God's Purpose

Posted by triumphantloveinchrist.blogspot.com Labels: Saturday, June 14, 2014


God’s Purpose  

It is a sad fact that the vast majority of Christians are ignorant of God’s ultimate purpose for His creation. This is due mainly to Christendom’s leaders’ false teaching concerning the present evil in the world, and the future punishment of the lost. It is the failure to recognize God’s complete control over ALL circumstances in His universe that has led to a belief in “dualism”. This was the belief of an ancient Iranian religion founded in the 6th century BC, Zoroastrianism. Its founder, Zoroaster, imagined a universe in which an all good Spirit created the pleasant things in the world, while another powerful, all evil Spirit, created destructive counterparts, such as snakes, flies, and other noxious things to combat the good Spirit’s creation.
 
It is the concept of two “Gods” battling for control and victory over the created universe that Christian leaders have unwittingly portrayed to those in varied denominational assemblies worldwide. According to their dogmas, Satan is the evil god that has successfully overthrown the true God’s purpose of perfection for His creation. By ruining His original pristine universe, Satan has forced God to resort to a “Plan B”. In this scenario, an impotent creator, frustrated by the “free will” of mankind that follows Satan in his rebellion, is feverishly working to counteract Satan’s devices in order to convince mankind to follow Him. 

However, because Satan’s widespread Evil is more desirable than God’s Good, God will lose the vast majority of mankind to Satan, and must placate Himself with the rescue of a small minority of the billions of men and women created in His image. By Satan’s subtle intrigue, God, because He is holy, will be forced to banish most of mankind to eternal torture in Hell and then the Lake of Fire. God will ultimately neutralize Satan by imprisoning him for 1000 years, and finally confine him to the fiery Lake, at which time He will declare victory. But what a costly and hollow victory that will be! Satan will have claimed the lion’s share of souls that will remain forever hostile to their Creator. Evil will not only continue to exist, but will thrive and multiply as the realm of the damned is filled with curses for God eternally!
Thankfully, although the above scenario is the popular religious teaching today, it is completely contradicted by Scripture. A view of all world events gives the impression that the creation is a giant, slow-motion train wreck, having veered off the tracks of God’s purpose and headed for certain and final destruction. 

However, Satan is a created being, and as such, his power is limited to that invested to him by his Creator. The Adversary does not make policy for the universe, nor does he devise any plan of his own in order to thwart God’s purpose. He is merely God’s agent of evil, a pawn in the hands of the all-wise Creator. Although he certainly thinks he is free and autonomous, (just as men believe themselves to be free moral agents), all of his ways were known beforehand, and ordained by God to accomplish His mysterious purpose.

But, doesn’t this make God the Author of sin? No. God is the Author of evil. Evil is not sin. Sin is a mistake, an error, something God is incapable of. Evil is the counterpart of Good. God created Evil in order to reveal Good. Good would have no meaning without Evil, just as Darkness is essential to understand Light. Evil is a temporary tool of contrast being used by The Master Craftsman of the universe to reveal Himself to all His creatures. At the consummation, after God’s purpose is realized, evil will be discarded forever. 

The purpose for God planting the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden’s Garden is puzzling to many students of Scripture. Why would God deliberately place it centrally in His garden of perfection? Why would He not place cherubim to guard it from Adam as He did afterward for The Tree Of Life? Why was Satan given free access to God’s Garden to spread his rebellion and infect humanity? Why were there not two trees, one of Good and another of Evil, but conflicting things in one tree. 

The answer is that Adam did not know Evil before he ate of its fruit, but NEITHER DID HE KNOW GOOD! The Garden with all its wondrous delights, the delicious fruit, the perfect climate, the harmless animals, the daily walks with his Creator-Father was to Adam just “another day in Paradise”. He knew no other scenario. All these wonders were taken mundanely as a matter of normal life. The only way he could really appreciate Good, and therefore his Creator, was to be shown its opposite, Evil. The contents of the fruit did not infect Adam & Eve with sin; that came from their disobedience to the commandment to abstain from eating it. 

It is surprising to many that God knew Evil before Adam. He confirmed this fact after Adam sinned: “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” {Gen. 3:22}

Man’s first sin, which Christendom teaches began the eternal doom of most of Adam’s progeny, was in fact the first essential lesson for an immature creature that his Creator was teaching him. This painful lesson was given in order to enlighten him to God’s essential Goodness. Adam now had the ability to compare Good with Evil, and therefore could enter the gateway of appreciation for his Father’s Goodness and Love. If this was not God’s purpose for Adam; if He created him with the determination of perpetual perfection, then God failed, He missed His mark, God sinned. This is our only recourse if we believe that God’s plans for Adam failed. If The Creator is reacting to man’s free will, and constantly adjusting His Plan in order to accomplish His purpose, then who is really in control? Free will makes man into God, and God into less than omnipotent.

But the Scriptures assure us that God is not adjusting to man’s decisions, and is in complete control. Neither are there two “Gods” battling for control of events.
“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.I form the light, and create darkness: I MAKE PEACE, AND CREATE EVIL: I THE LORD, DO ALL THESE THINGS.” {Isa. 45:6,7}

God has a reason for all events in His universe, a definite purpose toward accomplishment of His ultimate goal. This goal is the revelation of Himself, and afterward, taking up residence in ALL His creatures. He will realize that goal in due course, and cannot be thwarted. He is The Almighty!
“Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.
  Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
  I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘MY PURPOSE WILL STAND,
AND I WILL DO ALL THAT I PLEASE.’ {Isa. 46:8-10}

In order for man to exercise his “free will”, he would have to be totally free. But the Scriptures declare that man is not free at all, but is completely enslaved to sin, as is Satan. Satan and mankind make choices according to their limited knowledge and ability. They choose to do one thing or another only from what has been decreed concerning them or revealed to them.

 We have no “free will” options concerning our time or place of birth, our genetic make up, our family, our aging, inherited diseases, our involuntary bodily functions, etc. I cannot jump over my house or lift 10,000 pounds even if I freely choose to do so. Our choices are also limited by our lack of knowledge of the future. I cannot confidently “will” to be a millionaire or a professional athlete, for even if I have an iron will and determination to accomplish these goals, tomorrow may bring an unforeseen bankruptcy or a debilitating injury making such things impossible.

Only God has “free will”, for He alone is omnipotent. He alone is able to accomplish any and all goals He has determined. The creature not only does not fathom his Creator, he does not understand himself! A careful assessment of all known factors in a situation does not insure a man of the desired outcome of any decisive action. He cannot contemplate or make choices in things that he does not even comprehend! Scientific discovery is constantly amazing man about himself and his surroundings, things which his Creator determined and ordained to be there and function as He designed them according to His Free Will and Purpose.

Men are responsible only for God’s REVEALED WILL. Adam erred in his failure to obey his Father’s revealed will. This is the determining factor in God’s judgment of any person’s works. How faithful were we to the light we received? However, God had a SECRET WILL known only to Himself. His Secret Will determined that Adam’s disobedience would, instead of derailing God’s Plan for perfection, act as an essential step in revealing Himself to man. This is how God wields His tool of Evil in order to bring about His Good purpose. 

Take the example of Joseph in his trials. After his own brothers, because of their jealous hatred of him, sold him into slavery, we can only imagine the pain and despair of his broken spirit. However, through this great family tragedy, Joseph was eventually to rise to the position of ruler over all Egypt, under Pharaoh alone. God had a Secret Will concerning Joseph known only to Him. God ordained these circumstances in order to accomplish His purpose. Listen to Joseph’s assessment of all that befell him:
“His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? YOU INTENDED IT FOR EVIL, BUT GOD INTENDED IT FOR GOOD to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” {Gen. 50:18-21}

The greatest Evil ever to occur was perpetrated on God’s own Son. When Satan entered Judas to betray The Savior, did he not think he was acting autonomously in devising this plan of evil? When the Jewish leaders had Jesus arrested and brought to trial, did they not think they were acting on their own? When the crowd, worked into a frenzy, screamed “Crucify Him!”, or Pilate condemned Him to an excruciating death on a cross, or the soldiers cast lots for His robe and mocked Him, and the scourging, and crucifixion. 

Did not all these individuals believe they were doing exactly as they determined to do? And yet, they were only acting out what The Father had predetermined concerning His Son. The prophet Isaiah had foretold these things hundreds of years before any of these actors were born:
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities (sins).” {Isa. 53:10,11}

A glaring error of men is to confuse God’s process with His goal. There used to be an artist that painted nature scenes on canvas on a weekly television program. With broad strokes of his brush he would spread paint on his blank canvas in a seemingly haphazard manner. Mixing colors on his hand held block, he continued smearing and blending colors without any apparent order or sense of urgency to finish his work. Just when I began to see some order, he would partially cover a recognizable object with more broad strokes of his brush. Only when the program was near its end, did the awe-inspiring scene emerge from the seeming chaos of colors. The master painter knew exactly what he was painting, I did not. In the end, I could appreciate the perfectly placed brush strokes and the beautiful scene they produced. 

It is this way with God. Although there seems to be raging chaos at work in our world, the universe’s Master is methodically bringing order out of the seeming disorder. In the end, He will reveal a masterpiece produced by His marvelous Love and Grace, made possible by Calvary’s Cross.
God’s purpose was to use man’s Evil hatred of His Son to pay the sin guilt of all creation! The Father’s love for all His creatures drove Him to it. Pure love knows no other way but self-giving sacrifice for the beloved. Jesus willingly yielded to His Father’s Will, knowing that man’s supreme Evil would result in The Father’s supreme Good, salvation and deliverance of His lost possession. Contrary to religion’s doctrines concerning damnation and eternal torment, The Cross of Christ accomplished God’s purpose and goal, to save each and every one of God’s beloved creatures. His suffering assured the ultimate rescue of all the lost. 

Although limited future punishment awaits much of mankind, it is for the purpose of discipline and restoration, not perpetual torment. Mankind’s alienation from his Creator was necessary for him to appreciate his reconciliation to Him. God’s message for mankind today is one of reconciliation. He implores us to accept His Son’s sacrifice on our behalf, and to abandon any prideful attempts to gain His acceptance through our own religious works. A gift cannot be earned, it can only be accepted. Any attempt to earn it nullifies it as a gift. Christ alone earned it for humanity. When God reveals Himself to His creatures, all will humbly worship Him and ultimately respond to His love that conquers even the hardest heart. Then God will take His place in each of His creatures and become ALL in All! 
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him,  and through Him TO RECONCILE TO HIMSELF ALL THINGS, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” {Col. 1:15-20}

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