Posted by Dena on February 22, 2003, at 18:30:45
In reply to Re: family and belief, posted by rayww on February 21, 2003, at 14:26:09
> God leads everyone, so why don't we all end up in the same place? Life would be pretty unchallenged wouldn't it? There seems to be a place for everyone, and everyone's in their place. Bloom where you are planted. Nourish the seeds of faith within. I guess as we nourish our own seeds we interconnect, and once the whole world is interconnected we are in the same place. Cool.
It sounds cool, but it's just not true. It's not God's plan. In order to fit in with His plan, we've got to do things His way. I mean, He's the Creator - we're just His creation, so even our best guesses & best attempts to "make it" fall pitifully short.He's perfect & we're not. We're all born separated from Him, unable to find a way to Him on our own. But because He loves us, each of us, He made a way for us to find Him. He became like us when He sent Jesus to live with us; Jesus is 100% God & 100% human at the same time (we don't get it, it's just one of those mysteries). He lived the perfect life we never could, & when He died, He overcame the power of sin and death.
Each of us then has a choice. We can either accept that we need a Way to God, & gratefully accept Jesus as That Way... Or we can refuse God's gift (of Jesus) & insist on doing things our own way.
But Jesus Himself said that He is the only way to the Father. So by refusing to accept Him as Savior, we stay in our state of separation from God. There is no other way to God. All other apparent ways are deceptions. If we stay in our separation from God until we die, we will continue to exist in eternal separation, also known as hell.
Jesus also said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13,14)
Jesus is the narrow gate - few find Him. All paths do not lead to God. The whole world will not interconnect, because most people will insist on finding their own way rather than surrendering to God through His only way: Jesus.
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:200423
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20021227/msgs/202903.html