of having them in Heaven’s congregation that God created mankind.