Question From Tikno

Q...

If "one" why we must different?
A question sent to me by Tikno, from the discussion in BlogCatalog (click title for link)

A...
Let’s look at your thoughts and question through Biblical reference. I hope to provide enough for you to receive clear understanding.

God has always existed before everything. It was through Him that the universe, the creation, came into existence. God is the origin of all things… directly or indirectly.


John 1:1-3 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Revelation 22:13 (NIV) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

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Religion is an invention of man, a tradition that resulted from God’s creation of man. Not directly placed by God, but allowed by him. It is man that has fractured it, placed individual definitions, and caused separations among men.

Micah 6:16 (NIV) You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab's house, and you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations. 

Matthew 15:3 (NIV) Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

Mark 7:13 (NIV) Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

Colossians 2:8 (NIV) See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Our problems, the problems of mankind, are the direct result of man himself. We as a group are proud, arrogant, and self centered. It’s the result of our sinful nature.

Deuteronomy 31:16 (NIV) And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.

Nehemiah 9:29 (NIV) "You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.


Our world, the Earth, our soul, and every other part of our being are owned by God. However the control of our soul is a matter of our choice. Just as a stock company is owned by shareholders and controlled by a board of directors. With individual choice comes individualism, and differences. What happens to our soul depends on our choice and how we relate to God’s will.


Job 41:11 (NIV) Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.


Ezekiel 18:4 (NIV) For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

Matthew 6:24 (NIV) "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Romans 1:28 (NIV) Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.


Lennon’s song was only right in part. Our imaginations and our dreams are good things; progress in the world is due to them. But to come together as one requires a power beyond man’s ability, we need the power of God. Without Him our lives exist in chaos; each man defining his own righteousness.


Matthew 19:26 (NIV) Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

2 Timothy 3:-5 (NIV) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

To accept God or not is a personal choice. As a Christian Minister my choice is to accept. To function as a Minister I offer information concerning the good news. It’s information that has to be willingly received, if I am to follow the direction of Christ. My task is not to browbeat, not to force, and certainly not to ridicule others to follow me. If God gives freedom of choice who am I to do otherwise. Everyone must understand that it is their choice. But it is a choice that comes at a price, there is no free lunch. Whether you believe or not changes nothing in the fact that God is. I can't change your decision no more than I can change the outcome of it. God is personal and your choice concerning Him is also personal… between you, the individual and Him, your God.


Isaiah 45:23 (NIV) By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

Revelation 3:15-17 (NIV) I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Revelation 22:10-14 (NIV) Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.


Just as the unseen quark is a fact of physics, God who is also unseen, is a fact of each and every beings existence; you can believe it or not. What you believe will weigh in on the price you must pay. Our existence started with God and it will surely end with Him.


Psalm 84:10 (NIV) Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Romans 14:5 (NIV) One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.


I pray that this has helped to bring some clarity to your understanding and that you will continue to seek answers to the question of God.

Blessings,
Matt.