The following is a
rewritten chapter from Bittersweet Refinements.
If you would like to read the entire book, from start to finish and in
the proper order, please go [here].
Chapter X
Creative Possibilities
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. [Proverbs 14:12 NIV]
No, it is not the intent of this book, nor that of my own desires, to unfairly demean, embarrass, nor insult anyone in any way, shape or form for whatever they may want to believe is the truth. For it would be to work against what our Heavenly Father wants to accomplish to do so [2 Timothy 2:24-26].
Nonetheless, I cannot imagine why anyone in their right-mind would not want to have full and complete faith in the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ [Romans 1:16]. For in comparison to all of the other ways that are said to provide a viable means of obtaining eternal spiritual life, only the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ offers [1 John 5:12] to pay the price in full that is required to redeem all of us from having to pay for all of our own sins ourselves [Hebrews 10:1-18].
Yes, it is easier said than done. For in order to truly have full and complete faith in the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it must be accepted that we are just plain not good enough to make it into our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom of Heaven on our own [Ephesians 2:8-10], and this goes against everything that we naturally want to believe about ourselves [Jeremiah 17:5-10].
Hence, the significance of being in one’s right-mind [1 Corinthians 12:3]. For it is written: The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. [1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV]
Tragically, not everyone in the Christian community have full and complete faith in the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For it has been widely taught that we must also earn our keep through the doing of various things [1 Timothy 4:1-3], which naturally makes a lot of sense since this is the way of this world [2 Corinthians 11:3-4].
Alas, does that not make religions that teach reincarnation all the more attractive? For reincarnation promises many lives to get things right instead of just one [Hebrews 9:27].
Oh yes, it is a tempting thought. For there is much about my life that I am deeply ashamed of, and I would want to change some things if given an opportunity to do so. There are also many very good times (naturally-speaking) that I would not mind living all over again, of course.
However, that is not the way it is supposed to work—is it? For there is rarely any memory of past lives, and certainly no guarantee of being placed in the same circumstances (let alone with the same people) as before. So, I cannot imagine why anyone in their right-mind would want spend much time thinking about the possibilities of doing anything all over again [Isaiah 45:9-10] when no judgment awaits them [Hebrews 9:28], and a world beyond wonder does [Romans 8:18].
Sadly, little of that holds much appeal for a growing number of this world’s population. In fact, it is infuriating to some. For they insist that our time would be better spent on searching for ways to improve and extend the lives that we now have instead of pursuing what cannot be confirmed (in their opinion).
Talk about taking “seeing is believing” plumb seriously. For their argument is based upon a lack of empirical evidence, and it extends all the way back to the very beginning of this world.
In other words, they demand scientific proof, which is proof that can be tested, and unless our Heavenly Father cooperates, no such proof will ever be found. For it is written: By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. [Hebrews 11:3 NAS]
No, this is not to say that He will eventually concede to their demands, but if He was willing to provide the Apostle Thomas [John 20:24-28] with the proof that he needed, would He not also go way above and beyond all reasonable expectations for everyone else? For it is written: For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! [Ezekiel 18:32 NIV]
Therefore, let us not make it harder for the lost and confused to fully accept what our Heavenly Father actually says is absolutely true, and the promotion of such things as the teaching of intelligent design in our public school is not helping. For it seeks to employ natural means to explain what can only be spiritually discerned [1 Corinthians 2:6-16].
No, this is not to deny the sincerity of their efforts, but the absolute truth of the matter truly is that proponents of intelligent design are as deceived as the proponents of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. For who is so blind as the one who does not want to see [Psalms 14:1]?
Be assured that science poses no threat to our Heavenly Father. For what it is really doing is “discovering” what He has done and is still doing, and no one will be able to honestly say that they did not understand everything that He wanted them to [Romans 1:18-20], come Judgment Day [Revelation 20:11-15], despite being taught that our earliest ancestors were amoebas swimming around in a primordial ooze [Jeremiah 32:27].
Speaking of science, there is another creative possibility that needs to be addressed—even though many will insist that it is really nothing more than science fiction. For there are some who want to believe that we are the descendants of colonists from a galaxy far, far away.
To be honest, I would like to believe that some of the alleged sightings of UFOs may have been a few distant cousins coming by for a look. For I find the idea of there being other worlds not so unlike our own absolutely fascinating.
Nothing has been revealed to me about such, however. For when I have asked our Heavenly Father about it, the only answer I have received is that whatever He may be doing somewhere else has nothing to do with the plans that He has made for us of this world [John 21:18-25].
Yes, it could be argued that the Lord God Almighty would never say such a thing. For it is written: And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. [Genesis 3:20 KJV]
The trouble with that line of reasoning, however, is that Eve is obviously not the mother of angels—not to mention plants and animals. Therefore, it must be that she is given credit for being the mother of all of mankind, and that leaves the door wide open for other possibilities.
Yes, it could also be argued that mankind being created in our Heavenly Father’s image [Genesis 1:27] narrows down the possibilities considerably, but let us not ignore what the Apostle John saw in our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom of Heaven. For it is written: Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.” [Revelation 4:5-8 NAS]
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