In the two worlds, we have what is known as two world views. There are but two foundational ways in which to look at the world. One is from man’s reason, and the other is from GOD’s reason. If you can think of any other way, please do let this writer know.

Now within the realm of man’s reason, there is as much variety in reasoning as there is number of humans on the planet at any given moment. On the other hand, if it is GOD’s reason, then we are looking at the GOD of the Bible Who claims to be the Creator of all things and He is eternal – having no beginning or end.

How do these two views compare? GOD is one, and man is many. God is eternal, and man is temporal (non-eternal). GOD has infinite (unlimited) knowledge, wisdom, understanding, power, and glory. Man is finite (limited) in knowledge, wisdom, understanding, power and glory. No man would in his right mind deny man’s limitations. As the era of computers and big data become prevalent, there are some men who believe it will be possible to have a repository of all knowledge at man’s fingertips in an instant. Even so, man cannot grasp and absorb it all. On the other hand, as the Creator, GOD not only can grasp it all, but He is the Author of it all.

GOD’s nature is such that He is, by His own declaration, immutable (unchangeable). Man is constantly changing (mutable). For man, one day adultery is wrong, and the next it is o.k. (right even). One day homosexuality is wrong, and the next day it is elevated above heterosexuality. One day free speech is o.k., and the next it must be controlled. You get the picture. In GOD’s law, it never changes. What was wrong with GOD 5,000 years ago is still wrong today!

That thinking is where the great divide (worldviews) takes place. Man does not want to be told what to do or not do. The problem is that if GOD is not allowed to tell them what to and not to do, then man will take the place of GOD. That will make man’s laws appear arbitrary and unreliable to follow and obey. It leads to chaos as was the case in the days Judges 21:25 and of Jeremiah 9:14. In both cases we’re seeing what happens when there is no “objective” authority. GOD is “objective” because He is outside of His creation and can look upon it dispassionately so to speak. On the other hand, man is in the middle of the creation, and is viewing it “subjectively” which often means very passionately! In other words man is both biased about his environment, and affected by it as well.

Man’s emotions of joy, anger, fear, sadness, bitterness, despair suspicion, loneliness, heartache and whatever else there is are all a result of what is going on around them. Other men are affecting their lives for good, bad or somewhere in between. And, everyone’s situation will be different. One man may be happy because he has lots of money, but sad because his health has deteriorated. Another man may have heartache because his wife committed adultery, but he may have joy that he has son he loves and who pleases him. There is also a variation on the intesity of one’s feelings (emotions) such that anger could lead to murder, or simply to a spiteful rebuke. Joy could lead to buying someone a gift, or getting drunk. Everyone’s situation is different, and everyone’s response to the various situations (stimulus) are different. Everyone is an individual with individual emotions.

For that reason, in a civil society, there are codified laws instituted against murder and public drunkenness. There are no laws against buying someone a gift, and indeed that can be a very good thing. But what if someone buys that gift on credit, and it’s an expensive gift to boot? The person who bought the gift is now in debt and may not be able to pay the due bill! There are consequences in a civil society for not paying your bills!

These consequences are arrived at by consensus (combination of multiple opinions). In Dallas, Texas, public drunkenness might be punished by a $500 fine and three nights in jail. In Los Angeles, California, the punishment might be 90 days probation (be good for 90 days and no consequences). The offense is the same, but the consequences differ. That’s not fair.

On the other hand under the objective authority of GOD, public drunkenness would be punished according to GOD’s sense of justice and mercy. In the book of Deuteronomy 21:19 – 21, a drunkard could receive the death penalty. In the case of Noah, his drunkenness was not public so to speak, but his son Ham saw it in Genesis 9:21, made it public in 22, and Ham’s brothers were merciful and loving and covered their father’s sin in 23. Noah suffered shame, but not death. Man would say “that’s not fair”, and in a sense, it isn’t from man’s perspective, but GOD’s objective is not to be “fair”, but to be just and merciful. Noah’s actions were not habitual and defiant, where in Deuteronomy, the son’s ways were habitual and defiant.

There is no justice without mercy; for every offense, there are different motivations and causations. Each must be looked at with a degree of balance between justice and mercy. The law of man cannot discern these nuances effectively because man can not look into the heart of a person to tell if they are truly repentant and contrite, or just feigning those attributes to gain sympathy and to get off the hook so to speak. On the other hand, GOD knows the heart of all men I Kings 8:39. As such, He can justly make a determination as to whether mercy is appropriate, or justice is appropriate.

King David was an adulterer (Bathsheba) and a murderer of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah. Yet, GOD did not take David’s life, although he did not leave him without consequences for his actions. He lost the child he had adulterously fathered with Bathsheba. GOD declared that David was “a man after His own heart!” Why was that? It was because David recognized his sin and repented of it. Failure to repent of one’s sins is a death penalty. The wages of sin is death Romans 6:23 and the gift of GOD is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

This is where the rubber meets the road. If you want eternal life (and who doesn’t?), then you must repent and believe Mark 1:15. Jesus Christ was not crucified because He offered eternal life. He was crucified because of the conditions He set forth for people to have eternal life. You had to first repent. That means change your ways. You must stop sinning. Of course to stop being a sinner is not possible until Heaven. But hating your sin and turning as much as you can from it by GOD’s grace is where you need to be. Upon repenting, you must believe that Jesus Christ is your LORD and SAVIOR. In other words, His laws (the whole Bible) and His work of being the perfect sacrifice of GOD (perfect obedience and shed blood on the cross) combined with Him being LORD of lords, KING of kings and GOD of gods established who He was and and is, and what our duty to Him is.

Man, who is saved by Christ, must love him with all his heart, soul, mind and strength and obey (keep his commands John 14:15 – 24). The result of which is Romans 6:23b “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” If you don’t obey, you will have eternal death in Hell Matthew 5:29, Matthew 23:33, Luke 12:5, Luke 16:23, and II Peter 2:4. People don’t like to be threatened with Hell, and they like it even less when they find out that they have no contol over the situation. See Romans 9:21! Yes, man does not like to be told what to do or what not to do. But to GOD, that is entirely irrelevant.

If you have such hubris that you cannot submit to the GOD of creation who gives you every breath you take, who shines the sun upon you, and rains from heaven upon you and who blesses you with so much abundance, then you are truly to be pitied. Repent and believe! The alternative is not only grim, but it is FOEVER!

Pensiamento Peligroso