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| God Almighty The percentage of professing atheists in the world is really quite small. The common man believes in a higher dimension, the spiritual realm, which he dimly perceives. Half of humanity, at least nominally, believes in a Supreme Being who is distinct from creation, but who deliberately sustains the entire universe at every instant. Astronauts to zoo-keepers trust the Almighty. Isaac Newton, a brilliant scientific discoverer, also wrote much commentary on the Bible. Concerning order in the universe Albert Einstein's quip was, "God does not play dice." The Glory of the Creator in Creation In today's information age the awareness of the Creator's magnificence has been enriched. Right now, through a superb sensory-feedback system, your eyes are automatically focusing and refocusing the light from this page, separating the background from the dark squiggles. Simultaneously other bio-electro-mechanical systems are measuring the light’s strength and automatically adjusting the amount which enters your eyes by changing the size of the pupils. Both eyes operate in conjunction to converge to the same target viewing point, to provide the binocular view many of us take for granted. Plus there is automatic swiveling of the eyes and coordinated rotation or tilting of the head when necessary. All these features provide optimum viewing of squiggles under various conditions. And that is just the beginning. As fantastic as all that is, the significance of your high-tech "vision system" is not merely to view squiggles on a page, but to "de-code" the amazing information in the squiggles. Light from the target area is focused inside the eye on a plush carpet woven from millions of sensors. They transmit a collective image into the depths of the central processor, the brain. The squiggles are then evaluated and identified against previously viewed symbolic letters. Groups of letters are then identified as previously digested words. Then groups of words are identified as information strings, "sentences," which carry powerful information. All these phenomenal levels of identification, evaluation and interpretation occur in "real-time," right as you read. Neither should we forget this same process is used to "en-code" information into the squiggles. All this and so much more is involved in visual communication. Only now, one-hundred and sixty years after the first real computer, science is approaching the capability to simulate human thought processes, a realm called artificial intelligence. But we must forcefully say this achievement is a deliberate endeavor by intelligent creators. It is not a random process. According to statistical analysis and information theory it is absurd to believe blind, random chance could ever produce the complex parts of a computer, much less assemble it correctly, much less program it to operate. Is it somehow easier to believe in a universe of blind, random chance which supposedly produced awesome human creators? The tremendous complexity of life, including our own, is a signature of the Almighty. The Spiritual Realm, A Real Place Today thousands of radio and T.V. signals pass through the environment, including our bodies. A Voyager spacecraft transmitted T.V. images of the sun and six planets from the depths of the heavens, 3.7 billion miles away. We do not see, hear, smell, taste or feel these signals and would never know of them except by turning on the set. But they really exist and they all contain intelligent communication. Physicists also say that with every tick of the clock billions of sub-atomic particles streaming from the sun are passing through our bodies, as well as the entire earth. We have no sensation of them but they have reportedly been detected through special equipment in deep mines. They are really part of the universe. It is no harder to propose a dimension beyond radio signals and quarks, a spiritual realm where humans communicate with their Creator. Faith in the Creator For half the world's population the Scriptures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism describe a living Creator. He is timeless, all-powerful, all-knowledgeable, all-present, holy, loving and compassionate. There is nothing He does not know, there is no place He cannot go. Moment by moment He holds the universe together according to His desire. All three faiths say He speaks directly into creation. The Creator is also the Communicator. "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." Psalm 33:6. Lack of Agreement in Faith All three faiths seek to obey God's commands, but there is lack of agreement about all He said. Many lump the three faiths into a single monotheistic category, but profound differences in their view of the nature of the communicating God divide them. Why a difference? None of the three faiths find fault with the holy, perfect God. The charge is laid against men blinded by sin. The vision of the nature of God by the original disciples of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah differs most from modern Judaism and Islam by saying;
All three faiths agree God is Father of time-bound creatures with individual personal identity. Man is created in God's image and reflects a measure of divine glory. All three faiths agree God speaks. Certainly the ever-present Sustainer of the universe does not speak like men, one word following another to make a sentence. That is not the infinite volume of the Almighty's speech. (Though all three faiths agree He chooses this limited manner to communicate with men.) Instead, the Almighty Father has unlimited power to fully express everything about Himself, and this includes personal identity. Human beings certainly have the power to create offspring in their exact likeness. Should the Creator of human beings not also have this power? The highest Expression, the Word of God, declares the endless abundance of all that the Father is. Eternal, all-powerful, all-knowledgeable, all-present, holy and full of love. Faith in the Unity of God verses Faith in the Solitude of God The major question now arises. How can God be "one" if this is His nature? First of all, simple mathematics inform us that it is impossible to equate infinity with a finite integer, 1, 2 or 3. The finite number 1 does not equal infinity. The nature of God is infinite and timeless, incomprehensibly beyond the integer 1, fantastically beyond the largest finite numbers conceivable. Second, the Scriptural term "one" regularly includes the idea of a perfect unity, not merely the idea of singular and solitary. The answer to the question is that from eternity the infinite Father and Son comprehend each other completely and have never been divided. The Son knows He is the Son and always submits to the sacred will of His Father. They never compete. They cannot disagree. They always act in sheer accord. They are One Deity with One name and One nature. Here we glimpse a devoted infinite Father embracing a loyal infinite Son, resting in everlasting love, not a child's 1 + 1 = 2. This tells of a Supreme Being much different from modern Judaism or Islam. But we should remember that in the beginning all "Christians" were zealous, observant Jews, Christian being a Greek term for Messianist. There were sizeable numbers of identifiably Jewish disciples of Yeshua in the first centuries of this era and there are growing numbers in these last decades. In those early centuries Jewish practice had not yet crystallized into the Judaism of today. Ancient and modern Judaism tenaciously clings to the unity of the God of Israel against the rivalry between all the others gods. But, as with Islam, the modern idea is of an absolutely solitary Person. Unwittingly this popular idea asserts Almighty God is limited. It says He has never, will never and can never fully express Himself! And such an idea as this falls far short of glorifying an Almighty God. The Communicating God We must realize that the only way the God of communication could ever fully express Himself is by proclaiming His entire magnificence, including self-conscious identity, from eternity past to everlasting future. It is impossible to start proclaiming endless glory in the middle of time-bound creation. Mankind, a turbulent image of God, would forever be the highest expression He could achieve. But God does declare His fullness. According to Moses our Teacher God made ALL His goodness pass before Moses as He declared His name, revealing His character, Exodus 33:19. This proclamation must be carefully considered; "The LORD—the LORD—GOD," Exodus 34:6. Here we find three infinite expressions in God's name. God knows His endless excellence and knows He is indescribably wonderful. But if, as Rabbinical Judaism and Islam hold, the Almighty Father does not eternally declare His glory in an Almighty Son, then He can never proclaim the heights of His grandeur. He would have forever locked Himself into a lesser revelation of splendor than His majesty deserves. The degree of His glory would be less than what the finite human mind could conceive was right and fitting. That is the difference in the vision of God between disciples of Yeshua and all other beliefs about the communicating God found in this world. Islamic Faith in the Corruption of God's Word Islam slides back further, saying the Koran is God's final word to a long line of prophets beginning with Adam and including Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Jesus and finally Muhammad. In the many places where the Koran is at odds with the Hebrew Old Testament or Greek New Testament, Islamic scholars say the Koran restores the true story, the others were hopelessly altered, even though the Koran itself intimates the text of "the Book" (the Bible) is faithful. With the accusation of corruption Islam unwittingly says Allah was too weak or careless to guard His original testimony from failure. If Allah let His earlier Scriptures decay in absolute corruption how can the Islamic world be sure there really are not Satanic Verses in the Koran? Realistically it cannot! And how could Allah be a righteous Judge if His Scriptures became so garbled that they misled men about the elementary things of God? The Kenosis (Emptying) All three faiths testify that the Creator wants to speak with men, and this means God willingly restricts and confines Himself in anthropomorphisms. In other words, God must "come down" to man's level to speak with men as a Man. Why? Because no finite, time-bound man can rise up to the infinite communication level of the Eternal. The only question for Judaism, Christianity or Islam is the level to which Deity "comes down." Islam and modern Judaism valiantly strive to avoid anything which in their eyes resembles idolatry, but it is impossible for God to communicate unless He is undeniably perceived and understood by finite men. The Hebrew Scriptures have many wondrous stories of visual-aural (sight and sound) intrusions of God into creation. Moses turned away from the burning bush because "he was afraid to look at God," Exodus 3:6. He heard a voice speaking in human language, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Three Visitors, One of them HaShem Genesis 18 relates the story of Abraham's three visitors, One of them described as the LORD, HASHEM, the other two as angels in 19:1. These mysterious persons look like men and eat a meal. God is not a man. His nature is incomprehensibly beyond any finite thing. But to communicate with finite men He is forced to share in their limitations. God chooses to do so out of divine love. This mode of holy communication reaches its climax in Yeshua, hailed as the limitless Expression of God. But humble, conversing with men as a Man. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Sacred Love But why a shameful death on the cross? How can this be a message of sacred love? What we see revealed to the world is the solemn Expression of a compassionate Father sickened over the ravages of sin, proclaiming His heartache as an agonizing death on splintery wood. The loving Father sent His Son, the Word of God, to expose all the torment of His soul over the outrage of human wickedness in this troubled world. Yeshua said "He who has seen Me has seen the Father," John 14:9. He willingly tasted the savage injustice of sin in the universe He created. He assures His children that He really knows all their pains (Exodus 3:7). The tender Father experienced the grief of sending His beloved Son to suffer. The Father and Son endured the intensity of sin first-hand, just like all mankind. This willing act of the Son, suffering through no fault of His own, became the key to redeem and restore those who could simply believe this magnificent story. Resurrection and Judgement Then the Son's resurrection from the dead, the proof that human disobedience and its effects do not continue forever. God's eternal righteousness, expressed in Yeshua, will dominate all things. Now He can fully forgive and help those who genuinely want to escape the grip of sin. All who trust Him receive life eternal. God does not sweep human sin-chaos-lawlessness under a divine rug with a wink of the eye, there is a full accounting of all things in creation. Those deemed righteous by a living faith in Yeshua will be acquitted. Those who denied Him, abiding in their own self-righteousness, will be found guilty. That is the story of this atlas, that God's court will soon be in session for everyone in the world, not in Heaven but on earth. Righteous judgment is coming and Yeshua, the Son Himself, is the Judge. So much more is bound up in Yeshua, Almighty Son of God—humble Son of Man. He has become God's way of making peace with creation. He ties in Himself an everlasting knot between infinity and the finite, between that which is eternal and that which is time-bound, between that which is always faultless and holy and that which was blemished and imperfect, or even rotten. The goal is restored relations, in other words, full communion between Father and family. Yeshua has become the doorway for searching children to find the loving embrace of their heavenly Father. Not merely with teachings, but in spirit and reality. The Holy Spirit of God All three faiths agree there is a Holy Spirit of God, the Channel of divine communication, but the nature of the Spirit divides the three faiths. Disciples of Yeshua affirm that to bear the Father's full expression, the Medium must enjoy the same infinite nature of the Father. The Spirit is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, holy and full of love, a living, infinite Person, not merely a force. Modern Judaism and Islam strive to maintain the solitude of God by saying the Holy Spirit has no personality. But even in the description of Prophecies of Messiah The dramatic career of
In Sukkah 52a of the Talmud this verse is taken to indicate mourning over the death of a Messiah who suffers like Joseph, called Messiah Ben Joseph. Yeshua satisfied this Scripture in His death as we read in John 19:37. But the Talmud also links this verse to the slaying of the "yetzer hara," the evil inclination in man. This should be compared with the New Covenant book of Hebrews chapter 9 verses 13 and 14,
Yeshua is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 1:29. The slaying of the suffering Messiah also slays captivity to sin, the "yetzer hara." Every morning in the synagogue Jewish worshippers recite the story of the binding of Isaac by Abraham, the loving father who was prepared to slay his son. Additional prayers ask God to remember The rejection and afflictions of Messiah were also foretold in Isaiah 53, which begins, "Who has believed our report and to whom has the 'Arm of the LORD' been revealed." Jewish sages have taught that this passage in Isaiah speaks of Missing the Messiah Could the majority of Christian Failure Let no one conclude that this means all who call themselves Christians are righteous in God's sight. A fourth century Roman ruler, Constantine the Great, led his soldiers to war with a Christian sign on their shields to kill a rival Roman ruler and gain a worldly empire. How different from King Messiah Yeshua, who just before being nailed to the cross by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, told him, "My Kingdom is not from this world." Yeshua's Kingdom comes from the heights of Heaven, not the murderous plots of men. Roman Church leaders eventually acquired far-reaching civil authority. Yet the Jewish Apostle Paul had long before warned the Roman Church not to be conceited or arrogant against Jews who had not believed in Yeshua as Messiah, but to fear, Romans 11:15-36. If some Jewish "natural branches" had been broken off because of lack of faith, how much easier is it to break off "grafted-in" gentiles for the same lack of faith. But through endless centuries many Roman Church authorities, and other Christian authorities as well, were responsible for Jewish degradation, massacres and expulsions, now termed Christian anti-Semitism. This primed the European mind for the insane horror of genocide, the murder of six million "natural branches" solely because of Jewish background. And this just a generation ago in the enlightened and emancipated 20th century, with wavering Christian leaders aware of what was happening. God does not seek the high and mighty who are full of theoretical knowledge. He seeks creatures who will humbly obey Him. Many will say to King Yeshua at the Judgment that they had done great religious things in His name. But He will command them, "Get away from Me!" He had never known them. These famous people had been selfish workers of iniquity, Matthew 7:21-23. Suffering for the Good News Moreover, Yeshua set the perfect example of how to proclaim the Good News, by being ready to suffer, even to death. He did not coerce anyone's confession of Him as King Messiah of Meet the Author in Person If someone reads a riveting novel and later discovers the author is in town he might take the trouble to go meet him. And if someone sits down and carefully reads the story of Life, with all the twisting plots and sub-plots, with all the joys and horrors in it, and then finds out the Author is not far away, might he not also be driven to meet the Creator of such a fantastic tale? Many glance through the saga of His-Story (history). They even skim the Author's credits at the end. For all that they have not bothered to go meet Him. Some boast over the facts they know about the Author but without personal acquaintance. The point of this book is to awaken your soul. Do you really enjoy a loving, eternal relationship with Almighty God? If you neglect the loving invitation to turn away from self-righteousness and come humbly to the Father through His Redeeming Son, to know His endless love by the Spirit, the time will come when it is too late to meet Him. Don't miss your golden opportunity.
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