Christian Living
According to Atheists, Christians have a very distorted sense of reality. Atheists say that Christians are foolish for dedicating their entire lives to an unseen God. But the focus of this entry is not on Atheists. Look below the surface at those who DO believe in God – those within the church – and you’ll find that many believers view this Biblical concept of absolute dedication to God to be just as ridiculous and inconvenient to their own lives. Why is this the case among so many believers today? Well, I’m here to share with you just how much today’s Christian church, like the world, has “evolved” since it first began. Each of the next several entries will deal with different false teachings or ideas often accepted as truth in many of today’s congregations. But first, I want to share with you throughout the rest of this entry the thoughts that led me to write about this problem. I’m writing to you with urgency as it seems the time for The Lord’s return is approaching soon and I hope you will stick around to read what He has laid on my heart.
Some who are reading this may already be thinking, “Oh boy, another one of those crazy Christians who’s all about the end times.” I know – people have been saying for years that Jesus is coming soon, right? Well, many believe that it could be September of this year – 2015. I won’t even begin to get into the blood moons, Shemitah years, Pope Francis, the “sevens” in Daniel, and the 7,000 years. But I will say it looks VERY possible that something will happen soon. Either way, to The Lord Jesus, “soon” is all the time, as He says at the very end of Revelation, “Yes, I am coming soon” (vs. 20). Therefore, we must ALWAYS be ready, as He counsels us numerous times in Scripture. I believe that many people who claim to be Christians will be completely caught off guard when He does return – even if they have extensively researched the end time events. And this is my main reason for writing. We must believe Jesus when He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Many people look for an “escape from reality” in the form of books, movies, and TV shows. Movies like The Matrix and Equilibrium portray an alternate or “higher” reality. Similarly, the theme of most fairy tales illustrates an alternate reality through a curse cast by an evil power that needs to be defeated. In the popular TV series Once Upon A Time, an evil queen casts a spell that can only be broken by the main character, Emma Swan, who is called the “savior.” Anyways, you get the point – authors and producers have continued to use this theme throughout the years because people like to imagine that there’s more to what we see. But here’s what’s crazy and what many of us forget…we’re LIVING the theme right now! In fact, we’ve been living it for thousands of years. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the fruit and sin came into the picture, this world has been cursed. Here we are thinking that these fairytales and fantasies are so entertaining, yet we don’t stop to think about how mind-blowing it is that JESUS is Savior of the World – the One Who breaks the curse.
Now, here’s why we don’t stop to think about all of this… we’ve become so wrapped up in building lives for ourselves that we FORGET we’re living in a cursed world – a world that we were originally condemned to as a punishment by God Himself. We are so focused on living the American Dream, that many of us don’t feel the need to depend on God. But Adam and Eve were lost without Him. Genesis tells us that they were ashamed after they were kicked out of the Garden, but the First Book of Adam and Eve describes the deep remorse and agony they actually experienced, even seven months after their removal from the Garden. They were in such distress that they literally committed suicide several times, only to be revived back to life by God each time. For the sake of not turning this entry into a novel, I won’t go into detail about the book, but if you’d like to check it out, here is a link: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/index.htm#section_000
Side Note: Okay, so you might be thinking, “You don’t even know if this book is true, or inspired by God.” You’re right – I don’t know for certain, considering the book and it’s sequel, the Second Book of Adam and Eve are apocryphal books. In fact, when I was introduced to these books about two years ago, I clearly remember one instance from the first book in which God is addressing Adam, saying “you and Me.” In Genesis, when God is talking to humankind, He always puts Himself first, saying “Me and you”, because no one comes before Him. That, along with a few other contradictions with Genesis led me to question the validity of these books. However, it’s possible that there are explanations for these inconsistencies. More importantly, I haven’t found the books to disrespect The Lord and, if anything, they magnify Him. Either way, whether the books are accurate or not, we must remember that Adam and Eve were REAL people who were actually kicked out of the presence of God – the trauma they undoubtedly experienced from that moment onward cannot be denied.
Some may be thinking, “Adam and Eve were lost without God because they weren’t used to the world like we are.” Yes, it’s true that we have “evolved” to handle the world in which we now live. And yes, God did give Adam the ability to work the ground in order to survive and “make the best of everything.” We, too, make a living by working. BUT, over time, making a living has turned into living the American Dream – nice house, nice car, happy family, vacations every year, etc. I’m definitely not saying that we shouldn’t enjoy life. I’m saying that The Lord has taken the backburner in the lives of many, and I’m mainly focusing on Christians here – people who claim to know Him. In fact, I’d venture to say that many people within the church think that living out this American Dream is more important than living for The Lord.
Before you say, “Not me”, consider that you probably can’t deny that you have the desire to live comfortably – who doesn’t, right? Okay, now let’s take it a step further – does The Lord sustain us, or do our comforts sustain us? When you think about it deeply we really do tend to lean on our comforts as the things that get us by, rather than on The Lord. And what’s even worse is that our comforts and possessions become objects of pride in that we like to compare them to what others have. But hold on a minute – as far as Adam and Eve were concerned, was anything in this world even remotely important compared to God? They were looking forward to the curse being lifted – they just wanted to be back with God in the Garden.
Do we look forward to Jesus’ return – to the curse being lifted, and Him rescuing us from this evil world? Or are we too gung-ho about living out our American Dream here? I would like for this entry to not be something that’s thought about just for a day, or maybe a few hours. My hope is that it would convince many people of the urgency to seek The Lord first in everything so that they will be prepared when He does return. BUT, as someone who’s sat through many sermons about making God number one in your life, I know that probably won’t be the case. And that is why I believe we need to get to the root of the problem – today’s “church” and it’s flawed teachings – because I’m convinced that this cannot truly sink in until these misconceptions are exposed. And that’s what we’ll be doing in the next several entries – revealing the correct teachings as laid out in Scripture. It’s my prayer that The Lord provides me with the time, words, and both humility and fire to convey this information which I KNOW to be true. I also pray that, while these concepts may be difficult to accept, readers will be reassured that I am writing out of love and that The Lord’s care extends far beyond what mine can.
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