Sunday, September 27, 2009

PREDESTINATION AND THE PLAN OF GOD

Throughout my Christian life, I have heard several messages about the subject of predestination and free will. Some will preach that predestination is nothing more than two sides of the same coin - we are now on this side of heaven, but when we get there we will understand what God has installed for us even before we were born! Yet others will teach that it is a hundred percent man and a hundred percent God at work. Frankly, it leaves me even more puzzled and confused after all these talks!

But I discover that God has all along revealed the truth to us about predestination and His marvellous plan - it's just that we have not searched the Scriptures enough to comprehend it. Think about this, if all things were predestined by God, then man is not created with a free will to make decisions for himself. If that is so, can man be made accountable for all his actions? That would fly squarely in the face of revealed Scriptures!

Did God predetermine who will obey Him, who will be righteous, and who will be 'lost' or 'saved'? Is God trying to saving all of mankind now - in this time and age? If that is so, as most evangelical Christians believed, then God is 'losing' the battle against Satan! As one-third of mankind has never heard of Jesus Christ. Another one-third who do, believe Him not. And for the other one-third who claimed to know Him, most paid cursory attention to what He taught and commanded as recorded in Scriptures!

Is now the only time to accept or reject Christ, failing which man is doomed for eternity? Evangelists and preachers often use 2 Corinthians 6:2 which is a quotation from Isaiah 49:8 that now is the acceptable time. In truth, the word 'the' in the King James version is nowhere found in the original Greek or Hebrew text. Bible translators had added in the word mistakenly thinking it will add clarity, but instead, the result is confusion. In Isaiah 49:8, God says 'In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee.' If salvation was available only in Paul's time or in Isaiah's time, then all of us are doomed! Clearly, they failed to understand the Plan of God as reveal in God's seven annual Holy Days and the festivities.


However, having said that, it is certainly true that for those who are called now in this age, with the truth of God opened to the minds of their understanding there is no turning back. For those who are called, they must act on it now, for there is no second chance for those who reject God's truth (Hebrews 10:26).

Christ came to save the whole of humanity, not just for a small minority. For it is God's will that none should perish. Do you think the Almighty God will leave the salvation of all mankind to just a small band of sinners saved by grace? I think man is thinking too highly of himself! The answer is an emphatic NO. God will not trust puny men for such an important task, no matter how 'righteous or Godly' they are!

Readers may wonder how to reconcile the truth of God with reality when Satan seem to have the upper hand in the battle for souls. Modern Christianity is subtly depicting God as a sadist who will send man to suffer for all of eternity in the 'pits of hell forever', over which most have no idea who and what is the true God! Nowhere in the whole of the Bible is there a single verse which says that all man must be converted now. The prophecy in Isaiah 2 and Micah 4:1-4 reveals a time in the coming Millennial Age when all nations - Israel and Gentiles - will be taught the truths and laws of God. Only then, when Satan is bound will human nature be reformed and even the animal kingdom will live at peace with one another!

The truth is, God is not calling everybody now. He is only calling a small group of people in every generations who are predestined to become the sons of God. These potential sons of God will be judged in their lifetime through trials and tribulations to have the character, knowledge, attitude and mindset of Christ. God will never allow those who cannot be ruled and submit to His authority in their mortal life to become rulers in His coming kingdom (Luke 19:12-27). They will be given great power and authority that even the angels will have to submit to them (1 Cor 6:2-3)! Only members of the God Spirit Family are qualified to rule and reign with Christ. To enter and inherit this Royal Family of God, they have to die physically and then reborn as eternal spirit God beings (John 3:3-8, see 1 Cor 15). It is God's will for the saints of today to undergo training for great power, authority and responsibility for the salvation of whole humanity during the coming Millennial reign of Christ. Sadly, most theologians and preachers believe that Christians are born again once they accept Christ and all mankind must be saved now or else they are eternally doomed - they are sincerely wrong and miss the Plan of God by a galaxy!

In John 5:28-29 Christ said, ' Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice (last trumpet call) and come forth -those who have done good, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation (Greek: judgment and NOT condemnation)' Similarly, Christ warned of a coming judgment in Matthew 11:21-25 to Chorazin and Bethsaida that it would be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon and even Sodom on the day of judgment because they would have repented had they witnessed what had been done by Christ! The only way this can happen is when all people from all ages were to be resurrected to physical mortal beings again (Acts 24:15). This will happen in the second resurrection during the Millennila Age when all people who have ever lived (except the sons of God in the first resurrection) will face the Almighty God at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11).

The sheep and goat parable in Matthew 25:31-41 talks about the process Christ carefully works with all those who are called to become sons of God and those who will ultimately end up in the lake of fire! God knows in advance who will have the potential to become members of His Royal Family and those who do not. The Apostle Paul in Romans:8:28-30 describes this process. God foreknew those who have the potential to become His sons. He then predestinate them to be equipped with the right knowledge and revelation of the truth so as to conform to the image of His Son Jesus Christ in character, attitude and mindset. At the right time, He calls them to come on board to be His 'A' team which will ultimately form the supergovernment of God for the whole universe for all eternity! Please note that only that those with the right qualities will qualify (Matthew 22:12-14). They will undergo tests, trials and tribulations to justify their positions in the kingdom of God. By yielding to the work and leading of God's Holy Spirit this is possible while with human effort, this is almost impossible. The last step is to be glorified when the saints are resurrected to become spirit God beings to inherit the kingdom of God. By then Satan will be dethroned and Christ enthroned with all the resurrected saints helping Him to rule and reign (Daniel 7:18,22,27; Rev 3:21)!

The long and short of all these is that God did predestine a small group of people from each generation to become His sons - as only the spirit Royal Family will govern everything, starting with Planet Earth in the Millennial Age and then onto eternity for the whole universe! Does that mean all not predestine to be called will be 'lost'? By no means - they will be given the opportunity to learn of all the truths and ways of God and to accept Christ or reject Him in the Millennial Age. Those who accept Christ for the forgiveness of all their sins will be resurrected into spirit beings as childrren of God. Those who refuse to accept Christ despite being given all the truths and understanding will be annihilated in the lake of fire as if they were never born (Malachi 4:1-3). A merciful God will put them out of their misery. So for the large majority, they are neither lost nor saved. They are not yet being judged. Their time will come as the sure Word of God says so. Meanwhile, only God's true saints are being judged (1 Peter 4:17) to qualify them for high office, power and authority. So make your calling and election sure to enter and inherit the kingdom of God (2 Peter 1:10-11)!

The subject of predestination has nothing to do with being saved or lost. It has everything to do with the calling of God for a small group of people to become the sons of God - the firstfruits of salvation (James 1:18). However, many are being called but they failed to qualify because of distractions and the lure of this world (Matthew 13: 18-24). Only those who ultimately overcome will make the grade!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

THE TREE OF LIFE

We know that every person born into this world has had to learn every conceivable piece of knowledge within the span of a lifetime that ultimately forms his/her character and personality. But what about Adam and Eve, the first parents that God created as mature beings at the very onset of life on earth? In all probability, their minds were devoid of any knowledge. So God has to teach them knowledge for them to function as individual beings.

Interestingly, the very first thing recorded in Genesis 2:15-17 is: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Man is made to become the overseer of God's creation - to improve and develop upon it. Following that in verses 16 and 17, God commanded Adam to make a choice - Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day they you eat of it you shall surely die.

From this passage of Scriptures, we can infer that the first piece of knowledge taught to Adam was the TREE of LIFE and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.The tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and evil are probably the crucial knowledge that God would have Adam learnt at the onset, before anything else. As Herbert W. Armstrong wrote, these two trees would form the basic foundation of all knowledge on which human civilization later build upon. In fact, these two trees form the foundational stone of the doctrine of the Bible.

According to Herbert Armstrong, the main trunk of the tree of life is the Spirit of God. On one side of the tree of life are the four main branches which represent the first four of the Ten Commandments and they depict man's love toward God. On the other side are six main branches which represent the next six commandments of the Ten Commandments and they depict man's relationship toward fellow man. From the tree of life will flow the gifts of the Holy Spirit of God which is love, joy, peace,longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23).

If Adam and Eve had not sinned and partake of the tree of life as commanded by God, life inherent in God would have imparted to Adam and Eve and to all generations that follow. The Spirit of God would have flow up from the root of the tree of life to produce true life for man to live it God's way. Had Adam taken of the tree of life instead of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, human civilization would have taken an entirely different course!

However, by partaking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man had rejected God's way and dependence upon Him for all true knowledge. Instead, man would rather choose to make his own decision based on his understanding and worldview of what is good and evil, right and wrong. In other words, man had rejected God and instead, chose the course of self-reliance. Apart from a select few chosen ones who have received the Spirit of God indwelling in them, man had been cut off from the true life source of the Spirit of God. The concomitant result is death. Had Adam and Eve partook of the tree of life, they would have all knowledge and understanding sourced from God. Their human spirit would have been connected with the Spirit of God to become a begotten child (conceived but not yet born) of God, just like a converted Spirit-begotten Christian.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil looks good and attractive on the outside, but within is rotten to the core! From it springs forth the spirit of Satan which is manifested by the works of the flesh like adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness,revelries (Gal 5:19-21). Those who practice such things WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God. Since most of mankind falls prey to the ways of Satan, troubles and problems of this world abound in every society of every generations!

A sound knowledge of the two trees will help to underpin our worldview of Bible prophecies, world events and even human nature. Because of the Fall at the Garden of Eden, due primarily to deception on the part of Eve and disobedience on the part of Adam in partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind and the world at large are in a mess that only the Return of Christ can avert total destruction! The knowledge of good is only man's level best of goodness which falls far short of God's best for mankind. So no matter how much good man tries to reform the system of this world, human nature remains unchanged and it will ultimately end in failure and disappointment. All governments and man made systems, including the financial architecture of this world which is based on greed and fear, unfair weights and deceptions will someday collapse just prior to the Return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is like the Titanic heading towards its prophetic destiny!

Tragically, the best of minds of this world cannot fully understand mankind because they partake from the wrong tree, which is sourced from Satan. And Satan has hidden the truth from them. I learn with disbelief that bright minds from some of the world's most learned universities would spend their life trying to trace man's ancestry back to the apes! The Bible is clear that the spirit in man is what distinguishes man from animals. This spirit in man combines with the human brains are what make man unique with all the fullest potential beyond comparison with any other living species! Yet the wrong premise on the foundation of all knowledge and education have led man going off target researching all in vain.

Today, you can choose to eat from the tree of life instead of eating from the 'tree of death'. The disciples of the Ephesus era were given the promise that to him who overcomes I(God) will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God (Rev 2:7). For the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (Proverbs 11:30). Most of mankind does not know and understand this as it is hidden from them by Satan (Rev 12:9). But he who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son (Rev 21: 7).

The Bible begins with the tree of life that was proferred to man, represented by Adam. It ends with the tree of life on either side of the pure river of life flowing from the throne of God, yielding twelve fruits and with the leaves given for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:1-2). This tree of life is the fountain of the water of life that will flow forth from the New Jerusalem to bring true life, peace and joy, happiness and prosperity to all nations. Those who obey God's commandments shall have the right to the tree of life and to enter the New Jerusalem - the Headquarters of the kingdom of God! (Rev 22:14).

Have you grasped the significance of true and trusted knowledge that only God the Father has revealed? Anything else that is premised on agnosticism and human reasoning comes from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which will ultimately fall flat comes the Day of Reckoning!