childoftheking Posted May 21, 2019 Group: Non-Trinitarian Followers: 6 Topic Count: 62 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 842 Content Per Day: 0.46 Reputation: 111 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/24/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted May 21, 2019 3 hours ago, JohnD said: Alright. But given all that God had to endure to the end of time... was it worth it? Just wondering. That actually is an excellent question. I believe since He knew beforehand, that basically at any given time in the history of mankind, only 10/15% of the Earth's population would actually believe in Him and serve Him as their Lord and Savior...the answer would have to be "YES!!" Knowing this, He still spoke everything into existence, including His own path to the Cross for our Redemption and Salvation. Yes, He did die for Everyone who will ever be an egg and seed becoming a zygote in a mother's womb. But He literally ran to the Cross, for those of us who would not deny Him and accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. When it's all said and done, basically 45 Billion people will have denied Him and His existence, while only 5 billion (if that) will have invited Him into their hearts and lives. And this all began, by Him picking a single group of people out to call His own. And had He not made provision to allow the Gentiles in, that 5 Billion who have accepted Him, would be more like 50 million. And even at 50 million out of 50 Billion, He still would have ran to the Cross for them!! I would therefore conclude, that to Him, it has been worth it. And we are talking about a God (that if the "GAP Theory" is correct), has destroyed His Creation at least once, and possibly twice, if the Hebrew is correct and Genesis 1:1 actually meant a completed Earth with life of all forms existing on it!! He even repented for Creating humanity!! So somewhere within the mind of God, He has reasoned and believed it has been "Worth It.".. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Hartono Posted May 21, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 770 Topics Per Day: 0.34 Content Count: 6,929 Content Per Day: 3.07 Reputation: 1,979 Days Won: 1 Joined: 02/15/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted May 21, 2019 Tell them God is Alpha and Omega ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takoda Posted May 28, 2019 Group: Non-Conformist Theology Followers: 1 Topic Count: 1 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 137 Content Per Day: 0.07 Reputation: 52 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/11/2019 Status: Offline Birthday: 05/27/1943 Share Posted May 28, 2019 On 5/19/2019 at 6:18 PM, JohnD said: For those who try to limit God to the physics of beginning, middle, and end... they should consider what even atheists concede to: For the universe to even exist something (someone) had to be eternal... which is existence without beginning or end. I am a Christian, not an atheist, but I have no trouble envisioning the universe itself as eternal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lftc Posted August 19, 2019 Group: Senior Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 536 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 323 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/16/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted August 19, 2019 Good Question Nickm727 I like it because it opens the door to understanding a little bit. I like several of the reponses. My response : We humans are created beings. The most learned of us cannot even hold in his/her mind all the knowledge they have gained. And all the knowledge we have gained is by definition contained inside of human existence. We can imagine things outside of human existence, but on examination, our imaginations are quite human. Science Fiction books and movies portray human ideas set in outlandish environments. The protagonist is still a person that has a single thought sequence and some very human emotions for us readers to relate with. Some may attempt to get further away (remember the Borg?), but still the result is remarkably human. God, to be God, is NOT human. The existence of God, by necesity, encompasses human existence. Accepting this as fact, leads us to realize that any attempt we make to conceptualize God is inherently limited. So we have difficulty. I believe that the Bible is from God. I see that He describes his attributes in ways that are difficult for us to understand, so then He provides a lot of examples to help with those definitions. I am talking about things like Love, Mercy, Faith, Hope. But He does not even attempt to explain several things about his existence: - We see by inference that He can hear us all at the same time. Currently 7 billionish people, most of whom speak or yell at Him multiple times a day. Each expecting that God is giving them full attention. I believe He is. - We see by inference that there is something beyond us in his essence: He refers to himself as Father, Son and Spirit, sometimes in passages including conversation between those. But He emphatically says there is One God. I believe it. Both parts. - We see by inference that He had no beginning, which is the subject of this question in the forum. Fine with me. Having realized that there is a Being that is outside Human existence, I realize that I can't analyze ANYTHING in that greater existence without Revelation. And I have learned enough to know that revelation that comes from God is trustworth, but there are other beings in that existence that are definitely NOT trustworthy, so I better be careful. A similar question that has been popular in years past: "If God can do anything, can He make a rock so big He can't pick it up?" Which is another excellent starting point, as it leads again to the fundamental issue that our human existence is not the sum of all existence. So to answer the person who asks who made God, the first response is why don't you ask him yourself? It is an excellent journey. lftc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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