John 11 includes the story of Jesus bringing stinky Lazarus back to life after he had been dead and buried four days. We dont know what happened to Lazarus after that--as the story goes, he stood up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T after the strips of cloth in which his body was bound were removed. We can assume that he died again, since if he were still living after 2,000 years--let alone after being RESURRECTED--he would surely be able to profit from those claims to fame. So life after death--being born again--really wasnt the thing that brought Lazarus closer to God (caused him to re-think his decision to sin) after all. If someone is going to change his or her mind about sinning, it stands to reason that it will occur before death, and that it would not be dependent upon Gods presence on earth, or what anyone else decided to do, or any other external condition. Likewise, if someone dies in his or her sins at whatever age that happens, the person has given his or her final decision to God before dying, and DYING MERELY CONFIRMS THE PERSONS DECISION TO REMAIN A SINNER. So what, then, is the PURPOSE OF *LIFE*, if the decision to DIE has been made before birth??? God would not give committed sinners life as a reward, thats for dang sure! Indeed, God said at the time that Adam was kicked out of the garden of Eden for sinning that life would be nothing but toil and trouble--a fight for survival--before man returned to the dust from whence he came. It must be as Jesus said regarding Lazarus: This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it. (John 11:4.) Jesus words go to the heart of the question I asked this morning: Would God support the entire human race perpetually simply as a means to the necessary end of bringing Himself and a mate to live on earth? In other words, is it possible that when the rubber meets the road, even among those who love God, that love would, at best, manifest as coveting, such that no one would ever agree to stop sinning, and the cycle of birth and death would continue perpetually, with Gods Law being more-or-less irrelevant to man, except as a means for men to one up each other and distinguish themselves while living? This would mean that no one would ever agree to SET JESUS FREE on earth, without trying to use/control Him for selfish purposes first, which actions would not be regretted one bit, such that *only* the impossibility of winning a war against God the Father to control God on earth would temper those actions even one bit? I say YES. I had ALL ALONG assumed that those who love God--manifesting in a knowledge of both good and evil--would PROTECT JESUS FROM THEMSELVES, i.e., FROM THEIR OWN SELFISH DESIRES. But last night, I was presented with a set of facts that FORCED me to REJECT THAT ASSUMPTION. (My interactions with my former dog trainer probably also qualify as such a set of facts, but not NEARLY as clear-cut as the set of facts I was presented with last night.) And if *one good-doer* on earth NOW would sacrifice Jesus, then the same holds True for every good-doer throughout history. So the resurrection of the dead would be a moot issue. The story of Lazarus, which I had not looked at for a long time, stands for the same proposition.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 15:42:22 +0000
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