Through these thoughts I have attempted to create an outline for the foundations of my faith in Jehovah, God.
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Human life is filled with suffering and confusion. Darkness and sorrow plague the better part of our time on this strange earth. Yes, the world and the universe in which it bathes is a magnificent mystery yet to be fully comprehended by any one, but the mystery of a man’s soul is even deeper an enigma.
There was once a man, a king who gave his heart “to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven”(Eccl. 1.13). He gave his heart to search out what is the purpose of all things, the meaning of all things. He plunged into the depths of his soul to find it’s meaning. He explored the darkest things of life, and the things filled with light. He gave himself to know wisdom and folly intimately, not just theoretically (Eccl. 1.17), a knowledge that is so fearsome very few men have the courage to seek it out. Men often fear knowing wisdom as much as they fear knowing the true darkness and death that is in their souls. For to know wisdom and folly, to know them intimately is to realize the position of one’s soul before the One who created it.
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” John 3.20.
But this King Solomon took the fearsome journey because his love for the Truth was greater than his love for the pleasures of ignorance. And he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. In this book Solomon wrote of human life alone, that it is empty and full of uselessness and suffering more than happiness and fulfillment. He wrote of death alone, that it is better than life because in it there is no suffering, that the miscarried child who never sees the light of day is more blessed than the child who is born into this life (Eccl. 4:1-3). He wrote of wisdom alone, that it is better than folly and yet the same because both the wise man and foolish man meet with the same end, silence and the grave, and the rewards of the wise man’s labors go to other men who did not labor for it (Eccl. 2:18-23). Hardship and injustice come to the wise man and the foolish. These observations made Solomon bitter and confused. What is the point of striving to be righteous? What is the meaning of all this suffering? What is the meaning of the pleasure? What is life a part from God? It is like a worthless piece of clay without a Potter to mold it, like paints and canvas and no Painter to give them purpose and meaning and life.
Solomon finally came to the point when he understood that only with God in the picture are all other things made significant, is wisdom made perfect and life made real and worthy. Only with God are things deserving of judgment, whether it be glory or condemnation, life or death. Only with God is truth and justice, mercy and redemption made possible in the confusion and noise of the world and it’s groaning. Solomon came to understand that through all of a man’s life, the pleasures and the shame, to question the existence of God is futile, for GOD IS, there is no other option. The conclusion of the whole matter, the end of Solomon’s journey into heaven and hell was this, to fear God and keep His commandments, for if nothing else in this life is sure in the end, God’s judgment certainly is.
But just who is this “God” exactly? There are so many deities out there who are called “God” or who claim some sort of divinity, but how can a house stand that is divided against itself? How can so many, different deities all claim to be “God” if they do not agree with one another? Which one is right? Is it even possible to make a reasonable guess, much less to actually know for sure who “God” is?
From the beginning of time there has been one God Who has maintained a large and faithful following from all over the world. That God is the Jehovah of the ancient Jewish Scriptures and the ancient Christian texts which can be read today in numerous different languages and versions. Early copies of these Scriptures have been preserved so well from their ancient origins that many scholars are convinced that the Jewish and Christian God is the true God who has supernaturally preserved His Word from being tainted and corrupted by the fallibility and evil of men. Yes, there are many versions of the original texts which have perverted the meaning of some portions of Scripture, but considering the difficulty involved in translating Hebrew and Aramaic and Greek into English texts and other languages around the world, there is still the same, general understanding among all the different nations of this God Jehovah, who He is, what He desires of mankind, and that He is coming again. And among the Christians from all the different nations of the world there is the same faith in Jehovah as the only God, the same worship, the same knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as their Savior from the punishment of their sins, and the same knowledge of the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within every believer, the same Allelujah and the same Amen.
The ancient, Hebrew prophet Isaiah gave these words from this God:
“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17.3.
Romans 10.
The Word of God is so pure, so rich in the greatest treasures of knowledge and wisdom that man can ever find. And yet it is still the tendency of men as self-centered creatures to seek out the words of other men to be enlightened concerning God and themselves. Why do they not seek out the Word of God? There is nothing as powerful as the Word of God, for in the end it is God who has the final say after all. According to Jesus the Word of God is more important than bread and water in this life.
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward very hungry. And when the tempter came to him, he said, ‘If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”’ Matthew 4.1-4.
Jesus said that Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Live. Thrive. Prosper. Living by the Word of God is the creating and sustaining force behind everything good on this earth just as in the beginning God spoke and created the heavens and the earth and the light by His own words. Food and water are essential to surviving this physical life, but Jesus, in responding to Satan’s temptation to fulfill the great desires and needs of His flesh, alluded to a greater reality than bread and water that is necessary to survive the life beyond this life, the life of eternity. And yet how can we live by a word which we do not know or believe or cannot understand?
If God gave us His Word, and if it is this Word that and His wisdom by which He creates and sustains all things, then what knowledge or wisdom or understanding is greater than His? If we desire to know God and our own souls, we must be bold and pray to God, asking Him for what we need.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” James 1.5,6.
We must have faith in Jesus Christ. We must be baptized with the Holy Spirit and immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, meditating on them, searching them out, proving them. We must let those words know our heart so that they may open our eyes to the wisdom of God and our ears to His voice, not the voices of other men.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” Matthew 7.15-17.
“For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you beware of this… For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” 2 Corinthians 11.4,13-15.
It is vital that every Christian know the Word of God for himself that he may use this spiritual sword to discern unrighteousness, false prophets and demons and to wage war against them in the name and power of Jesus Christ. If we believe in God and have faith in the redemption offered us of Jesus Christ, then we are children of light in a world of darkness and deception. There will be conflict. There will be persecution even by the hands of those we thought were our friends, by those we thought were fellow-believers, by wolves in sheeps’ clothing, by devils in angels’ clothing. The forces of darkness are most deceptive and will do anything to destroy the Truth and compromise the light of God. But we are not of this world. We are of Christ, and our hope and love is everlasting.
I would like to end this statment of faith with a letter by the Apostle John to one of his beloved churches on what it means to be a Christian and to know the true God. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who remains faithful will not be hurt by the second death.”(Revelation 2.11).
“The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth, for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full.
The children of your chosen sister greet you.”
(II John).
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