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WHO? "Who is the Lord," demanded Pharaoh of Moses and Aaron, "that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?" (Exodus 5:2). "And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" demanded Nebuchadnezzar of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3:15. Who is this God who says that at the end of time He will send His angels to take "vengeance on those who know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)? people ask today. The people of Athens, Greece, also wanted to know the answer and Paul, the apostle, declared unto his hearers, "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; . . ." and that the Godhead was not "like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" ( Acts 17:24-29). There is the only one God (Isaiah 44:8). He is the everlasting God (Isaiah 40:28). He is the Lord God (Genesis 15:8). He is the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1). He is the eternal God (Deuteronomy 33:27). He is the living God (Matthew 16:16). He is the all-knowing God (1 John 3:20). He is the all-seeing God (Psalms 139:7-12). He is the all-powerful God (Jeremiah 32:17). He is good (Psalms 34:8). He is love (1 John 4:8, 16). He is peace (Philippians 4:7). He is merciful (Lamentations 3:22). He is just (Revelation 15:3). He forgives (1 John 1:9). He is longsuffering (Numbers 14:18). He is never far from His children (Acts 17:27). 1 Peter 3:12 reads, "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." He is the creator. The first five words of the Holy Scriptures state, "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). Isaiah 40:12 tells us that He "measured the waters in the hollow of His hand . . . and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance!" Isaiah 40:22 tells us that "It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth," and Isaiah 66:1 reveals that the earth is His footstool. The Psalmist in Psalms 102:25-27 tells us this about God: "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end." WHY? Revelation 4:11 tells us that God "hast created all things," and for His pleasure "they are and were created." God knows the names of all the stars (Psalms 147:4). "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork" (Psalms 19:1). He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30). God knows all about us (Psalms 139:1-16). HOW? "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day" (Exodus 20:11). God "spake, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast" (Psalms 33:6, 9). Genesis 2:7 says "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Then Genesis 2:18, 21-23 reveals that from a rib of Adam, God formed the first woman. Instructions, commandments, laws were given to this man and woman. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:24, "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day." John wrote in 1 John 5:3,"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." WHAT IS OUR DESTINY? Yet death will come to us all. In Ecclesiastes 12:7 Solomon wrote," Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shallreturn unto God who gave it." "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered . . . " (Hebrews 9:27-28). The eternal God in the heavens had a plan from the beginning (John 1:1-2). John 3:16 reveals, "God so loved the world, that He gave Hisonly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Peter in Acts 2:36, said "that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ"; and it is Christ's command that we know, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15-16). "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble," Job
tells us in Job 14:1.
God's plans include eternal life with Him in heaven (John
14:1-3); but His plans also include a place for the evil, the ungodly,
the unbelievers and disobedient to His will. This is a place of torment
called hell (Revelation 21:8).
Our God is "not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9). There is a picture of heaven in Revelation 21:1-4, Revelation 21:24-27. It is a place where there will be "no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." And God will dwell with His people "and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Each day as "we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28), here on this earth that He has made so beautiful (Ecclesiastes 3:11), we can trust Him for He gives us assurance in His Son, and the privilege to become His sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:17-18), and most of all to address Him as "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matthew 6:9). Such a Supreme Being manifested in all that is around us is worthy to receive glory and honor and praise. Let us praise and thank Him for His holiness (2 Chronicles 20:21), for His grace (Ephesians 1:6), for His goodness (Psalms 135:3), for His lovingkindness (Psalms 138:2), and for His love (1 John 4:10). "Blessed be His glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen" (Psalms 72:19). |