THE GLORY OF GOD’S CALLING TO MEN

It is written that God has called for all men everywhere to repent. That is to
come to understand what they have been doing wrong and turn away from
that way to the way of God.

This call to everyone is not pleasant to some. First a man must know that
God is and then that there are benefits to those who choose to obey him.

If you are one of those that is having a problem believing that God exists, I
suggest that you read my blog concerning your world view. In it I explain
why logical men believe in God by showing that there is no real alternative.
The thoughts that I share there cannot be resolved without there being a real
God who created the universe. You can’t logically get a universe without the
concept of God because that takes logic and laws which needs a lawmaker.

So God exists. What is so glorifying about a call from him to live a certain
way?

I remember as a child the motivation that was put before me in most church
services was,” to escape from the fires of hell.” Every day would be Sunday
bye and bye.” Hey it didn’t sound that interesting, but at least I wouldn’t be
burning and feeling pain forever! If that’s the choice, I thought, its sounds
booring but its kind of a no brainer there.

Studying the scriptures prayfully totally changed my mind about the calling.

I saw that everything was put together in pieces that needed to be put
together. The Bible even said so. It went further; it said that every man
would need God’s help to do it. The pieces would then fit perfectly and no
one could show a crack in it.

I found that the wages of sin is death. That is what’s taught in the Bible. No,
everlasting life in Hell fire is not the punishment for sin. I found that Jesus is
part of the family of God and that they made man in their image.

Then I found that God made man to (image, imitate, go through, deal with)
similar things as himself. Man goes through a similar type process of
making children in his own image as God is. It’s written. “I have said that ye
are gods and all of you are children of the most high” is spoken to all those
called and who accepts the calling. In one place God spake about those he
calls his people as being as the apple (pupil) of his eye. You know how you
protect your face when anything comes near your eyes. They are very
precious to you.

In fact one scripture asks, “What is man that God has his mind full of him?”

In the book of Hebrews, the Apostle Paul points out that God not only made
man a little lower than angels but has crowned him with glory and honor in
Christ. He further notes how that it will not be Angels in charge of the world
to come but us.

The things that the early church must have understood, that is lost to us
today after the falling away that has taken place. The Apostles noting what
Jesus told them in Matthew the 24th chapter mentioned that the professing
church would turn to fables and be turned away from the truth.

Now think about it. This is something so important to God that those
accepting the calling are like the pupil of his eye. The scripture says that
Angels desire to look deeper into it. That says to me that the Eternal intends
some of this to be a mystery. This is some serious stuff.

The scriptures indicate that God created Angels long before man was
created. We don’t know how long. For those who think that God did nothing
until he created the universe about, they say 6000 years ago, you need to
reconsider.

Two words you should look up that is mentioned in the Hebrew description
of the creation. The words are ASAH and BARA. One, asah, means to make
or reform out of something already there. The other means to make
something new that didn’t exist.

It may interest you to know that the Bible which the apostles often quoted
scripture from (SEPTUAGINT) was written and read this way. In the
beginning God created the heavens and the Earth and the earth became
formless and void.

Now listen, the proof of this is in your Bible. Before the very first day of the
six days of creation everyone mentions, the Spirit of God is said to move
upon the face of the waters. Friends, if waters are there, the earth is there. If
the earth is there, it is only one of the planets. Also there is no reason to not
believe the sun is there also. All elements are in existence, before God takes
6 days and fires the sun back up and create living creatures to ONCE
AGAIN live on this planet.

The Book of Revelation speaks about the mystery, how that during the voice
of the 7th trumpet, the mystery of God would be finished. But in Jeremiah the
4th chapter may be another hint of this whole mystery. Even though God is
speaking to his people, he seems to reference back to the beginning that we
are speaking of, USING THE EXACT Hebrew phrase translated “without
form and void.”

22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish
children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to
do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved
lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens
were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities
thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce
anger.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, the whole land shall be desolate; yet will
I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black:
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will
I turn back from it. (Jeremiah 4: 22-28)

Notice being without form and void, does not mean, does not exist.

This is the subject for another blog, but there are other passages that indicate
and earth with inhabitants’ prior to this one, one that is mentioned as a type
of and Eden itself.
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto
him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum (seems that was all
there were), full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was
thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and
the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the
workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day
that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou
wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the
midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till
iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee
with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out
of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the
midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground; I will
lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. (Ezekiel 28)

Notice, God is really comparing what a human did to some other creature.
That creature is a Cherub (type of Angel) Satan the Devil.

So we are in the midst of something that God chooses to give us enough

information to make decisions, but we don’t know it all yet, but we will.

This devil, that Jesus said that he saw fall from heaven like lightning and
whom he called the father of lies apparently, as scripture says, rebelled.

He didn’t want to tell the truth all the time and Jesus said that he only comes
to steal, kill or destroy. Scripture even says that he was able to persuade a
third of the angels to follow his way.

Those creatures now, according to scripture, have formed a hierarchical

structure of power. It is a spiritual organization of super beings bent on
deception. The Scripture says that he deceives the whole world.

Did you know that at one point, the devil knew what Christ came to do and
offered Jesus ruler ship over all nations if Jesus would only do him homage?
That act alone tells us all we need to know about Satan.

What does all this have to do with the calling, you may ask?
The Scriptures says that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but
principalities and powers in heavenly places. Apparently, God chose not to
destroy Satan immediately. Think about it. If he had, would He look like a
God of love or some tyrant?

You might say, well that’s what happens when you have super creatures that
have free will. You can end up wrecking a universe.

Well God has chosen, not to abandon free will, but to do what he is doing
with man. A new creation, for which, he is allowing man a part in recreating
himself.

Being corrupted by his own brilliance, Satan believes that everyone should
be allowed to do whatever he wants by any means necessary.

He knows that he cannot fight God and win so he had hoped to win with
those ideas that I mentioned above. Then seeing God create man and saying
that he will be in his very own image, he sought to corrupt man, and did.

God being smarter didn’t fully let men in on everything and has had mercy
on him. Here is a screamer. Satan knows that all laws of the universe works
certain ways and that if man broke one of them he would have to die or did
he know? After all God didn’t allow him (the devil) to die immediately.

In fact after God told the newly created man that if he disobeyed, he would
surely die, Satan told the man that God was lying and that he wouldn’t die
but become like God knowing the difference between good and evil.

I have wondered, if Satan thought he had God caught between a rock and a
hard place. If he doesn’t kill me he breaks his own principals that God
claims upholds the whole universe. If he kills me, He will have to kill those
created in his image.

So what God had planned before he created man was that if this corruption
happened, he would come and die himself. That member of the God family
called Jesus, who actually did the creating. Everything is of God and by
Christ.
A little side light is the word God in Hebrew is Elohim. “Im” is used in
Hebrew like the letter “s” is in English, to make plural. So where the Bible
says in the beginning God (Elohim) said let “US” make man, it is plural.

When Jesus cries out at the point of death when being crucified, he uses the
singular, “eloi, eloi, (My God, My God) why have thou forsaken me?”
Consider what this means. If something broke his laws in the universe and
he has assured all that nothing functions against those laws, this thing or
entity must cease to function. If it’s living it will cease to function (die).

Now if the creator of those laws dies, doesn’t the whole universe come
crumbling down? God chose to use what we call time so that certain things
are accomplished, but make no doubt about it, there must and will be new
heavens and Earth, Scripture says so. This is the lake of fire, where the
apostle Peter warns us that we had better be super beings with God’s
immortality to survive the heavens being on fire and melting with fervent
heat.

We indeed are free to follow the way of Satan, if we so choose. Do our own
thing. If we feel like it, do it. Or we can choose the way of God that
eventually brings love, peace and harmony.

Jesus has suffered and is quite willing to allow us to suffer all things of life,
weighing these things in our mind, making choices. Making a grade by
which we will gain in the resurrection for our works as well as the eternal
life given by grace to all who adhere to Christ as savior.

If being so precious in God sight that Jesus would be willing to die for us is
not exciting, there is nothing on earth that can match it. If being made a
member of God’s family is not exhilarating, I wonder what you are smoking.
If having a part of all things to come throughout the universe(s) is not the
most interesting thing ever, you are in trouble. If living for ever and being
the rulers of all God’s creation doesn’t make you want to know more about
it, open your eyes. This is a decision you will make, one way or another.

This is also the reason, we as a class of beings chosen by God to be

recreated in his own image has to go through and deal with all the sorts of
things God deals with. We must learn and persevere. We will need the
experience in the future.
As is written,” Rejoice yea heavens and “YOU” that dwell in them.”

The heavens await the manifestation of the Sons of God and every creature
that dwell in them.

Man is going around wondering if we are alone in the universe. God says no.
The rest of the beings wait for God to complete his work in us, who will
have the ruler ship over them all.

So perk up, it is a blessing to be here dealing with the mess we have been
handed. There is a purpose for it all.

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 cor 2: 9-10)

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God:
17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8: 16-23)

HEBREWS CHAPTER 1
1 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
4 ¶ Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this
day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall
be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith,
And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his
ministers a flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;
and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as
doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed:
but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation?

God has chosen to take a lower creation and with the will and participation
of those created expand his own family.

Therefore we have been called to be opposite from that which the world
sees. Instead of hate, we love. to those that show spite, kindness. Instead of
high mindedness, indentifying with the lowly. Instead of wanting to be
served, being a servant to all. Instead of getting, the idea of giving. Instead
of looking at what can be seen, we hope in that which is not seen. God will
take down the high and bring to the top that which is low. Instead of doing
whatever we want, doing what it good. God has chosen that which is weak
to over come that which is strong.
We are called to all this amazing tapestry.

Only then will we be fit to be rulers of all things and every creature that God
has.

Is it worth it to you?

Amen

Bill Sullivan