To set the stage for this revelation we first need to dispel a few myths and discern a few principles. Our doubts are doorways to deeper understanding.
Myth 1: Love is based only on feeling
Throughout history, the vast majority of social, political, and religious entities have deceptively limited love to an emotional state, attachment, or feeling of intense desire. You have even heard ambiguous phrases like “Love means different things to different people.” These deliberate fallacies were introduced to mislead, misrepresent and shroud the guiding principle behind God’s kingdom.
This confusion is the hallmark of a Satanic agenda that has been systematically executed both knowingly and unknowingly by these entities since the fall of man.
What then, is the guiding principle behind God’s kingdom?
Love is both a feeling and a principle
The pinnacle of love is the type of love that God displays toward us. God’s strong affection for man is accompanied by the fact that he puts our interests, above his own. This other-centred action combines both emotional attachment and placing someone else’s best interest above your own. It is self-sacrificing or agape love.
For the fallen human, this is difficult to emulate. The closest we may come is a parent’s love for a child, or what the Greeks defined as storge love or familial love. This love may or may not be self-sacrificing depending on the parent or family member. Another obvious limitation here is that this love is only demonstrated from one family member to another, whereas God demonstrates his agape love for every member of the human race, past present, and future.
For fallen humans, love can occur with or without emotional attachment
As fallen human beings, it is hard to fathom the pinnacle of love. While it is possible to seek the best interest of people we are emotionally attached to, it is often not above our own interests.
We may also seek someone else’s best interest and not be emotionally attached to them. Eg. Helping a stranger. Therefore it is possible for humans to seek another person’s best interest with or without emotional attachment.
How we are able to achieve the latter, is based on core values or principles outlined by God in his 10 commandments. These 10 commandments or fundamental truths of treating each other and relating to God, serve as the foundation for a system of beliefs and behaviours.
This system, introduced by God at Mt. Sinai, follows a specific chain of reasoning whereby we treat others as we would treat ourselves, whilst honouring and respecting our creator.
We fallen humans can embody these 10 principles set forth by God. and in doing so we adhere to the system of love with or without emotional attachments.
When we allow these commandments or principles of love to guide our daily lives and interactions, we slowly encounter what God’s love means to us and the ways we can choose to return that love both to him and our fellow man.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments” – John 14:15
Love for God
Love for God is realized when we acknowledge two things:
1) God not only delights in our existence but we are also the object of God’s unlimited affection. He has a warm emotional attachment to us. He is delighted when we are uplifted, happy, and fulfilling our true potential.
2) We recognize his other-centredness toward us, which means God puts our interests above his own, to the point that he allowed himself to be tortured and die for us. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
As a result of God displaying this to us, we can now have a genuine desire to keep his covenantal principles in appreciation of the fact that he wants what’s best for us. He has never forced us to obey him and made us capable of independent thought, choice, and volition. He made us in his image. Genesis 1:27
By making us in his image we are now able to grasp that concept of other-centredness, that he first displayed to us. We are able to use our free will and free moral volition to choose to return these feelings of warm affection and attachment. We praise and glorify him who put us first.
“We love Him, because He loved us first.” – 1 John 4:19
Love for Man
When a person, capable of autonomous, intelligent thought and action, makes a decision to seek someone else’s best interest, this is called love. Love, therefore, is a volitional choice made to think and act in the best interest of persons other than yourself. As mentioned earlier, this may or may not be accompanied by an emotional attachment.
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” – 1 John 4:7
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. “– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Myth 2: Love can be forced
Even the omnipotent and omniscient creator of all things cannot force love; a principle he created that requires free will and freedom.
When a person acknowledges his/her own needs and interests while simultaneously recognizing the needs of others and their interests, they are faced with a choice. Can I fulfill my needs and also help others do the same? Or is it easier and quicker to fulfill my needs and interests at the expense of others?
Taking this a step further, the intelligent autonomous free-willed individual may ask: After my needs are fulfilled, what about my other interests? Maybe I should focus on myself and then I will think about the world outside of myself.
Love is a decision
In contrast, this individual may decide to simultaneously seek his/her best interest and those of anyone he/she comes into contact with. In this way, a person tries to treat others the way he/she would like to be treated. Individuals who operate along these principles are operating by God’s system of love.
When this becomes a habit, these people may also find themselves finding joy in seeing others fulfill their needs and interests; a concept that was first shown and exemplified by God who walked with man.
Regardless of the options, a decision on how to conduct yourself and how to act toward your fellow man must be made. This is the freedom and free will afforded to us by God, who made us in his image.
Creating beings with free will was always going to be risky
This freedom and the ability to choose how we live introduces an element of risk. We now have the ability to accept or reject this system of love God created.
God first exposed man to his divine system and way of thinking when he walked with him at creation. Here man saw love as the ability to look outside of themselves and their own existence to cater to the needs of others.
Free Moral Agents vs. Robots and Slaves
This divine system of love as a principle of how to act, sees free moral agents capable of making their own decisions and choices when presented with information, circumstances, and situations. If we were anything else we would be slaves or robots.
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” – Galatians 5:13
A robot makes a choice based on its programming or machine learning architecture, which at its core, represents the choices of its programmer or external data assimilations.
A slave can make a choice, based on coercion and not his own volition or free will. So his behavior can be forced, but his ability to rationalize the choice to act in another person’s best interest without being compelled is something that requires freedom.
In both instances, genuine choice does not occur because the will represented here is not their own.
We were created to govern like God
God created man to have his own will, which includes his ability for autonomous thought, and the ability to rationalize, create and govern. He created man with the intention of walking side by side with him as a co-regent or co-ruler. For the heavens were the Lords but the earth he gave to man. Genesis 1:26-27
He walked with man, exuding and exemplifying the very pinnacle of the principle of love. In teaching man this love through word and example, he demonstrated the governing and sustainable concept by which all of the heavens and the earth should abide.
Love as a system of governance
Love as a governing and operating system for all intelligent living things describes the ability to serve others’ needs in addition to your own. The pinnacle of this is the ability to place others’ needs above your own, as Christ did.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:12-13
When every intelligent living being, humans, angels, and those that are not yet known to us, operate within this volitional principle, it creates sustainability devoid of sin. Sin is any departure from the system of love.
In love, we build a system by which all needs and interests are not just fulfilled but exceeded. A system in which concepts, like greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride do not exist. We are able to exist in a world without sin and without evil as God intended it.
God creates self-sustaining, self-governing perfect systems that operate through love.
God does not change, nor does his word which speaks everything into existence in a flawless way. His word is final with no need to recant. “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” – 1 Peter 1:25
When he told man dominion of earth is yours in Genesis 1:26-28 and you will rule over it naming every animal, tree, and place; this was a permanent declaration. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” – Isaiah 40:8
God created a space (earth) and free-thinking, free-willed beings (man) to occupy it. He then gave man dominion over this earth and its creatures to do as he pleases. “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” – Psalm 115:16
God created a system in which every man is responsible for each other and responsible for every living creature that abides on the earth. “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, [a]how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” – 1 John 4:20-21
God does not micro-manage. Instead, he gives all his created beings a sense of purpose so that they may be fulfilled in their works and filled with the joy of creation like God himself. Thus man’s dominion of the earth represented a self-sustaining, self-governing system that was meant to operate via the principle of love.
Man rejected the principle of love
Having walked with man after his creation, and exposing him to his system of love, exemplified by his actions; God also warned of this alternative system. He warned of the consequences of this system that existed in Genesis 3:3.
He reasoned with man that not living in love will set in motion a cycle of death not of his will but as a natural repercussion of their choices.
But in the end, man was free to choose, for the Lord thy God is not a tyrant.
The Fall of Man
Man, in his free will, chose not to operate via the principle of love and succumbed to his own pride and motivations of self-interest. He was exposed to another system of governance outside of love, another mantra of existence, and was deceived into thinking this alternative system was better.
He was persuaded it was better, by a foreign entity in rebellion to God’s system.
In an encounter at the Tree of Life, Lucifer convinced man to accept his alternative system. Thus began the fall. And God said to Adam:
“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.” – Genesis 3:17
This is the risk that our ancestors Adam and Eve took rejecting God’s system or love, and the consequences of their choice set in motion a chain of events that result in our current but temporary predicament.
God knows all possible outcomes and hopes we choose the best one
God knew this outcome was possible, and had set in motion a plan to redeem man without compromising his free will, even before his fall.
Our Father in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ knows all possible outcomes to all possible situations, yet hopes that we choose the best one.
While knowing the fall of man to be a possibility he still hoped that we would choose against the system of pride and instead choose the system of love.
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” – Ephesians 1:4
Had he been a prideful, tyrant of a God we would be afforded no choices, no will of our own but forced to submit to his will or be wiped out of existence as a natural repercussion for rebellion against the system of love.
In this plan to redeem man, without compromising his free will, God allows us through natural processes or processes familiar to us, to come to our own understanding and draw our own conclusions that his system of love is the only sustainable system by which we should live and thrive.
He would help us navigate this sin and this evil without interfering with our free will and volitional choices.
The Alternative System
As mentioned earlier any departure or withdrawal from the system of love that God created, represents sin.
In this space God created for man called Earth, there existed another group of created beings who were in rebellion against God. These fallen angels were led by Lucifer, a “covering cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14-16) so close to God that he desired to be God.
In his pride, Lucifer proposed an alternative system whereby intelligent beings should not live in brotherhood but seek their own best interest 100 percent of the time.
Those with power should use it to obtain more power and fulfill their own best interests and desires.
He argued that if God created free moral agents, then if he truly loved us, he should be happy with whatever choice we made. For it is he that created us with the ability to choose.
This was just a guise, however, for his real plan was to become a God himself and exert his power over all of creation. He was so persuasive that he convinced one-third of heaven’s angels that his system and logic were correct, thus the rebellion began.
Crushing any rebellion using force, directly negates free will
With a word, God could have crushed this rebellion, but that would be contradictory to everything he had worked to achieve in his creation of free-willed, autonomous beings. Instantly crushing this rebellion means that God who created beings that act of their own volition, destroys those that do not act in accordance with his will or system. He would induce a fear-based system of slavery by doing this.
To any onlookers and independent observers, it would appear that free will is an illusion, that despite their independent thoughts and actions it will always default to God enforcing his will over all of creation. We would exist in fear, not freedom.
Instead, God who knows all possible outcomes does not force beings into submission, nor does he shock people with his superiority. Displays of power over others can inspire awe but also fright, intimidation, and reclusion.
Earth as the Celestial Spotlight
Now that man has chosen the alternative system and the events and ramifications of such a choice unfold, angels, humans, and other created beings look on. They look to see the consequences of sin.
All other created beings look on at this chain of events to see exactly how this conflict is resolved and if God’s way is really the only way.
Earth becomes a looking glass, whereby not only humans observe what a departure from God’s system of love looks like, but angels and beings from other worlds as well. Because God is a God of creation. Isaiah 45:12
” He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” – Psalm 147:4-5.
Man was created in God’s image and likeness and we are afforded the privilege of providing the ultimate testimony to affirm or dispute God’s character and ways.
This is why although suffering was never God’s intention, he allows it as it is a direct result of our ability to make independent decisions, create and govern ourselves. We will show all of creation the beauty of God’s way or we will show them the distress and trepidation that lies behind alternative ways and systems.
Only we who are closest to him are able to reflect or reject his will.
Why doesn’t God just eradicate evil and suffering?
God is going to eradicate all suffering and all evil! However, he is not going to do this through force, because then it can occur again. If living, created beings continue to have free will, they can choose to rebel against God’s system and plan at any time in the future.
There must be no doubt in the hearts and minds of us who are created, the angels who are created, and the other created beings, that God’s system of love and its principles are the only way to a sustainable, prosperous, and harmonious future.
We must bear witness to the countless failed empires and systems of earth that rely on the subjugation of others through power. We must account for the failed systems of governance that have bred strife, corruption, and disdain among men.
Every single worldly system throughout history, without exception, relies on the use of force to affirm what they think is morally acceptable.
Regardless of the time period, regardless of the nation, regardless of that rebellion in heaven; all systems and religions contrary to God’s system of love have resulted in suffering and inequity.
To truly eradicate suffering and evil, created beings must see the consequences of sin and choose the opposite which is love. This choice cannot be forced or programmed for a genuine decision to occur. The choice requires free will. And as we have seen, God creating beings with free will and autonomy of action always runs the risk of these beings choosing either love or sin.
When this allotted time quote of man being exposed to the alternative system, has passed, only beings that choose love will remain, their presence will be everlasting at the side of God.
Our Suffering is Temporary
For such is the pain caused to man, such is his suffering that God can only bear to allow it for a limited time. His plan to redeem us and restore us to our rightful place as co-regents without turning us into mindless zombies, without eradicating our free will and choices, is a long and complex one. (1 Corinthians 3:9)
This plan required perfect execution taking into consideration the nuances of man’s continued pervasive choices.
This plan could only be carried out by God in person, born into this alternative system to defeat it and expose it for what it really was. People often wonder why Jesus referred to himself as both the son of man and the son of God. He used them interchangeably because he was both.
This plan was Jesus. The living, sacrificial embodiment of love, whose life set the ultimate example of how true love should look while immersed in a world of lies, sin, and suffering. For like us, Jesus himself suffered as a result of our prideful choices.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
In order to chart a course for the redemption of the fallen man, back to the original system of love, Jesus Christ, the son of God, had to also become the son of man. In this way, he would provide the sacrifice, rescue, mercy, example, and grace necessary to steer our choices back to the ones of the original system of love. (hyperlink to 10 commandments article). He is now simultaneously the son of God and the son of man.
How Suffering works
Suffering, which refers to the experience of bad, unpleasant, and painful things, occurs as a result of both our individual and collective sin. In other words, we experience negative events and outcomes because of our choices both at an individual and societal level.
Because we were meant to live as a family unit, the actions of our brothers and sisters affect us as well, and it has a compounded net effect.
If we were to live in love, the compounded net effect is one in which the positive outcomes and situations experienced by every person on earth are amplified and keep getting amplified exponentially. The result is a state of continuous happiness and pleasure, which is elevated even higher when we bask in the love of God.
If the converse is true however, and human beings choose the opposite of love which is sin, the negative outcomes and situations experienced by every person in the world are amplified and keep getting exponentially worse, because of the selfish choices that we make and those around us make.
Man, who was originally intended to live as a family unit, taking care of each other’s needs and interests, now destabilize and damage each other’s best interests. We sin against each other, aided by Lucifer and his fallen angels and this is how suffering exists.
We suffer in two major ways
Suffering, which is not of God, occurs in two major ways:
1) through our own Individual Sin;
2) through our Communal Cumulative Sin.
Selfish and prideful actions, both individually and at a societal, national, global, and even historical level, create a complex and intricate system of undesirable outcomes, that span generations.
These actions when repeated, result in an infinite web of adverse potential instances that can impact all humans or any human in the space in which we exist. The direct or indirect effects of these adverse potential instances are not constrained by geographical regions or demographics.
Global suffering then occurs as a result of our own prideful ambitions. We seek our own best interest or our immediate families’ best interest, but usually at the expense of others. The systems of the world are designed around competition, we encourage competition.
Competition is not of God
Competition is contradictory to love, when we compete, we seek to elevate ourselves above each other for some reward. Even the concept of healthy competition gives the winner, a reinforced sense of pride. In competing we always secure our best interest over another person or entity’s best interest.
A quick and relatable aspect of this is wanting a job promotion at work. We would always prefer to get this promotion ourselves or ensure that a family member gets it. Is there ever an instance where we view another person’s best interest above our own like Christ or pray for the best possible outcome for all parties?
From the fall of man to the first civilization, all up to the arrival and ministry of Christ, we were taught to elevate our own interests above anyone else’s.
We do not love each other as we love ourselves. Quite frankly this is extremely hard to do given the fallen world we live in and the suffering each of us has already experienced. This makes accepting pride as a mantra much easier than empathy.
Pride refers to the pleasure we get in pursuing our own interests and elevating our sense of self at the expense of others. This is exactly, akin to the pride that Satan and his fallen angels exude in their alternative system. Pride also refers to taking the glory that is meant for God and trying to attribute it to ourselves.
What is Sin?
Sin represents the withdrawal or deviation from any principle of love. The cascading effect of our cumulative and generational sins directly results in an infinite network of negative choices and outcomes that impact all humans throughout the course of our lives.
It is through us being charged with taking care of the earth and our volitional choices to the contrary that we suffer through sin. Through carefully managed systems of influence, Satan has appealed to our prideful fallen nature: the part of us that is most like him.
Individual Sin
To satisfy our own interests, seek our own pleasure, or elevate our current status, humans will take from their brother and sister. In doing so we compromise their ability to meet their needs or fulfill their interests.
It is through pride that humans rape, kill, molest, steal, bear false witness, amass obscene amounts of wealth, and dishonour their fellow man. It is through this pursuit of our own interests and pleasure that Satan gains access to us through his alternative system. Our minds and our lives are readily opened to the words, principles and influence of the fallen angels that rebelled against God in heaven.It is through sin that we give access to the devil. It is through sin that we give access to demons.
Cumulative Sin
But what about when bad things happen to good people? This is the effect of cumulative sin. Because humans were meant to cohabitate and live communally in love, the actions of other humans will affect you, when they rebel against the system of love. The sinful choices of those around you, the actions of generations before you, and the actions of the nations that surround you have compounded net effects as mentioned earlier.
Sometimes it may seem like our actions and posture toward our fellow man bears no direct consequence and the effects may be indirect at best. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no human or worldly system capable of measuring the impact of the infinite negative outcomes spurred as a consequence of global selfish actions.
Humans make trillions of sinful choices every minute of every day that result in direct and indirect negative impacts on their fellow men. Each choice spawns a series of related events and subsequent choices, which are infinitesimal in nature.
What may seem like random bad luck or random painful circumstance is really the result of the accruing effect of the selfish sinful actions and choices of humans past and present. Some may even be directly related to you.
Once a choice is made to operate against the principles of love, sin enters the world and starts to impact one human or all humans.
The Impact of Generational Sin
Sinful choices that occur in the present, are not the only ones we are impacted by. The choices of our ancestors, corrupt world leaders, world systems, and religions throughout history have also compromised us. “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” – Numbers 14:18
Industrial revolutions, slavery, famine, plagues, nuclear wars, using unclean animals for food, radiation poisoning, and a host of other satanically-guided sinful circumstances have damaged both our genetics and the environment in which we live. Since the fall of man, the earth that supports all life has been continually damaged and polluted creating a ripple effect.
For man treats the earth as he would treat his brothers and sisters, taking from it to fulfill his own interests and desires. As a direct consequence, the gene pool of the earth’s successive inhabitants will also be contaminated, because we rely on our planet to support our biological life, not the other way around.
Additionally, toxins, chemicals, and other harmful substances have been introduced systematically and sophisticatedly by various organizations that seek financial gain and elevation. These also contribute to this genetic pollution and DNA transfiguration.
Generational Sin Damages our Genetics and causes Deformity and Disease
The increased risks of genomic instability and the mutations that occur as a result of this historical and generational sin and abuse are responsible for the deformities in the bodies of man that we experience today.
Damage to the brain structure, hormonal compositions and the complex architecture that is the human body have resulted in disease and strife that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Some defects are very overt and physically observable like a cleft lip, or improperly formed limbs and organs, and others are not immediately or outwardly visible. Eg. The brain of a psychopath is shown to function differently. Alcoholism is sometimes an inherited condition.
There are also millions of documented cases of hormonal imbalances or deficiencies that contribute to a person’s development and sometimes are catalyzed by their choices and even lifestyle choices.
All of this suffering occurs as a result of the sinful choices of individuals that came before, who chose not to live in love. This results in a cumulative and compounded effect of sin.
What we mistake as random acts of fate are attributable directly to our brothers and sisters that have not sought our best interest now and in the past. They instead succumbed to the temptation and myopia of seeking their own best interest.
In our suffering, God did not leave us unprotected
We are active recipients of God’s affection
God views every single man and woman as his child. Regardless of your religious affiliation and sinful rebellion; to him, we are all his children and it is not his wish that any man suffer or that any man perish (2 Peter 3:9).
Imagine yourself in a position where one of your children wronged the other. The pain it will cause will not circumvent the love you have for them. So in other words, “God is navigating the evil that exists because of our mismanaged freedom.” – Ty Gibson
After Christ’s intervention, revelation, and saving grace, he departed to heaven to make a place for us (John 14:3). Having redeemed mankind and ensured that whosoever believes and walks in his example, shall have everlasting life, Christ still did not leave us unprotected.
The Holy Spirit is Christ’s Representative on Earth
Although he knew that our suffering is temporary and incomparable to the joy and pleasures associated with everlasting life; Christ still did not leave us to fend for ourselves. He left us the comforter, the Holy Spirit that dwells in every follower and believer of Christ.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” – John 14:26
In a world of suffering, the Comforter, the Helper, the Holy Spirt/Ghost as he is often referred to, allows us to directly interface with Christ. Jesus himself comes to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our direct connection to Heaven. The voice, teachings, and guidance of the Holy Spirit speak louder and clearer the more we reject sin and accept love.
” If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” – John 14:15-21
The Holy Spirit dwells within every follower of Christ
True followers of Christ, have acknowledged God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice and example, both in their minds and through their actions toward their fellow man. They have received the gift of the comforter, the helper that now dwells in them.
For some, however, the good news of the gospel has been perverted, misused, and misconstrued. They struggle to understand the revelation of Christ and even more have fallen prey to false doctrines, teachings, and worldly systems.
The Holy Spirit cannot yet dwell within these people, however, the Holy Spirit who is still here on earth can move them to seek the gospel. It will guide them to flee Spiritual Babylon. They will be guided to understand the true nature and character of God.
Can I fight suffering without the Holy Spirit?
For those that reject Christ, his sacrifice, and his principles of love, they reject the Holy Spirit. They find themselves at the mercy of the suffering that plagues humanity. They find themselves at the mercy of Satan and his alternative system. They cannot stand against him.
For a time they may be fooled that everything is ok, but inevitably they fall victim to the sin of mankind and its consequences. They become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.
What about those that died without knowing Jesus and the true character of God?
People B.C.
Before Jesus entered the world as a man, there lived good God-fearing people. These people paid for their sins via the old covenants and remained in relationship with God. They sanctified themselves by keeping his laws and inviting God down to cleanse their sins in ritualistic fashion. These men eschewed evil. We speak here of men like Job and the people of Israel B.C.
People A.D.
However, even after Jesus’ arrival, and the introduction of his new covenant, there are still those among us who have not yet been able to receive his revelation. We speak here of people (eg. babies and children) who have died prematurely. We refer to people who have been indoctrinated into other religions since birth, without being exposed to Christ’s true revelation. We include people who have received false information about God’s love and his system, by organizations and people that have perverted his word in blasphemy.
We speak about good people who the gospel has not reached and are unable to make an informed decision on if to believe its truth or reject it.
These people will receive God’s judgment and his alone. God who knows all possible outcomes will judge what is in their heart. In his mercy, he alone will decide if they would have accepted or rejected the revelation, rescue, mercy, sacrifice, example, and grace of Christ, had they been exposed to his love.
Jesus Christ’s truth, light, and way, were a gift, not just for people of the present, but all of humanity’s history and future. It has already been granted to all of us regardless of our sins, religion, transgressions, or ethnicity. It knows no geographical, demographical, or cultural restrictions. We choose whether to accept it in our hearts, minds, and actions; or reject it.
The Holy Spirit is the Direct Link between Us and Jesus
When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and he dwells within us; we are now able to fight sin in this short time we are here on earth and combat evil. The Holy Spirit has opened the lines of communication directly to heaven, through Jesus.
How then, do we communicate our troubles, concerns, and problems to God?
How do we request God’s intervention in this world of sin and evil? How do we specifically ask for his protection? And how do we thank him for this protection and intervention that counteracts this earthly sin we encounter?
Prayer.
Prayer is not just Communication, It’s a weapon of Spiritual Warfare
God is not a Heavenly Vending Machine
A lot of people mistakenly believe God to be some heavenly vending machine, where they can ask for anything and they shall receive it. Any prayer that compromises the interests of your fellow man, is not a prayer of God.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” –James 4:3
Your prayers should be guided by love and healing and not selfish decadence and prideful requests.
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” – Matthew 6:5-7
Prayer is a Weapon of Spiritual Warfare
When we choose to directly engage Christ, in a world temporarily filled with sin, suffering, and evil, we call down divine intervention.
We bring the divine intervention of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit into our physical world. We bring the power of the Alpha and Omega to our side.
When we pray unselfish prayers and prayers without pride, God sends his angels directly from heaven to avail us. “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands, they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.” – Psalm 91:11-12
Even though we are promised everlasting life through Christ, he is also going to protect us here in this time of temporary sin and grief. He will send angels to fight for us. These angels lay waste to the evil plans and actions of Satan and his demons.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. – Psalm 34:19
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. – Isaiah 43:2
Why do we suffer despite our Prayers?
There is no evil action in the heavens or the earth that is caused by God. This is also true for punishment. Punishment, which is a deliberate infliction of suffering for past behaviours is not of God. This punishment is a result of the evil that entered the world through sin.
“God loved us so much that in navigating the evil we have created he himself will also be implicated in that evil as he tries to help us fix it. He will be blamed.” – Ty Gibson
The negative consequences we experience, are a direct result of our disobedience or selfish actions. This disobedience and selfish action can be individual, but more often collective or cumulative. This sin results in suffering which may feel like we are being punished.
Discipline is different from Punishment
Discipline, however, is the practice of training someone to behave in accordance with rules or a code of conduct so they can adopt desirable future behaviour. This is an action of God.
Even though we pray, more often than not, we do not repent or turn away from our sins, this leaves room for Satan. (Ephesians 4:25-27)
However, God, who watches over us will still intervene. He may allow a limited consequence to occur, and repurpose that pain and distress into spiritual armour which is even more valuable in the long run.
“And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. You endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?” – Hebrews 12:5-7
The contrast between suffering and discipline may be best illustrated by the following examples:
A woman who is raped, a child who is abused, or a person who loses a limb, is a victim of collective or generational sin. They suffer as a consequence of human’s pursuit of their own’s self-interests, or in their pride, commit atrocities. This is nowhere near God’s will.
Conversely, a man who gambles repeatedly, yet calls out for the mercy of God, may be repeatedly disciplined by financial loss, until he changes his behaviour.
The Dragon empowers World Organizations to ensure World Suffering
There are select men, offices of men, and organizations of men (both past and present) who work alongside Satan and the rest of the fallen angels. They work to consistently interrupt and thwart God’s plan of redemption. They function and have functioned knowingly and unknowingly under the systems of the beasts described in the book of Revelations.
They have persisted throughout history and given their allegiance to Lucifer, simultaneously subscribing to his ideology and being deceived by it. Lucifer who we now know as Satan or the dragon, aims to subvert God’s redemptive plan and place himself in God’s place.
Currently, humanity is being attacked by the fourth beast of prophecy described in Revelation 13:1-18
(I will discuss these entities in a separate article)
In Summary: Pride is the Antithesis of Love
Suffering exists because we chose and continue to choose, to reject God’s system of love: which involves other-centredness and seeking another person’s best interest. We instead accepted Satan’s system of pride, in which we focus on ourselves and our interests rather than others.
In both cases, the individual and collective actions of humans impact each other as we were created to live as a family unit.
Under God’s system of love, we impact each other to positive and sustainable effect. Under Satan’s system, we impact each other negatively and painfully, with the resultant consequence of permanent death.
We as humans chose Satan’s system and it has proven unsustainable and distressing throughout the history of man without exception.
However, God in his mercy and ultimate example of love, (which is self-sacrificing), decided that humans must not die forever. He came to earth born as a man, Jesus Christ, and challenged all worldly socio-economic, political, and religious systems to relate to each other differently. Instead of exerting power and dominance over each other, mankind should serve each other, and seek our brother’s and sister’s best interests.
As a walking, living, breathing testament to this, he took our consequences of sin upon himself, as he sacrificed himself for all mankind, past, present, and future. It is because of this, that despite us choosing the system of pride, our suffering is temporary.
To ensure this mistake is never made again, all created beings: humans, angels, and beings unknown to us, must bear witness to the consequences and perils of the system of pride and self-centeredness.
We must bear witness to the consequences of sin, and in so doing we ensure that it will never be chosen again.
By our testimony, we that choose the system of love will be protected and obtain everlasting life at the side of God and the rest of the created beings who operate via this principle.