Believe. (What if God was one of us?)
To Believe or not to Believe, this is the Answer. I do, you however may not. Do each of us have the God given right to believe? I think not. Why? Simply because of a few verses in Romans, 9:21-23. Religious Folk may quickly reach for the time honoured classic response to my wild heathenistic accusation namely 2nd Peter 3:9 and parade this verse in the ignorance mentioned in 2nd Peter 3:16. But on closer examination of the opening verse of 2nd Peter Chp 1, we see that Peter was not including all of Humanity in his epistle, but those of “like precious faith”. So we see that the Usward mentioned in this pivotal verse is exclusionary of all those lost souls not yet, nor ever to have their names written in that most exclusive of manuscripts mentioned in Revelations 20:15, ie The Book of Life.
“For By thy Words thou shalt be justified, and by thy Words thou shalt be condemned” is a very reassuring passage in Matthew 12:37, particularly when considered in light of Ephesians 2:8 and 9 and also Romans 10:9 and 10. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD JESUS. But wait a minute, If Jesus is Lord and His Dad is also Lord, I count two Lords. Surely Two Lords contradicts Ephesians 4:5, “ONE Lord, One Faith…” etc. So does the word Lord mean the same in the New Testament as the Old Testament? Paul obviously thought it did when he asked Jesus (on the Damascan Road) …”Who art thou, LORD? And the LORD said, I AM Jesus whom thou persecutest…” So the response to the Israelite Paul when enquiring of the Lord God Of Creation , Are You God?; And being told by the Lord God Of Creation “ I AM JESUS… must have confused and astonished Paul to the point of Trembling. Paul’s entire focus had been rounding up and returning those “Heretics” to the Judgement Seat and then through a Revelation Of Jesus Christ, three days later, having received his “Sight” and strength, Paul entered straight away into the Synagogues and preached, Jesus Christ is God.
Why 1st Timothy 3:16 Now? Why not? We have to Face It sooner or Later. Ok then, Hebrews 1:8 now and then back to Timothy! “But unto the Son (OF GOD) he saith, THY THRONE O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER: A SEPTRE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE SEPTRE OF THY KINGDOM. WOW! God The Father Declaring That HIS SON IS GOD! And NOW Timothy 3:16 …And without Controversy GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS: GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH, Justified in the Spirit, Seen of Angels… God was manifest in the flesh, reminds me of another neat little verse in John1:14…And the Word (Of GOD) Was made FLESH, and DWELT AMONG US,….Kind of makes me wonder why certain Religious people hold up a Bible and declare “This is “THE WORD OF GOD” when the Bible itself Claims That JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD. And remember Paul on the Damascan Road Being Spoken to by Jesus (the Word Of God), it seems to me there was a bit of a precedent set when Jesus Spoke Personally to one of his Servants, a precedent which was already Broadcast in John 10:27 “MY sheep HEAR MY VOICE, and I know them, and they FOLLOW ME. Ok, that sounds a Lot like the Commandment Jesus gave to His DISCIPLES at the outset of his Ministry, when Jesus would walk up to complete strangers and Command them to Follow Him, and they obeyed Him and DID. Maybe not much (if anything) has changed since then.
I Believe, because I have the same choice as every other FRIEND of GOD…NONE. Simply put, IF GOD WANTS YOU, GOD GETS YOU…If your name is written in the Book of Life, You are Going Home. HE bought the whole field, the wheat and the tares, that HE might Harvest the Wheat. If you’re not sure if you are wheat or tares, A.S.K. Matthew 7:7, Ask Seek Knock…A.S.K. And so be it. (AMEN).