My final entry for the day will focus on Zhuang Mao's 2 questions.
Q1. Firstly, if all were to be saved, surely many will enjoy eternal bliss, rather than suffer for eternity? In this sense, we do not know just how many people will actually be saved. How then can we say that God's creation has caused the suffering?
Secondly, we can never fathom existence outside of time, in the same way that a 2D object (hypothetical living thing, for the sake of illustration) will never understand the concept of volume, perspective and 3D trigonometry. Therefore, we do not know God's plan, at least not in its entirety. The ending has not been revealed. However, one thing we know for sure - we hold the key to His Kingdom in our hands, as co-inheriters of Christ's legacy. Our job, then, is to ensure that God's promised eternal bliss will be shared with as many as possible. By our very limited nature, we can never fully comprehend the ways of our Lord, unless He tells us (and even then we may be confounded).
Rest assured that our God will explain these things to us eventually. Also, God is a righteous and just God. No deserving person will be denied a place in Heaven. His judgement will surely be beyond our imaginings, and will definitely be above reproach!
Q2. From the perspective of a Christian, the answer is as follows. Link up with the Lord, and listen to His voice. God's Word (the Bible) is a useful resource. His Word is complete, meaning all the answers one needs lies therein. People will always deceive and be deceived. Yet, by testing information against the Word of God, we can ascertain the veracity of the information. If there is no way to verify certain facts, then perhaps we want to ask ourselves this - is this piece of information critical to the foundations of our faith? Will the uncertainty associated with it cause any real problems? If we were to confront these things critically and not based on our preconceived notions or romanticised imageries of reality, then we realise that at the end of the day the information is probably NOT important. Take, for example, the question of whether Jesus was married. Honestly, is it a problem? If Jesus were married (which is not to say that He was. I personally believe He wasn't), does it detract from His holiness? No. Getting married is a God-ordained ritual. Is it foul? Is it sinful? Perhaps only in the hearts of the wicked is sexual intercourse a thing of taboo (how do the first humans multiply if they did not perform intercourse?). There is
nothing dirty about it, except that which we choose to associate with it. Numerous examples I can cite to you, but they are really the pursuits of the worldly man. This is probably the type of wisdom that the Teacher in Eccelsiates calls meaningless - knowledge and information without a focus on God!
There are so many other things that can be said of the second question, but we remember a few keypoints. 1.) The truth will not contradict God's Word (there is of course the problem of metaphorical expressions); 2.) Pedantic approaches to God's work and His Word will result in meaningless pursuits. Instead, focus on the spiritual aspects which are often neglected; 3.) A faith based entirely on knowledge and information is akin to a house built on sandy ground; it will not stand when the waves come against it. Build the house on a foundation of stone, which is grounded in the Truth and based on a spiritual relationship with God, doing His will as He commands us.
I am sure there are more things to talk about with regards to these two questions. Feel free to comment! I think this is a good chance to clear up doubts!
Regards,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
