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Friday, January 1, 2010

Whose side are you on?


Whose side are you on?
The Main Issue Sovereignty
Why did God not destroy Adam and Eve and start over with another human pair? Because God's universal sovereignty, that is, his right to rule, had been challenged. The question was, Who has the right to rule, and whose rule is right? By extension, Could humans do better if not ruled by God? In allowing them enough time to experiment with total freedom, God would establish once and for all whether they are better off under his rule or their own. The time allowed had to be long enough for humans to try all types of political, social, economic, and religious systems apart from God's guidance.
What has been the result? Thousands of years of human history tell us that there has been more and more suffering. In the past century, the human family has experienced the worst suffering ever. Millions were murdered during the Holocaust. Over 100 million have been slaughtered in wars. Crime and violence are rampant. Drug abuse is epidemic. Sexually transmitted diseases continue to spread. Tens of millions die each year of hunger and disease. Family life and moral values have broken down everywhere. No human government has the answers to these problems. Not one of them has overcome aging, sickness, and death.
The human condition is just as the Bible foretold for our times. God's Word identifies our era as "the last days" of this system of things when "critical times hard to deal with will be here." And just as the Bible said, 'wicked men and impostors have advanced from bad to worse.' —2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13.
Suffering Is Near Its End

All the evidence shows that we are nearing the end of man's tragic experiment in independence from God. It has been clearly demonstrated that rulership by humans apart from God can never succeed. Only God's rulership can bring peace, happiness, perfect health, and everlasting life. So Jehovah's toleration of wickedness and suffering is nearing its end. Soon God will intervene in human affairs by destroying this entire unsatisfactory system of things.
Bible prophecy says: "In the days of those kings [human rulerships now existing] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom [in heaven] that will never be brought to ruin. . . . It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [present rulerships], and it itself will stand to times indefinite." (Daniel 2:44) The vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty, his right to rule, by his heavenly Kingdom is the central teaching of the Bible. Foretelling a key part of the sign of "the last days," Jesus said: "This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come ."—Matthew 24:14.


When the end comes, who will survive?

The Bible answers: "The upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth." (Proverbs 2:2 1, 22) The upright are those who learn Jehovah's will and do it. Jesus Christ said: "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ." (John 17:3) Yes, "the world is passing away. . . , but he that does the will of God remains forever."— 1 John 2:17.

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Christian view the Bible as the inspired Word of God, absolute truth, beneficial for teaching and disciplining mankind.