Humanity
God blessed humankind, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis 1: 28)
For God so Loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have Eternal Life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be Saved through Him. (John 3: 16-17)
God did not need to create anything, yet to express His Glory, Love, and Goodness He created the heavens and the Earth out of nothing. The culmination of this creation was humankind. He created the first man, Adam, and from him He formed the first woman, Eve. Humans are the only part of creation that is created in God’s Image.
God gave humankind dominion over all of creation that they might continue to grow in perfection as they gained experience. We have been taught humans were expected and equipped to continue flawlessly bearing God’s Image forever. Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from one particular tree, but gave into Satan’s temptation by missing the mark of God’s Expectations; by sinning. Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, had to work the land with more difficulty, and were forced to experience death. Humanity is part of creation, and must work to sustain the Earth for our future generations as creation’s groundskeepers through sustainable practices in our daily lives.
All humanity must deal with the results of this first, original sin that corrupted all of creation. Because Adam chose to rebel against God, all of his descendants have inherited the guilt and sin which came out of this rebellion. The application of evil is solely the blame of His creatures due to the free-will He gave to humanity. Humanity chose to eat from the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God gave His Torah, sent the Lord’s Prophets, and finally sent the Father’s Son to align His people with His Notion of Completeness. Through Jesus, humanity realizes Relationship with God. Through the faithful’s repentance, Jesus brings Forgiveness of sins. It is through faith and God’s Grace that humans are Judged solely on the merits of the Lord Jesus rather than our own.
“God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.” Evil is in the world due to God’s Goodness. He allows us to make our own choices in the gift of “free-will,” but this does not mean that He is ever evil. For there to be a “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” one would posit there would need to be the existence of both good and evil in creation before the actions of original sin for there to be knowledge of it. Each time we judge another human, we bite from the fruit of the forbidden tree all over again; only God can judge what is in a person's heart. The fact that He allows us to choose between good and evil for ourselves shows His Love for us. He could have created obedient, naïve beings without the ability to question and with no hope of ever doing so; instead He created us. God wants us to love but we cannot do so without the freedom to choose to love. Because sin can and does take hold of our lives, we know God’s Love and Goodness more fully; knowing the darkness enables us to recognize the Light more readily.
Salvation
Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed His last. At that moment the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. (Matthew 27: 50-51)
But when the Goodness and Loving Kindness of God our Savior appeared, He Saved us, not because of any works of Righteousness that we had done, but according to His Mercy, through the water of rebirth and Renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been Justified by His Grace, we might become heirs according to the Hope of Eternal Life. (Titus 3: 4-7)
Through Trust in the Sacrificial Death of Jesus on the cross, we have been given Salvation so that we may live eternally with God. Jesus lived a sinless life, though tempted by Satan, but remained Victorious in that He never gave in to sin. Jesus died on the cross so that we might have faith in Him and be Saved by His Actions. When Jesus has been accepted into a Christian’s heart, the Holy Spirit and the study of God’s Word reveal two things. The Spirit and our study reveal the Truth of our sin & our separation from the Lord and also show us the need for forgiveness and restoration made available through Jesus’ Sacrifice. As we confess our sins, God is Gracious to Forgive us on the basis of Jesus’ Perfect Sacrifice. He took our place in death so that we would be able to live eternally with God instead of being punished for our sins by separation from the Lord.
Upon the cross, Jesus the Messiah bought our Pardon and guaranteed Eternal Life for all; that He might Reconcile us and present us as Acceptable before God. All who put their Faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior are Justified (forgiven of our sins) and deemed righteous by the substitutionary atonement of Jesus the Messiah. I believe when we stand before God at Judgment, He will not see us, but rather us through the Person of Jesus (or more accurately, Jesus, the Judge, will just accept us based solely on our Faith in Him). Jesus will stand before us and all that will be seen is Jesus’ Perfection, rather than our transgressions. God’s plan for humanity is and has always been humanity’s eternal life and fellowship with Him.
When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, the Spirit steps in and offers new, unforeseen possibilities. We truly have a Conversion Experience, becoming merely vessels for the Lord Jesus’ Word and Deed. It is no longer just the person who is there, but rather the Holy Spirit dwelling within that person. Humans are Justified by Grace through their Faith alone, not by works; however, I do believe that Jesus asked His followers to live according to His Teachings--to love God and our neighbors and to give to those in need with respect to our time, talents, and treasures. The Holy Spirit works on us daily to mold us more fully into the image of Jesus (our sanctification). Our perspectives change from “me” to “we,” sacrificing our own wants for the needs of others. We look forward to the Hope we have of our glorification (eternal bodies) with Jesus in His Second Coming.
Eschatology
If I ascend to Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. (Psalm 139: 8)
In days to come the Mountain of the LORD’s House shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the Mountain of the LORD, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may Teach us His Ways and that we may walk in His Paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth Instruction, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall Judge between the nations, and shall Arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2: 2-4)
And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the Throne saying, “See, the Home of God is among mortals. He will Dwell with them; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things are passed away.” And the One who was seated on the Throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write, this, for these Words are Trustworthy and True.” (Revelation 21: 2-5)
Through Jesus, we are offered Salvation (deliverance from death) and Redemption (God’s buying of us back from sin); Christians become a new creation. The Holy Spirit provides the power for the new creation (the person) to die to the power of the sinful flesh. She also enables the new creation to live anew in the Messiah through her Indwelling Spirit. Salvation is offered on a personal level. We realize that despite our imperfection and our sins, we are Forgiven, we are Saved from our sinful nature, and we are a dearly beloved creation of the Lord.
Jesus, the Messiah, will come again to Judge the living and the dead. Through God’s Grace and Love in the Sacrifice that Jesus offered on the cross, He has made a pathway between humanity and the Lord. Each individual is Redeemed and will live eternally in the Kingdom with Jesus as our King. We do not know when the Lord’s Return will be, but Jesus has promised to come back to the Earth and to His disciples. The churches have a job to complete in between the time of Jesus’ Ascension and His Bodily Return—to make faithful brothers and sisters of those who do not already know Jesus personally and to continue to build up current Christians. The churches accomplish this by following the Lord’s Teaching, spreading the Good News, teaching, preaching, evangelizing, healing, constantly praying, and through repentance.
Hell is separation from God; therefore, those who live outside a Relationship with God are currently living in Hell, although God’s Presence is indeed there. Hell in the eternal sense is also the separation felt between individual and the Lord. If we choose to be unfaithful to God, or are unsure as to God’s Existence, I believe that we cease to exist instead of being sent to a place of eternal damnation. To not be in Communion with God is eternal punishment, or Hell, alone. Heaven is the opposite of Hell; it is the dwelling place of the Lord and where we are unified with Him. Brothers and Sisters in Jesus from all time and space will be reunited in the Kingdom. All of creation will know Jesus as Lord and Savior when He returns to Judge it, as we have already known Him in our earthly lives.
~PK
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