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Theresa Ketch
May 17, 07 - 7:05 PM |
It's All For Our Good
Greetings to all, wherever you are at with the Lord, or if you still do not know Him personally, I believe we will all know Him in the end; Recently I had new insight to who I am in Christ. I recieved this revelation (not that it is new to mankind, just new for me) while reading "The Spiritual Man," by China's beloved apostle, the dearly departed Watchman Nee. I recommend this book for everyone struggling with their new identity with Christ. Watchman Nee speaks alot on the old man, in contrast to the new man, or new creation. He says the sins we commit, we commit as the old man, but the new man does not sin, for God's Seed remains in him, and he or she cannot sin. Just then the Lord spoke to me, saying that He does not try and change the old man, but rather He makes us brand new creations. We just have to walk in newness in life. He does not fix old winskins, nor put new wine in old wineskins - He puts new wine into a new wineskin! If we are stuck in a sin and feeling guilty, we should break free by realizing that is not who we are. We were drunkards and slanderers and homosexuals, but now we are washed in the blood and are new creations. This ties in with Romans 12:2 (NIV) "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." So this was a great thing to finally see. It took 14 years to see who I am in Christ; before, I thought of myself in sinful terms, and of course experiencing little or no victories. After that, the Lord spoke to my heart and said that "we all must be salted." I didn't quite know what He meant, so I turned to the passage that deals with salt and the Lord: Mark 9:47-50 NASB If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into the lake of fire, 48where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 49"For everyone will be salted with fire. 50"Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." After I read that, the Lord said, "Everyone will either be salted by the fire of the Holy Spirit, or by the lake of fire." So I enquired further, and I believe that what the Lord was trying to say to me is that we cannot serve the Lord until we all have been salted. When I would think about people burning for eternity in the lake of fire, one thing that didn't make sense to me is why. I mean, I do believe that the Lord punishes people, disciplines His people, and I can share from experience that discipline is painful, sometimes physically painful. But there is always a good reason for it. It is never mindless. To me, to burn someone forever and ever without end is mindless. To be punished is not mindless; if God didn't punish people, He would not be a God of justice. One thing the Bible promises us is relief from our persecutors, and those persecutors will be punished justly. The Bible speaks of how those persecutors will be shut out from the presence of the Lord on that Day. Why? Well, it will be an intimate moment between us and our Lord that we have loved, when He returns, and that intimacy will not be ruined by those who hate us and our loving Lord. Jesus will deal with those persecutors later. Dealing with sin is painful. When the Lord died for our sins, He experienced pain. We, in our walk with Christ, experience pain. I also believe the salting process of those who reject Christ in this age will also be painful. Jesus did not describe those in the lake of fire as "weeping and gnashing their teeth" for melodrama. But there is a good purpose for this salting - when they have been salted, they will be ready to serve the Lord. One day a friend asked, "If everyone will be saved in the end, why share the gospel with others?" Ar first, this question seems like a good one, but really it is not well-thought out. How many people out there are living life to the full? People of all kinds need to be delivered, and delivered today. Jesus is the only one that can save people from their problems. Not only that, but I believe that the people who serve God today inherit the Kingdom, while everyone else who rejects Christ will be the ones that we rule over in that Kingdom. As for the people who never rejected Christ, but never accepted Him because they did not hear the message preached properly (or not at all), I believe they are included with those who will rule and reign. Some might think that this is favoritism on God's part, but I do not think so. I think that we will all be rewarded for our works, and not everyone's reward will be the same. Some will rule over ten cities; some five, as Jesus explained in the 19th chapter of Luke. So this is my present understanding. I know that I am still seeing through a glass darkly, and I admit that I do not have the complete picture. What I have shared with you is just a partial understanding. For those who may not agree with universal salvation because they are familiar with the traditional meaning of the term eternal punishment, I offer the following: there is no time in eternity. Often, we will hear people say, "God will burn people for allll eternity", as if it is a very long time. But I am fully convinced there is no time in eternity, that eternity is rather a place. "Eternal punishment," to me, means "punishment in the eternal place." (rather than in this present time-space." In contrast, "eternal life," to me, means "life in an eternal place." Thank you for reading my post. Bo-Ai, "universal love" Isaiah 66:22,23 NIV "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. |
Mike Burke
 May 17th, 2007 - 7:54 PM |
Re: It's All For Our Good
Thank you for sharing your thoughts here Theresa. God Bless. |
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