Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Post #314: Just a Touch of Heaven and Eternity

The most elusive concept for us humans is the understanding of eternity. We may know what the word “eternity” means, but our minds can’t go much further. Hopefully this post may help make it more realistic to us. If we believe that God is eternal, and He is, that would imply that His angels and others in His creation would also be eternal. The complete endless spiritual/physical UNIVERSE belongs to God; therefore, it is eternal, yet always slowly changing and moving.


Before I get into God’s eternal creation process, let me bring out a concept concerning how and why many people believe as they do, which will startle some.


Modern scientists don’t believe that the universe is endless, and with good reason: because most don’t believe in the existence of an Almighty God. Just because their powerful Hubble telescope couldn’t see any further, some believe that is the end of the universe.


Atheists say they have no need for God. Science has answered the question of how the universe came into existence. Sure! Logic teaches that nothing can come into existence if there is nothing from which it was created. Some atheists say that a very small, densely packed object exploded, and that was how the universe came into its present existence. That is a lot of bull- - - -. Where did this small object come from? It could not have created itself. Some atheists believe that an elusive force created it, and some day they will identify that unknown force. I say that when all is said and done, the “Big Bang Theory” is a silly case of hocus-pocus.


Now getting back to the main topic of discussion… Archeologists are correct when they teach of the substantial evidence that pre-humans existed; some existed thousands/millions of years ago. The approximately 2 million-year-old skeletal remains of Lucy are a main piece of their evidence. The skeletal remains of many pre-humans excavated by archeologists most certainly were the result of God’s creative powers, and not Darwin’s Theory of Evolution; therefore, they must be our ancestors’ bones. By the way, Darwin’s process of natural selection never did explain or even touch on how non-living chemicals, etc. in the primordial waters became the first living organism without the needed information from the then-nonexistent DNA molecule.


There is a confusing statement in the Old Testament as Cain and the Lord had a conversation in Genesis 4-14:15. “‘I [Cain] will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; if ANYONE kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.’” This verse is saying that at that time, there were other people on earth besides Adam, his wife and two children. These other people most certainly must have been the descendants of the people whom God created through a process many call evolution. These are the remains of creatures/people who are mentioned numerous times by archeologists. But for whatever reason, the Bible does not give any specific mention of other humans on earth at the time of Adam, except the above verse “if ANYONE kills Cain.” For a very special reason, God chose Adam to become the first human whose lifeline would eventually give birth to the Jewish Nation and to Jesus Christ.


Some churches believe that the words “whoever finds me will kill me” referred to Adam’s other brothers/sisters. But that can’t be true. Listen to the verse in Genesis 4:25, which took place some time AFTER he said, “whoever finds me will kill me.” This is the reason: “Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, ‘God has granted me ANOTHER child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.’” The phrase “another child” is singular. That rules out any other sisters or brothers at that time. Also, there is more evidence in Chapter 5:3. “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and he named him Seth.” Seth is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23. There was no mention of other children at that time, because he had none except Cain: the murderer who lives in the land of Nob.


Hang on to your hats; this next statement will blow the minds of many archeologists and also many Christians: Since time does not exist in the eternal realm of God, I ask this question: How long did it take for God to create Adam? Could it have been in a few seconds/minutes, as many believe? No? What was the hurry since time does not exist with God? Or was it several million years or more in earth time, through the process that is unrightfully called evolution? Again, humans were created by God’s unique, unfailing process of gaining knowledge, etc. as life went on. Just this statement alone is the answer to the fact that God worked/works through the process of natural change; therefore, pre-human beings of long ago (us) eventually became what are now known as modern humans.


Could anyone imagine how Moses (the author of Genesis) would have responded if what I am now writing was presented to him six thousand years ago? Therefore, God presented the creation story as best as He knew how, since what we now know about prehistoric man/woman could not have been understood or accepted by Moses or the early Bible writers.


What God has done in the last several billion years or so in His creation process throughout the endless universe—even though time does not exist in the spiritual realm—will never come to an end. What Almighty God has done on our earth in the last four billion years or so, He will continue until earthlings (except for a few of His obedient disciples) go extinct on this planet by our own doing.


Here is the strange concept about living in eternity: We who end up there will never for a moment be bored. In fact, there is more to do there than can be handled at this time by God and all His angels. Yes, the universe is so jam-packed with worlds similar to our own with living beings that were/will be accepted into the realm of God, just waiting to be taught as to what they should do. Remember this: Other than being filled with divine love, they—and hopefully we, once we are accepted into heaven—must be taught how and what we must do. Even at this time, there are countless trillions of people/angels (although there is no counting in heaven) waiting to go to work.


One nice thing is that heaven’s recipients will never be bored, or get tired or sleepy. There will be no night there either. I am certain that those concepts seem very odd to us humans. One truth spoken of in the New Testament several times is that there will be no desire for sex, or to be male or female; we will all be like the angels. When reading this post, everyone must remember that heaven’s recipients will have spirit bodies not at all like the physical bodies we now have. Of course, when someone is sent to a world/planet that needs special instructions, they/we will take on the form and language of whatever these foreign creatures look like, but will still have spirit bodies.


In every physical world that has progressed to the point where they are ready to be accepted, they all speak different languages, and the one sent to them will speak their language. But in heaven, there will be only be one language—a heavenly language—and believe it or not, it will take eternity for us to learn. You would think that since God is Almighty, He could instantly give everyone the heavenly language. But we humans must remember that there is no hurry in heaven, since we all will be there forever. Repeating, it must be clear to us humans that the words “hurry” and “time” do not exist in heaven.


As I write this, the main concern that comes to mind is this: It is all well and good to live in an environment where there is no such thing as jealousy, evil thoughts, pain or anything contrary to divine love, but I am sure there has to be something that will keep us from getting bored.


The answer is this: When we are in an environment where all those around us are constantly loving us, and we in turn are loving them as we love ourselves, there is no time or need to be bored.


Here is a statement that defies human understanding, but is nevertheless true: Since God is Almighty, He will be in charge of all the infinite numbers of worlds that have, or are gaining, intelligence. Even though God is ONE, He is/will be speaking an infinite number of different languages on each planet, all at the same time. I will not even try to understand that concept.


You see, if all these above words were not true, and the spiritual universe was/is not eternal/everlasting, then Jesus Christ could not teach that those who believe and obey His words according to the New Testament would have EVERLASTING life.


A theme that is mentioned frequently in this blog is worthy of being mentioned again for the sake of new readers. Don’t be fooled or let anyone fool you into believing that if a person belongs to a certain denomination or is financially loyal, etc. to a certain church, and believe they have faith to be saved by Jesus Christ, that they have a guaranteed a free ticket into eternity.


There is a New Testament catch that is ignored by many: The New Testament teaches a truth that cannot be ignored as it is by many/most. It loudly reverberates over and over and over again in almost every book from Matthew to Revelation. It is the simple word “obedience” to all that is taught by God/Jesus Christ through the New Testament. You may never hear these words mentioned in most churches. The reason is that many of these verses are extremely difficult to adhere to, and are totally unnatural to our modern human nature.


Here is a very sad situation: A person may be so holy and devout that he/she seems like an angel who just dropped down from heaven. Don’t be deceived; if that person is not OBEDIENT to the teachings of Jesus Christ and confirmed by the authors of the books of the New Testament, that person is as hell-bound as the most notorious sinner on earth. In short, there is no salvation, no matter how devout one is, without obedience. That is the reason every genuine disciple of Jesus Christ must be thoroughly acquainted with the New Testament, so that any preacher, etc. or church can’t trick him/her into believing otherwise. To know what the New Testament contains concerning obedience is not an easy task to become familiar with, but is absolutely necessary. The obedience of many is cafeteria-style; pick and choose what to obey, and disregard all that doesn’t fit our modern lifestyle.


This paragraph is for the readers who are not familiar with the New Testament. In the last section of Post #313: “The Complexities of Salvation,” there is a comprehensive list of New Testament verses that will help you to know and understand what is required to live in a way that will please God and make certain that you are/will be conforming to all that is required to enter into everlasting life.


At this time, some might be thinking this: Where did this author get this unique information? My answer is this: If I were to say that an angel told me what to write, I would be characterized by many as a religious nut; and if I said I made it all up, I would be a liar. Therefore, I will let you decide where it came from.