Does what we witnessed on September 11th or the suffering and death that we witness everyday in the world around us raise questions as to the 'goodness' of God and/or his power to bring his purposes to fruition? Do the things that happen to every kind of person--diseases, plagues, accidents, loss of job, family tragedies, airplane crashes, fires, earthquakes, floods, etc., etc., etc. lead us to think of God as Satan suggested to Eve in the Garden of Eden? Satan proposed the idea that God is a liar ('you will not die'), that the character of God is neither holy or benevolent, and that God does not control what happens in this world and in eternity.

There is nothing imaginary about what we experience in our lives and what we see around us. The world that we see really is full of suffering, sickness and death. The reality of suffering and death is not in question. Pain hurts. Extreme pain hurts terribly. Death ends earthly existence and brings about a heart-rending separation of loved ones.

We will come back to a further discussion of the miserable circumstances of life on earth later in this meditation when we look at the conditions, the 'laws', that God said would apply to this segment of his history and how the circumstances which are 'normal' in this segment of God's history will not exist in the next stage of God's plan, the stage that 'begins' after physical death and lasts forever. In the meantime we must hold the thought that while what we see or hear of in the world around us is real yet it is not the pattern to which reality will forever conform; what we see is not the whole story.

The only difference is that believers know that what happens in the segment of God's history that everybody on earth is living in is not the whole story. And they know that they have a glorious destiny beyond physical death. Believers know that what they experience and see around them is not evidence from which we can determine what God must be--his character, his holiness, his power. It is this truth, this thought, that is the conclusion that the rest of this meditation is designed to leave with its readers.

When I look at the God who reveals himself in the Bible, when I see the 'size' of God, how important do the events in my life or those that I see everywhere in the world around me appear to be? Are they important enough to even be recorded? God says: "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. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." (Isaiah 46:10-11) And again, "Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No-one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?" (Isaiah 43:13) In the Bible I hear hints about the 'size' of God--the maker of the total drama. "In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands." (Psalms 102:25; quoted in the New Testament-Hebrews 1:10)

Think about who/what the Lord is.

• "The LORD works out everything for his own ends--even the wicked for a day of disaster." (Proverbs 16:4)
  
  
• "The plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalms 33:11)
  
  
• "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." (Isaiah 40:26)
  
  
• "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?... Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust...Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing." (Isaiah 40:12, 15, 17)
  
  
• "The heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But [says the Lord] my salvation will last for ever, my righteousness will never fail." (Isaiah 51:6)
  
  
• "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No-one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35)
  
  
• "No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you." (Jeremiah 10:6-7)

In the New Testament the emphasis is on the second person in the Godhead or Triune God--Jesus Christ. The same awesome descriptions that are used to set forth the magnitude of God's power and role in the Old Testament are used describe the magnitude of Jesus' power and role. Referring to Jesus the Bible says--"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16-17)

The same truth is set forth in the book of Hebrews. "In these last days he [God the Father] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins [a reference to Christ's work on the cross], he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." (Hebrews 1:2)

This truth has everything to do with the salvation God purposed for whoever believes in him. The Bible says, "In him [Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:11)

The Bible is full of statements that describe the 'size' of God. Here are some more: "For this is what the LORD says--he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited--he says: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.'" (Isaiah 45:18) "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." (Isaiah 46:9,10)

Another truth about God that 'shouts' how great our God and Creator is is the fact that God is so big that he is able to create and control the whole universe (all of them!) and at the same time is able and concerned to take care of each and every one of his own people. What an incredible thought! "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Jesus said, "Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-30)

What we see in our experience and in the world around us is not the whole story. What the 'size' of God says is that what we see going on in our lives and in the world around us is not the most important and 'world-shaking' event. Putting what we see beside what the Bible reveals about God brings this truth before our minds very graphically.

This section which focuses on some of the many statements of God which refer to God's purposes and plan is obviously extremely closely connected with what we have just looked at--the 'size' of God. The many verses which speak of the 'size' of God's plan also bring to our attention how insignificant what we see around us is when seen in the context of God's purposes, objectives and activities.

A process which 'causes' the very real pain-and-death-filled events occurring in my life or in the world around me to seem less important is view them in the light of the enormous size or scale of God's plan. When standing next to a waterfall it seems enormous and makes a deafening sound. Viewed from space you might not even be able to find the waterfall. God's plan is enormous. It includes--the reconciliation of all things--not just me, and not just the human race. "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [that is, Christ], 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." (Colossians 1:19-20)

After Christ accomplished his mission God "seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." (Ephesians 1:20-21; see also Hebrews 1:2)

The apostle Paul declared: "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. / For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. / The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:22,20-21,19)

The apostle Peter spoke of the conditions that will prevail in the segment of God's history that will begin after this 'act' in God's drama that we are living in has come to an end. In Peter's second recorded sermon (after Pentecost), referring to Jesus, he said, "He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." (Acts 3:21) In the apostle's second letter he says, "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you [believers] to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming....But in keeping with his promise we [believers] are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 3:11-12,13)

Yet another fact which puts the enormous scope of God's plan in front of us is the point 'in history' when God's purpose and plan began, and when it will be fulfilled. That which I see around me or in my life is part of a drama which began a long, long, time ago and extends to the 'end' of the drama, that is, to God's judgment and into eternity. God's plan did not begin in my parents' generation or at the time of the civil war or when America was discovered by Columbus. It did not begin in Greece or in Rome or at the time of the most ancient civilization anywhere in the world. It did not begin in those periods of time that anthropology or geology speak of. No. It was created by God before the foundation of the world--and extends beyond earthly history.

Jesus spoke of it when teaching about the final judgment: "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)

The apostle Paul spoke of the time when God's plan 'began'. In the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians those believers and all other believers are told about what God has done for believers: "He chose us in him [Christ]." When did this happen? "Before the creation of the world." That is what God's word says. "He chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--" (Ephesians 1:4-5)

When in God's plan this act of God--the bestowal of salvation upon his people occurred--is stated again in the apostle Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy--"God...who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time." (2 Timothy 1:9)

In the apostle Paul's letter to the congregation at Rome this truth was set before us in these words: "Those he [God] predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:30) All these actions of God God has completed. The verbs are in the past tense. There is more to God's plan than we see in the pinpoint of time in which we happen to be alive on earth. --What a BIG plan of God we are part of!

What is happening in my life now or in the world around me now is not the whole story. What we see now is, as it were, only a 'snapshot' that captures the action in a pinpoint in time. Would we judge a one-of-a-kind book or drama of a million words if we had seen only one letter of one word? Would we judge a one-of-a-kind movie that we only saw only a single frame of that occurred in the middle of the movie? The 'Big picture', God's whole drama began a long, long, time ago and will continue for long, long 'time' after my present body ceases to exist on earth. Putting what I see into the context of God total plan causes me to see that there is more to God's plan than whether human beings are happy or in pain at this fleeting moment in history. Having this knowledge, having, as it were--this view from space, I have a kind of peace regardless of what I see going in my life or in the world around me. (Philippians 4:7) God's words, "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28) are not rendered invalid or untrue by what I see in this fleeting moment of his history.

What looking at the 'size' of God brings to mind is that what we see going on in our lives and in the world around us is not the most important, most momentous, event. [If such a conclusion seems to picture God as a cold, stiff and heartless being think again--think of the actions of Jesus (the 'exact representation of the Father) on earth and see the section below, 'God's Love And Care For Believers Is Forever'.] Putting what we see and experience beside what the Bible reveals about God and his inexorable purposes brings this truth before our minds very graphically.

So far in this meditation we have been drawing conclusions about the significance of what we observe and experience by comparing that knowledge with the scope of the Creator's purposes and acts. The comparison or contrast leads to general conclusions about how the mess that this world is in fits into God's purposes. But the Bible says more than that; it also provides detailed explanations of what is going on in this segment of God's history and its relationship to other segments in God's total 'drama'.

The Bible provides more specific reasons for the present world being as it is. (Earlier in this meditation we said we would be getting back to a further discussion of the mess, the pain that this sin-dominated world is in. This is that discussion.)

The author of the great drama explains what is going on. The author (the Creator) explains why the world that we see is so full of pain, suffering and death. The reason that this is so full of pain, suffering and death is that the world that we see and experience is under a curse that God himself instituted.

God imposed this curse as a judge would pronounce a sentence. Back at the beginning of human history after Adam first 'broke' God's law by eating the 'apple' that Eve had taken, God pronounced sentence to Adam. What did the curse say? "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life" (Genesis 3:17) "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Genesis 3:19)

Sin entered the world. God tells us that "sin entered the world through one man, and death though sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).

One student of God's word summed it up this way: "The curse of God is the expression and operation of God's wrath against sin, manifested in thorn and thistle, in toil and sweat, in the vanity of all things, in all kinds of suffering and sorrow and pain and death."

While this curse was imposed by God as a judgment upon man because of his behavior its effects were in no way limited to mankind. Its effect was much, much broader than that. All of God's creation was affected by it. "For the creation was subjected to frustration not of its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." (Romans 8:21)

Death is 'natural' in this world, in this segment of God's history. To see 'death and decay all around'; to see a world in which there is blood everywhere--'red of tooth and claw' is to see a basic truth of life on earth in this segment of God's history. But it was not that way in the beginning nor will it be a part of the 'everlasting' (post-death) segment of God's history.

An important fact about this curse is that while its effects currently extend to all of God's creation and thus dominates the segment of God's history we are living in it will not last forever. The Bible says so. Much of the remainder of this meditation is devoted to showing that the Bible says so. There will come a time in the drama God created when the curse will cease to be in operation.

Some of the many verses that speak of the eternal stage and thus show that the present stage of God's drama in which the effects of the curse are everywhere will not last forever are included in the following major section, ' The Gospel Speaks Of An Existence That Goes Beyond The Present'.

The Gospel Speaks Of An Existence That Goes Beyond The Present

The Gospel speaks of a drama that is bigger than the present. The gospel is based on the knowledge that life does not end when the physical body dies.

While everybody who is physically in this world is subject to the same 'under the curse' conditions that are in effect for this period of time --toil, sweat, sickness and physical death ('returning to the dust'--Genesis 3:19) the Bible indicates that believers will not live in these conditions forever (because God did not plan it so).

This ending of the 'cursed' segment of God's history in which death is the end of the physical body does not just come about like a car coming to a stop when it runs out of fuel. The ending of this cursed stage in God's history comes about because that was part of God's purpose and design from the beginning. To bring about that purpose God entered the world of time and human history. That is what the gospel announces.

It was the overcoming of the curse of eternal death that was the goal of Christ's mission. It was the overcoming of the "wages of sin" which is death (Romans 6:23) that was the reason God the Father sent Jesus the Son into this world to sacrifice his life. (John 3:36; 5:24)

It was not God's intention that believers would spend their entire existence in this world of darkness, of suffering and death. From the beginning God purposed to call believers out of this (cursed-abnormal) world. Jesus said to his disciples, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." (John 15:19). The apostle Peter in his 1st letter addressed to "God's elect, strangers in the world." he told them, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God....Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world..." (1 Peter 2:9,10,11).

To deliver us from this cursed world was the reason that Jesus the Christ was sent into this world. And it was deliverance from this world that Jesus' sacrificial substitutionary death accomplished for believers. "[Christ] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." (Galatians 1:4) Frequently in the New Testament this world is referred to as the dominion of sin, and the deliverance that believers benefited from is from the power of sin. God's purpose for believers is to make us holy and blameless--forever. (Ephesians 1:4)  

"He [God the Father] has rescued us from dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." (Colossians 1:13)

Another way in which the Bible gives expression to the position believers are in is this--"Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Philippians 3:20-21)

"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory....The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.'" (1 Corinthians 15:54, 56-57) "This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 0 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:9-10)

The Bible clearly tells us that there will come a 'time' when the conditions or laws that are in effect in this period of God's history will cease to 'rule'. "Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Romans 8:21) "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9)

There will come a 'time' when there will be no more curse. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4)

And again, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life...., No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 22:1-2,3-5; See also Acts 3:21)

It is entitlement to this heavenly stage of existence (that last forever) that is the inheritance that has been bestowed on believers. Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished at the cross believers are heirs to "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:4) Our inheritance is not here. This is not our real home. Because of what God has done in Christ this world is no longer the believer's permanent home. The New Testament puts it this way as it described the circumstances and the behavior of God's faithful people in Old Testament times--saints whose behavior and attitudes should characterize the behavior and attitudes of New Testament saints. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth....they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Hebrews 11:13,16)

"By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men....That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we [who are believers] are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:7,12-13)

Jesus spoke of this truth, this same glorious destiny beyond death for believers when he taught his disciples. "'I tell you the truth,' Jesus replied, 'no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.'" (Mark 10:29-30) And again, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." And again when Jesus was stating the significance of belief in himself, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26) What did God send his Son Jesus into the world to bring about? Life beyond death. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live." (John 5:24-25) 

That is the gospel.

Over and over again the gospel makes the point that there is a future state, a segment of God's history which lies beyond the death of the body. What we see with our physical eyes in our experience and in the world around us is not the whole story (or even the most important part--which it lasts forever).

God's love and care for his own 'began' in eternity past and will continue forever. God's love and care for his own never was limited to this world which is passing away. Neither suffering nor death are evidence that God is unable to care for believers and unable to bring about his eternal purposes for them.

When we recall the 'size' of God and of his plan we already know that physical death cannot be an obstacle or end to God's purposes.

Nothing thwarts God's purposes. And that includes what the world calls 'chance'. And it includes physical death. There are no oversights, no unplanned happenings. Nothing just happens. Nothing happens by chance. Not just some things, but everything--even death--plays a predetermined and limited role within the 'drama' God created. Death is not an 'invincible' part of reality that brings an end to everything.

• "He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ,..." (Ephesians 1:4-5)
  
  
• "He will swallow up death for ever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 25:8)
  
  
• Believers will enjoy the benefits that the citizens of God's kingdom are entitled to: "He will wipe every tear from eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4)
  
  

If there were no eternal state beyond the death of the body all God's purposes for believers, purposes that God had since before the foundation of the world, would be meaningless.

For believers trials and testing are not punishments but means of refining, of purifying. They are among the means Holy God uses to qualify us to be in his presence. "The crucible [is] for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart." (Proverbs 17:3) God says, "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10; see also Job 23:10) In the New Testament the Bible informs us believers of God's attitude toward us--"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Hebrews 12:10) The apostle Paul expresses the truth in these words: "When we [believers] are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world." (1 Corinthians 11:32)

In the apostle Peter's letter addressed to believers he tells them--"though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7) The apostle Paul's letter to the congregation of believers at Thessalonica describes how this is part of God's means of making his people stronger in the faith. (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5; see also John 16:33; Acts 14:22)

Never are the people for whom Christ died as the English expression goes, 'at the mercy of the elements', at the mercy of 'chance', at the mercy of uncontrolled circumstances. Never. No, Never. To think such a thought is to believe that God (if he even exists) is a liar, that his promises and predictions are lies as Satan suggested. (Genesis 3:4) And that is a terrible sin--against God.

Because God is too great so is his love too great or deep not to accomplish his eternal purposes. "My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:8-9,11; see also references in sections on the 'size of God and his plan, above)

In Jesus' teachings to his disciples this special care of God for his people is set before us. Often Jesus sought to comfort his disciples by reminding them of the fact that while this world is God's world, God has a special concern for his people--believers. "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even [king] Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ....Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:27-28,32) In the gospel according to Matthew God's special concern is revealed in other words. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31)

God went to extreme lengths to demonstrate his never-ending love for his people. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It was to redeem believers, to take the punishment of death that they deserved that Jesus the Christ was sent into the world of time and history. To bring this about God made his own Son (Jesus the Christ) to be sin. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21; see also Romans 8:3) Perhaps it is easier to understand the way this truth is set forth in the Old Testament. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6)

"Jesus Christ...gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14) "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

It was for the benefit of believers that the death of Christ on the Cross was designed. God, as it were, set up a 'trust fund' or inheritance (eternal life with eternal blessings) to benefit those individuals who possessed the necessary qualification, the qualification God said was essential. And what qualification was that?--that they were believers. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes....if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:4,9)

God did not do this for all of his creation, not even for his angels. (Hebrews 2:16-17) It is the human descendants of Abraham who believe (trust in the person and work of God) who are objects of God's special love and concern. (Galatians 3:6-7,9) Speaking of Jesus the Bible says, "He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." (1 Peter 1:20)

What does the Bible say? "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) What are we saying about God? Is it respect for God we are showing when we doubt his purposes or ability? Are we not thinking ill of him to believe he doesn't care about us or is unable to look out for us? What foul scum of the earth, what renegade, what sin-infested mutineer who depends on God's gifts to eat and breathe has the nerve to doubt God's intention and power to carry it out?

To doubt God's intention and power is anything but a harmless thought. To think or speak such a thought is what the Bible calls blasphemy. And is there a greater sin?

God's care and protection is eternal.

"We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:7-10; see also 2 Peter 3:10-13)

What does God's own word say?--that we who believe "are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:4-5,13; See also 2 Kings 6:17; Psalm 91:14-16) The apostle Paul expressed this truth this way: "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

How essential or integral to the Christian Faith is the belief in the 'post physical death' state is expressed very bluntly by the apostle Paul. He says to believers, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." (1 Corinthians 15:19) "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15.16-17) What 'good news' could the gospel be (which is what the Greek term translated as 'gospel' means) if it does not include the overcoming of death or the 'grim reaper' as a common English idiom expresses it?

What we see as 'reality' today is not the way God created it--or the way it will forever be in the future. Who are we who are alive for but a moment, who depend upon oxygen, water, food and a properly functioning body which we didn't create to make pompous declarations about the nature of reality and the nature of a god who would make such a reality? Who are we to assert as fact that death is the end of existence, that there is no judgment, that there is no eternal state, that what we see in our lives or in the world around us would not be as awful as it is if god were a loving and all-powerful god?

The God of the Bible, the Creator of all that is is not surprised by what occurs in this world. He is not surprised that what occurs in the particular part his 'production' we are living in is not the same as what happened at the beginning or what happens in the everlasting conclusion. God is no more surprised or shocked by what is going on in the world than an author of a play is surprised at what takes place in different acts or scenes that are part of the play he created.

What our physical eyes and the scientific instruments that use them tells us is 'reality' says nothing about the goodness, the holiness or the power of God any more than a messy room that a painter is in the midst of painting is evidence of that he is a poor workman. Drawing conclusions about God from what the physical eye sees in experience and in the world rather than from what God's word tells us is to commit a terrible sin against God. When the Bible says, "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28) the 'good' spoken of will not be totally understood or experienced in this a-typical (cursed) segment of God's history. (1 Corinthians 13:10,12; Romans 11:33)

Because believers have the benefit of God's perspective (to some extent) the condition of the world is (or should be) no surprise them.

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 Copyright 2002 Cameron F. Paine Usage Encouraged