WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
God`s plan to fill the earth with His glory has not failed. He is still working towards it right now.
In Section 2 of these studies we looked briefly at the wonderful plans for this Earth described in the Bible.
Before we could go further we had to see how and why things appeared to go wrong. God gave one of His creatures the privilege of freewill, and that of course was Man.
He desires us to love Him as children love their father, not simply to obey instincts as animals do or run on a programme like mechanical toys.
The result, as God knew, would be that most men & women would prefer their own way to such a degree that human nature would become the great opposer (or “satan”) to God in His world.
Sin brought death and all the suffering that comes with it. Now, I am glad to say, we can return to the positive message.
Despite all the tragedy, God has been steadily working with those who do want to be His children and who do want to co-operate with Him.
Always He is seeking people who want to start again and go His way. To Noah God said “ I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation” Genesis 7:1).
To Abram (Abraham or Ibrahim) He said “Go from your country . . to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
In the New Testament, Jesus` apostle Paul explained that “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles (non-Jews) by faith,
preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying `in you shall all the nations be blessed`” (Galatians 3:8).
When Abraham`s family had grown to many hundreds of thousands God said to them “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples“ (Exodus 19:5).
The later books of the Bible show us that although most of these people chose to please themselves, there were many who chose to go God`s way. In the lives of all these people, God was working.
The Bible shows Him as a God of action – not only a Being with high thoughts and moral principles but a God who shows Himself in what He does.
The Bible is filled with references to God`s activities – rescuing Israel from Egypt, leading them to the land promised to their father Abraham, bringing foreign armies against them when they went badly astray,
having mercy and restoring them when they repented and turned back to Him. Psalms 103 through 107 are meditations on history – mainly Jewish history - from this point of view.
Students of Bible prophecy know that God still works in human affairs today.
60 years ago He allowed Israel to have their own state again, after they had been scattered for nearly 2,000 years (Jeremiah 30:11,18; Ezek 36:24; Luke 21:20-24).
Europe, after being torn apart by wars for centuries has come together in the European Union; a kind of revival of the Roman Empire (Revelation 16:17-19; 17:12-14).
These things are proof that God is still working: they are also signs that before long Jesus will be here as King, to judge the world with righteousness.
The nations are lining up for the great conflict called `Armageddon`, as the Bible foretold.
God is still working with individuals too, and He wants to work with you and me.
The Apostle Paul speaking in Athens explained that when God made the world and suited the various races of people to different climates, it was with the intention “that they should seek God,
in the hope that they may feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is not far from each one of us, for `in Him we live and move and have our being`
” (Acts 17:27-8). God wants to guide our lives now, and give us a place in this glorious Kingdom here on earth when Jesus returns as King. He will not force us however. He gave us freewill, remember, so we have to be willing.
English queries:
.
What The Bible Says
