“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. “ - Proverbs 16:18
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We have been looking deep into the concept of pride over the last few weeks, and it has taken us on a journey back in time, to the beginning of sin, and to the revealed will of God, about His plan for the world. Today, we will be looking at the ... so what..., tell me the ending! This week is a slightly longer read than usual, we but hope it blesses you!!
RECAP::
1. We learned that pride at its core, is a fundamental rejection of God, His Word and Truth, & His Will/desires/commands(!) by His created beings, men and angels alike.
2. We learned that all of Gods creation has the ability to make free-willed choices, but not necessarily the ability to make the wise ones and right ones, ALL THE TIME, EVERY SINGLE TIME.
3. That capability —- is only with God Himself —- He knows what evil is ( Genesis: “ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, —-knowing -good -and -evil. “ ) ——- but who rightly judges, and chooses to be GOOD, all the time, every time—- He is Righteous!! Compared to that standard of perfection , everything else falls short, so apart from being a rejection of God, pride is also fundamentally UNTRUE... no flesh or created being can boast of anything over anything or anyone else, in His presence.
4. We learned that the plan of God has been to humble man, for his benefit. The commandments of God are good, and wholesome... even the most hardened atheist will agree that if man could “Love others as yourselves”, the world would be a better place!
The issue is, we can’t keep the commandments to the level God ( ... in the Word and in the person of Jesus ) shows us. We all make bad decisions about what we do with our bodies and our minds ... it’s the percentage/batting average that varies between the righteous and the truly wicked !
GODS STRATEGY
How IS God going to fix this?
Are we all going to get a “spiritual lobotomy” in Heaven so that we won’t sin any more?
How, or will, we —- “forget” what evil is ?
Will we have to give up free will?....
Our minds cannot comprehend a scenario where free will and righteousness can coexist!
That’s because we’ve never known anything different.
We are born into a fallen world, have to survive in it, and that means — self first. We are limited in space and time, have to work to eat to maintain our bodies ( and all the baggage that comes with THAT ), deal with the grim realities of death and disease, AND the horrors perpetrated on mankind by spiritual wickedness running rampant on the planet! Talk about loaded dice.....
Love seems stupid. Righteousness foolishness. Forgiveness and mercy just dumb ... turning the other cheek, giving people my cloak ... people will take advantage of that in a heartbeat..... being wicked seems to work so much better !!!
That dear friends, is the —-core battle—- of ideas between Satan and the Lord, the broader context being the education of men and angels about —— which way is best!!!
There is no shortcut to that answer ... each being has to figure it out for themselves —— in their life-span ( by the Grace of God ) or after it. For all humanity , the end of pride is going to take some additional work to accomplish, even after Christ’s return.
It’s why we have a period of a 1000 years ( the Millennium ) after Christ comes again and Christians / Saints get their new bodies.
These bodies are —not— dependent on eating to live ... you still can eat as Christ did after He was resurrected, it is just not necessary! These bodies will never grow old, sick, or die, and Satans activity on the planet will be restrained completely.
The Millennium period has Christ reigning as Messiah and King, over a sinful humanity. It is a Righteous dictatorship — and the “model 2 humans”, will be the “ruling class” —- these are resurrected martyrs for Christ , and those who are with Him now. The “model 1 humans” are those that have endured Gods wrath poured out on the planet just before Christ’s return and are still alive (!), and their descendants.
God will ENFORCE His Will on the planet ... which is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, wickedness subdued, and prosperity for all, justice for rich or poor, equal balances for everybody... but ... you gotta obey the Law!... ruler and ruled alike!!!
Remember —- This is the last step before eternity itself, where WILLING OBEDIENCE TO TRUTH AND LOVE is the golden standard.
What choices do you think we will make in the millennium ? Will pride disappear ?
Spoiler ( or not .. ) alert : NO!!
This how the “come-back” happens ... when Satan ... released from prison after a 1000 years, BY THE WILL OF GOD... is able to leverage the “inequalities “ in this situation to foment a final rebellion. A rebellion by Humans who can see God in the flesh, and in action in His kingdom, on this planet , in a materially prosperous , and dare we say, even more spiritually , and technologically advanced society, but —- reject Him, and His Laws.
That friends, is where Pride ends.
This planet is destroyed completely by fire. Obliterated, reduced to atoms. Satan is sent to join the beast and false prophet in the —-lake of fire —— not Hell as we may think. Hell ( Gk Hades ), Death ( Gk Thanatos) and the “ Sea” ( Gk Thalassa ) are holding dead people who are not yet in Paradise. They will give them up , and be cast into the lake of fire themselves.
“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” — Rev 20:13,14)
There is a final judgment of ALL these dead not already resurrected... and we find them both judged, as well as most of them given new and eternal Life !!!! They have just had to WAIT (asleep/awake/both) till this time. Hallelujah!!!
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and —-the books were opened: —-and —-another book—- was opened, which is —-the book of life—-: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works..... ..... And whosoever was -not found- written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. “ - Rev 20:12,15
Sadly, some are not given life at this point... they are —-the exceptions—- that are not found in the book of Life. They are consigned to suffer in the lake of fire, along with the devil and his angels. These must be really bad guys , as we have just seen people from Hell (!) being given eternal life after being judged!!!!!
It is over.
Those who have rejected God are given eternity —without Him, and justly punished for their crimes against Him, and their fellow creatures. They cannot exist in the same universe in which those that —-choose to follow the path of truth and love do, and we are grateful that the Lord will handle it!
Scoffers will say that choosing to follow the Lord, at this point , is not really a choice anymore... let’s see if it is or isn’t.
The Lord has permitted us to reject Him, for millennia, indeed, disobey Him from day 1. Why would He remove that free will now? No —— our individual , and collective experiences as humans, and children of God through all these events —— should be enough to show us His wisdom, and Truth, and not require Him to tell us what we already know. Love is better. Be real!!
Second, at this point, humans are beings free of dependence on anything material for Life. Where is the need to fight with our fellow man over stuff? And we have the Light of His direct presence!!
No friends, heaven and free will are not opposites. Heaven and Pride are.
Application
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This has been really “esoteric” stuff. Yes, we are dealing with a very complicated subject - but here’s what makes it simple.
This book was written thousands of years ago ( 5000 years for the OT, 2000 years for the NT ). Not one word changed. Revealed in ADVANCE! Deep questions about morality and spirituality answered , and written down , to illuminate not just past, but FUTURE ages!! It answers questions about mans origin, destination, and why things are messed up. But most importantly........
It gives us the heart , mind, plans and counsels of God Himself!!! A being of purity unimaginable, of patience eternal , of love and grace and mercy infinite!!! The Highest, stooping to love the sons of men!
Let us live our lives in the glory of that Light, reflecting it by showing forth Grace and Truth in our lives. Let it’s glow warm our hearts and spirits, and in our minds, enable us to make wise and correct choices ... and to be HUMBLE is one of those.
“And Jesus called a —little —child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be —-converted—-, and become as -little children, ye shall —not enter—- into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall —humble— himself as this -little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” - Mat 18:2-4
The purity of a little child’s laughter,love, and lack of ego is what the kingdom of Heaven looks like! It’s something we’ve —-forgotten—- , or it’s been callused and crushed by the dog-eat-dog world in which we live.
A little child does not see race or color, just other persons. A little child is ignorantly unaware, and uncaring, about their complete dependence on their parents. A child is also uncaring of their status as lowest on the totem-pole in their household, knowing that their wish is their doting parents or grandparents command ?. So who’s the greatest ???!!!
Let us trust in God, and humbly love our fellow man, because that will bring Heaven into your home right now!
Hallelujah!!!