Real Drama in the Theater of the Universe

My experiences rafting wild river whitewater (levels I and II) taught me the value of alternating intense drama with thoughtful contemplation. A narrow passage on the free flowing river is very rapid, powerful and exciting but just around the bend the river might suddenly widen into the peaceful doldrums of calm placidity. During a daylong trip, the intermittent rushes and rests make for a much more satisfying adventure overall. That lesson is not lost on my writing. During the years of writing this booklet series I have often spent hours working on a single paragraph wrestling with verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives in an attempt to convey not only the idea but the feeling I wanted you to experience as you read. Sometimes I would choose a passive sentence structure over the more popular active structure because I felt that the passive in that particular case would bring you to just where I wanted you to be emotionally or intellectually at that point in the journey.

Writing uncompromising, truthful nonfiction has creative limits. For example, I’m not free to just make up things like a fictional writer does. This presents challenging boundaries for my creativity.

Trying to explain Greek and Hebrew word meanings for you in an interesting way stretched my creative talents to the limit. Some of the more complex and technical points were extremely difficult to express in a way that I hoped would not only hold your attention but also be easily understood. These were difficult challenges but the LORD showed me how to beat them.

Even though I’m writing about some very serious issues I generally write informally with contractions in a conversational style. I’ve had fun tossing in a little humor, wit and a satire. This is especially true in chapters 10 & 15. And my personal writing style and the anecdotes I tell engage your interest. Not to be overlooked is the fact that I genuinely do care about you and I know this comes through in my writing. I am, in a sense, in a relationship with you even though we may never have met. I ask you questions from time to time and you answer them in the privacy of your mind. Of course, there are flaws in my writing because I am a flawed human being; but this series of booklets, flaws and all is my creation.

I’m thankful to God that He gave me the ability and the opportunity to complete this project in His service and for His honor and glory. And I’m humbled that He even allows me to take official and legal credit for the work. When I completed the manuscript, I had in my possession an original work of my own creation — I was the author and as author, I rightfully claimed copyright authority over my creation. The manuscript belonged to me and I could legally do with it as I pleased.

In a much greater sense, God has rightful claims over the things He has created. According to Genesis 1:1, God is the Creator of the universe — in other words, He is the Author of creation. As creation’s AUTHOR, He has jurisdictional A U T H O R I T Yover His entire creation, the whole universe from heaven to earth and all the worlds beyond. He has the rightful jurisdictional authority over all intelligent beings throughout His vast creation including humans and angels.

For untold eons of time, God’s authority remained unquestioned and all His creation lived in perfect harmony and happiness under the mild sway of His Law of Love. But, as we noted in chapter 2, an insidious rebellion stealthily emerged, in what we might think of, as the most unlikely place. We think of heaven as a wonderful paradise of peace and tranquility, and it is. But the Bible tells us that a fierce war once erupted in heaven itself.

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9)

That war is still raging. Our world is the battlefield upon which this cosmic war continues to be waged. Whether we realize it or not we are each combatants fighting on one side or the other in this celestial war. In a certain sense, we are each actors on a grand stage and we each have been born for a certain work, to fill a certain place in the great drama of history. “We are made a theater unto the world, and to angels, and to men.”(1st Corinthians 4:9 margin) God’s hand has drawn back the curtain and the intelligent beings of the universe are watching us with intense interest to see how the war will play itself out.

The story of Job in the Bible is a powerful exhibition of the “theater of the universe” concept in the great controversy between Christ and Satan. You might want to take a few minutes and read at least the first two chapters of Job to see this demonstrated very convincingly.Nevertheless, Job while providing a glorious demonstration of loyalty to God before the on-looking “sons of God” (Job 1:6a; 2:1a)was himself completely unaware of his position as an actor on a grand stage with a celestial audience.

The great controversy between Christ and Satan is a real drama being played out before the universe. There is a hero in this drama — Jesus Christ, and a villain — Satan the deceiver. Various actors on the stage are also playing their lesser parts. Thus, we see that life when viewed from this standpoint is not a series of accidents. There is a script for this my friends, and you and I are filling our role as actors in the real drama, in which there is no pretense, no make believe, and in which no one pretends to be somebody else.

There is a choice, which you do have — there is a choice, which you do not have. You did not choose to be born on this stage. But you can choose whether you will play on God’s side of this drama, or the devil’s side.¹

God does not give any person existence merely for the purpose that that person may play an evil part in the great drama. In other words, God does not predetermine or predestine anyone to be evil. Nevertheless, God, foreseeing the character of each person before we are even born, arranges for each to play his or her significant part on one side or the other in the great drama of the ages.

Adding interest to the drama is the fact that some people play on God’s side for a while but grow selfish and switch sides. On the other hand, some start out on the devil’s side but God’s amazing love wins their enduring allegiance to Him.

In this chapter, we will view history, and our own lives, from the perspective of a grand theatrical display. We will view scenes in which individuals have played their parts in the great script that God has providentially arranged for them to play.

Millions of Christians believe that God deliberately predestines some people, before they are even born, to eternal life in paradise, but others to eternal torment in hell. God, they say, does this as an act of His sovereign will, wholly apart from any choice of the individuals themselves.

According to this belief system, God strikes some people with irresistible grace, which converts them and gives them irrevocable eternal life. On the other hand, He withholds grace from multitudes of other people as an act of His sovereign will. These poor, unfortunate souls cannot repent and be saved because God deliberately withholds the grace that they would need in order to repent.

According to these well intentioned but misguided Christians, God could strike everyone with irresistible grace and save us all but He chooses not to. Instead, He creates some of His children with the intent to withhold any opportunity for salvation from them; He then condemns them to never-ending torment of the most horrifying nature. These teachings are, I believe, disturbingly incongruent with the Bible’s theme that “God is Love” and that “God our Savior ... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1^st John 4:7-21; 1st Timothy 2:3-4, italics supplied)

Dear friend, Jesus knows just how to arrange circumstances in your life to lead you to truth, conviction, and conversion of heart without forcing your will. He arranges circumstances that will cause you to feel a need and then reveals His love for you through the Bible and through the kindness of converted Christians. Through His providential leading, He led you to this Bible guide. Through what you learn here and in Scripture He will lead you to love and obey Him, unless you refuse of your own free will. Jesus says to you,

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”(Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV) “Come to Me, all [you] who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke [is] easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV)

The dogma that God deliberately withholds grace from some people so that it is impossible for them to repent and receive forgiveness is based on a misinterpretation of Romans 8 & 9.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. . . .

“When Rebecca also had conceived by one, [even] by our father Isaac; (For [the children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

“What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth.

“Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? [What] if God, willing to show [his] wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory” (Romans 8:28 – 30; 9:10b – 23)

Rightly understood, this passage presents a loving and merciful Heavenly Father who is never caught by surprise. He knows which of us will accept the grace He offers even before we make the choice — yes, even before we are born. And He prepares us for our fate, some to eternal salvation and some to eternal damnation. You and I can feel secure with this all-knowing, foreknowing God running the universe.

Even so, Romans 8 & 9 might be misread and misunderstood with a hasty, careless or superficial reading. Readers with a preconceived Calvinistic bias are especially in danger of misunderstanding what Paul is saying. So let’s slow down and analyze the passage carefully and we will easily clear up any possible misreading.

Let’s begin by briefly covering the historical background behind Romans 9 as it relates to Jacob, Esau, Moses and Pharaoh. You can read the history of the lives of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25:19-49:33. In addition, you can read the story of Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus 1-15. Both passages are rather long but the stories are very dramatic and packed with intrigue. I encourage you to take your Bible and read those stories in conjunction with this chapter. You may choose to read those passages now before proceeding with this chapter. That would be very helpful but is not essential.

In a nutshell, Jacob valued God and wanted His spiritual blessing, but Esau, his elder twin brother had no real interest in God and did not appreciate spiritual things. In their cultural setting, the eldest son possessed a birthright to the spiritual blessing as well as a right to a double portion of his father’s material wealth upon the death of the father. Nevertheless, God had revealed to Jacob that he and not Esau would eventually inherit the spiritual birthright. Tragically, Jacob took matters into his own hands rather than waiting patiently on God’s timing. In a series of intrigues, Jacob acquired the spiritual birthright by taking advantage of his brother’s lack of spirituality and by deceiving his father. All this was not only wrong but also unnecessary. God would have taken the spiritual birthright from the ungrateful Esau and given it to Jacob in His own time and way.

God foreknew the kinds of choices both Jacob and Esau would make before they were even born and arranged for them to play their part in the great drama of the universe. Jacob then, even with of his character flaws, was born as one of the “vessels of mercy” and Esau as one of the “vessels of wrath.”

Romans 9 does not say that God created “the vessels of wrath” for destruction. God created all people knowing that some would become “vessels of wrath”which would ultimately go down to eternal “destruction.” The word, “fitted,”in the passage means the vessels of wrath go from one degree of corruption to another, becoming riper and riper for destruction. God knows who will be fit only for destruction even before they are born, yet He allows them to be born anyway. But because He has not withheld grace from them, they cannot argue with Him and say “Why hast thou made me thus?”

Remember, God made the first man, Adam, from the dust or, as it were, from a lump of clay. “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground.” (Genesis 2:7a) As descendants of Adam, we all have come from “the same lump” of clay. (Romans 9:21) God did not make two original human races or two Adams, one good and one bad. God made one Adam who began good, turned bad, and was then offered a way to repent and return to good. So we see, God did not make one lump of humanity for destruction and another for salvation; He made only one lump!

Because God offers grace sufficient to enable every person to exercise faith and repentance, no one need be a vessel of wrath. All humankind could be saved if only all would accept God’s mercy and enabling grace to repent and obey. It is not God’s will that any should perish. That is the clear message of the Bible.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:14-18)

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2^nd Peter 3:9)

“Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die? . . . For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live ye.” (Ezekiel 18:31-32)

“[As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die. . . ?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

“God our Savior . . . desires [all] men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”(1st Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV italics supplied)

I want to share a little illustration with you that might help us to understand what it means to be made all from “the same lump.”In the past my wife and daughters liked to make bread, and sometimes they made bread-rolls. They added yeast, honey, flour, do-pep, salt and any other necessary ingredients together. They put all these ingredients into a bread-maker and allowed it to do the kneading for them. Once the ingredients were thoroughly kneaded, they had a lump of dough. One lump! Then, if they decided to make rolls, they tore pieces of dough off from the lump and placed each of these individual pieces of dough into separate troughs in their roll-baking pan. No matter how many separate rolls they made, and no matter how differently each was shaped, the fact remained that they all came from the one original lump of dough. Once baked, they tasted and smelled identical, because they were identical in their fundamental ingredients. They all came from the same lump!

But what would have happened if the girls had had the power to insert one more little ingredient in the lump of dough, a very special ingredient called free will? Free will! Each one of those little rolls would then become a unique individual with the power to make choices. Some might choose to be good little rolls, and some might choose to be bad little rolls. Just as each little roll was made from the same original lump of dough, each unique person is made of “the same lump”of original humanity!

The girls didn’t make some rolls with the intent to throw them away, although they knew that some might spoil for one reason or another and end up in the garbage. Likewise, God did not make one “lump” of humanity for honor and another “lump” for dishonor. The Bible says that God made us all from the same lump. (See Romans 9:21) God made all humanity to have life even though He knew that some individuals would “spoil” and end up as “garbage.” It is only in that sense that He made “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.” (Romans 9:21NKJV)God is not capricious and unjust, He’s dependable and fair.

This illustration can help us to better understand the two classes of the human race — the “vessels of wrath” and the “vessels of mercy.” The whole human race was generated by one man and one woman who came out of the man. (See Genesis 2:21-23) So we all, the entire human race, came from the same lump, one lump. But God graciously gives us all free will, the power of choice. We can choose what we think about, what we look at, what we put into our bodies, how we spend our time, who we associate with. We can choose!

We have inherited a natural bent toward sin and cannot choose the good with pure motives in our own strength. But God recognizing our weakness kindly puts a gift of enmity toward sin in our hearts. (See Genesis 3:15) It’s up to us whether we will exercise that enmity or let it die. And God offers grace to anyone who will accept it by faith.

We may mistakenly attribute our good deeds to our own goodness, but according to Scripture, all good actions proceed from the influence and empowerment of God. None of us is righteous in our own right. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”(Romans 3:10)

If the Holy Spirit were to cease influencing our hearts, we would all descend immediately into anarchy, complete depravity and selfishness. It isn’t our will power or our good deeds that earn us a right standing with God. All we can do is choose to accept the gift of Christ’s righteousness and bear good fruit accordingly. “So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” (Romans 9:16) Even the faith we choose to exercise is enabled by God’s preemptive grace, which He gives to every person. “God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”(Romans 12:3b) That passage alone destroys the notion that God withholds grace from anyone! Paul sums up God’s amazingly abundant offer in the following passage.

“For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:17-18)

That passage makes it plain that God’s free-gift of grace is offered to all people. “For there is no respect of persons with God.”(Romans 2:11)

Romans 9, which we read earlier, says that Esau did not have favor with God even before birth and that Jacob did. What was it that God foreknew about the two men’s characters that caused Him to view them each so differently?

God foreknew that Jacob would accept the grace He offered and would eventually repent of his sins and receive grace and forgiveness. The dramatic account of Jacob’s full conversion is recorded in Genesis 32. His whole life had been leading up to that moment of personal struggle until He truly received the approval of God.

On the other hand, Esau never truly repented of his spurning of the spiritual birthright. Esau never experienced genuine repentance even “though he sought it carefully with tears.”(Hebrews 12:17b) Esau was sorry that his sin cost him the birthright, but he did not value the spiritual part of the birthright; he only valued the material. He was sorry for the consequences of his sins but not for the sins themselves. Esau’s sin caused suffering in the heart of God and contributed to the pain of all creation, but he felt no sorrow for any of that. His was a self-centered sorrow and nothing more.

Now let’s return to our illustration of the lump of dough. The whole human race is made of the “same lump”of sinful flesh. (Romans 9:21b) By birth, we are all corrupted sinners under condemnation of death.

“By the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation. . . For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, . . . Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”(Romans 5:18-19, 12)

But our compassionate God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2^nd Peter 3:9b)

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. . . . So by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:6-9, 18b)

How many people does that text say the gift of justification is offered to? It says all doesn’t it. Yes, the Bible is clear, justification to life is being offered to every person — that’s what all means. God is extending justification to life to everyone who will choose life. God offered Justification to Esau just as surely as He offered it to Jacob, but Esau did not value it. Jacob, on the other hand, hungered for it and received it.

The Psalmist David expresses our unfortunate problem of inherited sinfulness with its lawless or rebellious tendencies. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”(Psalm 51:5) But sin began in heaven with the angels, so let’s turn our thoughts back to the original rebellion for a few moments.

The first rebel, the angel Lucifer, was not born in sin as you and I were; he had no sinful inheritance. God created him faultless, with a nature fully in harmony with His Maker. There was no inherent bent toward evil programmed into his fundamental nature. Yet God created Lucifer with the power of choice.

Lucifer occupied the most glorious and preeminent position among all of God’s creation. God created him perfect in every way. “Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”(Ezekiel 28:15) According to that text, was Lucifer created defective? No, the Bible is clear that he was perfect. So what happened? How did someone perfect become imperfect?

There came a fatal moment when Lucifer first began to indulge thoughts of jealousy toward God.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! . . . For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:12a, 13-14)

Lucifer wanted to take God’s place. Absolutely impossible! His jealousy was causeless, and is a mystery. If a cause could be found for it, then it could be justified. But it was completely without justification. Since the Bible nowhere justifies sin, it has to be causeless.

As Lucifer nursed and indulged evil jealousies, he corrupted his nature. God surely bore long with Lucifer, patiently doing everything He could, short of using force, to show him his error and encourage him to repent and return to loyalty. But in his unreasonable and self-centered pride, Lucifer resisted God’s appeals of love, hardening his heart beyond the point of no return. He became a complete reprobate.

We see the same model of God’s long-suffering patience in the relationship that Jesus had with Judas Iscariot, the disciple that betrayed Him. Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would betray him and commit suicide, and yet Jesus poured out His love to Judas just as he has for you and me.

“Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.” “For he knew who should betray him.” (John 6:64b; 13:11a)

Jesus’ vividly demonstrated longsuffering love for Judas by the fact that Judas, being the treasurer for Jesus and His band of disciples, was known to Jesus to be a thief. Jesus knew for the entire three years that Judas, as treasurer, was continually dipping into the money bag for his own greedy desires. And yet Jesus never exposed him. Instead, He quietly observed and constantly sought to soften and win the heart of Judas to repentance and faithfulness.

Tragically, though Judas surely was attracted to Jesus’ pure character he continued to willfully indulge sinful propensities until they bore full sway in his heart and led to his betrayal of Christ.

What an amazing restraint Jesus showed during those three years. The only record of Jesus ever rebuking Judas occurred shortly before the betrayal. A grateful woman is anointing Jesus feet with a very costly ointment. Judas publicly rebukes her for the “waste” and Jesus immediately turns, defends her and rebukes Judas. Here’s the scene.

“Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's [son], which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. ” (John 12:4-8)

This open rebuke rankled in Judas’ heart and led him to his final decision to betray Jesus. Jesus bore long with Judas, giving him every possible opportunity to repent. Jesus brought Judas into His inner circle so that He might provide Judas with every possible chance to see true love in action on the most intimate level possible. Yes, incredible as it may seem, God even loved the one He foresaw would eventually betray His beloved Son, so He made salvation available to that man too. “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1st Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV italics supplied)

In like manner, though God knew from the beginning that Lucifer, like Judas, would betray Him, He nevertheless granted Lucifer to dwell in His very presence, nurturing him in all the tender love that the kind Father has for His children. We can see that Lucifer had no excuse for his rebellion. God foreknew that Lucifer would eventually rebel, but He went ahead and made him anyway.

Turning our focus to the human race, God also foreknew that Judas and multitudes of other human beings would eventually corrupt themselves and become “ripe and ready to be destroyed.” (Romans 9:22 Moffatt’s NT) Notwithstanding this foreknowledge, God did not refrain from making the entire human race from “the same lump”of clay, some “unto honor”and some “unto dishonor.” (Romans 9:21)

God created Lucifer knowing that he would eventually rebel and would have to be destroyed. But because Lucifer freely chose to rebel without any pre-programming toward evil at his creation, he cannot blame God for making him “unto dishonour.”(vs 21). It is in this sense that the “vessel . . . fitted to destruction”cannot say to the Potter “Why hast thou made me thus?”(vs 20)

No lost person, not Lucifer, not Judas, and God forbid, if you or I are ultimately lost, not we, will be able to say to God, “Why did you make me like this?”(Vs 20 HCSB) The Creator made us all from the same lump. God mercifully offers every one of His children enmity against sin and supernatural grace, which enables us to choose loyalty instead of rebellion against the Laws of His government. He offers us forgiveness and assurance of eternal life if we accept His grace and exercise faith toward Him.

God gives help, but only to the humble. God will resist us if we resist Him. If we want help, we must cooperate with God by exercising our God given power of choice.

“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”(James 4:6b-10)

As an analogy, we might say that God, in a sense is the great “chess Master” of the universe foreseeing all things beforehand. God, foreseeing our choices whether good or bad, and foreseeing our destiny, whether it be a destiny of eternal joy or eternal destruction, went ahead and made the lump from which we all have emerged. He set us in motion to play our part on the stage of the great celestial drama. Is that point clear in your mind? Do you see that the passage in Romans 9 is not saying that God refuses to offer grace to some people, but only that He made all people knowing beforehand that some would end up fit only for destruction? He made all people knowing that some would be “vessels of wrath”but did not withhold from them any opportunity or grace they might need in order to escape “the wrath to come.”(1^stThessalonians 1:10)

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to convict the human conscience of sin, to enable the human heart to sorrow for sin, to strengthen the human will to repent of sin and to bear the fruit of obedience in the thoughts, feelings, and actions of life. The Holy Spirit does not overwhelm any human will with so-called irresistible grace. “Give me your heart,”says the Lord, indicating a free choice on our part. (Proverbs 23:26a) Jesus said, “Strive to enter in at the straight gate.”(Luke 13:24) The word “strive” carries with it the idea of human will and effort. We are not passive robots in the hands of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s take a closer look at the words of Jesus we just read from Luke 13 — let’s read the rest of the verse. “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”(Luke 13:24) Oh — how tragic to seek to enter in and not be able! How can that happen? Please pay attention to the phrase “Many . . . will seek to enter in.” That word “seek” is zētĕō in the Greek. It means to desire, enquire, plot, endeavor, or even to worship. Now notice the word “strive”. That word is agōnizŏmai in the Greek. What English word jumps out of the Greek there? Agonize! That’s right! — that word means to struggle, to compete, to contend, to fight, to labor fervently! The endeavor there is much more intense than merely desiring, enquiring, or wanting something. Those who enter into the paradise of God will have to fight for it. Sometimes it is hard fighting, inch by inch, hour by hour!“The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”(Matthew 11:12) With these strong words, Jesus indicates that we have warfare on our hands.

The warfare against your own selfish tendencies is the greatest battle that you will ever fight. Do you long for that spiritual life, which will bring you into harmony with God? Oh — don’t despond — when sin struggles for the mastery in your heart look to your Savior. He will lead you step-by-step — He is always near. "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

Were it possible to force upon you with a hundredfold greater intensity the influence of the Spirit of God, it would not make you a Christian, a fit subject for heaven. As you place your will on the side of God’s will, God accomplishes the work for you, even “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”(2^nd Corinthians 10:5) Then you willingly “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”(Philippians 2:12-13)

We are not talking about human will power, oh no! We speak of the will as it applies to making a choice. When you choose to obey God He gives power to your weak will and enables you to follow through. Just say, “I will obey God” and then begin to act on that choice and God will provide the power to follow through. Amazingly, you soon will notice that even your feelings are coming into line with your firm decision. This principle was dramatically demonstrated when 2,000,000 ancient Israelis came to the Jordon river during flood season. God parted the waters for them to cross over to the other side but not until the vanguard of priests stepped into the floodwaters and proceeded forward. Only then, did the waters split and the whole nation was able to cross over on dry land. Exercise faith and cooperate with God. (See Joshua 3:9-17)

The Holy Spirit frees the human will from bondage to sin. In this process, your will is not forced. You may be afraid that the process will be too painful or costly; therefore, you may not “feel” willing to obey. Don’t allow such feelings to control you. God is willing to meet you “a great way off.”(Luke 15:20) In fact, He is so eager to help that even if you are “willing to be made willing” the Holy Spirit will then take control and make you willing. Just give Him permission and He will accomplish that work. Such obedience sweetened by the incense of Christ’s flawless righteousness is acceptable to God.

Do you feel like a hopeless case? Do you feel that God could never save you? I know how you feel — I once fell into a deep depression after a devastating loss. I felt that God had abandoned me forever. In that disheartened state of mind courage for a spiritual fight was a million miles away. But God found a way to reinvigorate my religious courage through the love of others. Once I became convinced that I was still savable I immediately had peace and joy and I was right back in the fight striving with a reconverted heart.

Millions of unconverted people still have hearts that are receptive to the impressions of the Holy Spirit. People give love because God puts it in their hearts to love and they choose to obey that prompting. They may be completely unaware that the prompting to love comes from God — but He is the source of all higher love.

Dear reader, even though you may be a stranger to me I want you to have eternal life in God’s Kingdom of love. I, by nature a selfish human being, wrote this booklet series because God put it in my heart to spend the many thousands of hours and many thousands of dollars necessary to accomplish this.

I have asked myself, “If I didn’t know anything about this beautiful message of God’s love and His offer of eternal life wouldn’t I want someone to find a way to tell me no matter how much they might have to sacrifice in order to get the message to me?” I know I would want them to tell me even if it might cost them a great sacrifice, so I could have eternal life and so I could tell my loved ones and they could have eternal life.

What about you? Wouldn’t you want others to sacrifice whatever was necessary so you could have a chance to learn about a God who doesn’t torment people forever? My answer to that question tells me what my duty is to my fellow man, even to strangers.

You may be young or old, male or female, rich or poor — even your ethnicity doesn’t matter to me. I sacrifice willingly from the heart so that you can have the same chance I do to live forever in a world where there will be no more sorrow or tears or disease or dying, a world where no one will ever betray you or slander you. What are you doing to tell others about God’s love? Where is your heart, my friend?

Remember, our world is the battlefield upon which fallen angels continue to wage war against God’s authority. And whether we realize it or not, we are fighting on one side or the other in this celestial war.

In the Bible, we see scenes in which individuals have played their parts in the great script that God has providentially arranged for them to play. Did they each have a choice as to whose side they would play on? Yes! But they did not have a choice as to when and under what circumstances they would be born. Men and women, boys and girls, play out their characters in the role in which the Sovereign has placed them.

Let’s illustrate our point from the Bible by looking at the character of Pharaoh. Exodus, chapters 1-15 contains a series of exciting and dramatic scenes in which God, through Moses, confronted and ultimately defeated the great Pharaoh of Egypt. It would be helpful for you to read that remarkable passage in the Bible.

In the amazing story recorded there, we see that Pharaoh was just as much a part of the drama as was Moses. That particular man (Pharaoh) was born at a particular predetermined time in order that this drama might be played just as God had foreseen and arranged it.

“For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’”(Romans 9:17)

This is very interesting. God addresses this heathen king, who had defied the very God of heaven. God says to him, “I put you on the throne for this very purpose.” “Ah,” you say, “that sounds like he had no choice but to be evil.” Not at all. He had a choice to submit to God’s authority, but he stubbornly, defiantly and willfully rebelled against the God of heaven. But God foreseeing this, did not say, “we’ll sweep him away, we have no use for him.” Instead, God said, “We can use him, in the drama, at a certain place, at a certain time, in a certain way. We’ll arrange to have him on the throne at that particular time to act his stubborn rebellious part.” So, God chose a particular man, an evil man, and said to him,“For this very purpose I have raised you up.”(Romans 9:17)²

Now I have a question for you: Why did God “raise up” the particular evil man that He chose? The answer is this: An evil man of a more passive nature would not have been stubborn and cruel enough to fulfill the purposes of God in the deliverance of Israel from bondage. In order to fulfill His purpose, God needed one of the cruelest, most heartless, proud, insanely blockheaded and rebellious men ever to emerge from the “lump” of humanity to fill the role of Pharaoh at the time prophesied for the deliverance of Israel.

God looking down the telescope of time into the great “lump” of humanity foresaw that particular man’s character traits. He saw that that man would suit His purposes perfectly, so He “raised him up” into the powerful position of Pharaoh. Pharaoh is a representation of Satan, the cruelest taskmaster in the universe. The bondage of God’s people in Egypt represents our bondage to the lawless principles of Satan’s kingdom and the painful consequences that indulgence in sin brings.

God needed a Pharaoh who would be so stubborn, cruel and heartless that the painful experience of slavery in Egypt would burn deeply into the consciousness of the victims of his oppression. God wanted a Pharaoh so malicious and pigheaded that He would endure ten devastating plagues culminating in the death of all the firstborn of Egypt, including his own son and heir, and still would rise up in rebellion and insanely pursue God’s people in order to bring them back into cruel slavery. (See Exodus 6:29-14:31)

What did God mean when He said concerning Pharaoh, “I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go”? (Exodus 4:21) God did not exercise supernatural power to harden Pharaoh’s heart. God gave him the most striking evidence of divine power, but he stubbornly refused to yield. Pharaoh saw the love and mercy that God was extending to the oppressed Jewish slaves. He could have allowed that display of love to soften his heart but instead he chose to resist the softening influence. As he continually resisted God’s light and love, he went from one degree of stubbornness to another, until his heart became completely irrevocably stone-cold hard. Therefore, we see that the Bible is not contradicting itself when it says that “Pharaoh hardened his heart.”(Exodus 8:32) Yes, Pharaoh hardened his own heart! God’s manifestation of power, love and mercy yields different results in different hearts because some hearts choose to be softened by it and others choose to resist and thereby become hardened.

The behavior of Moses, the protagonist who opposed the evil Pharaoh, in one respect, resembled that of Jacob, whom we spoke of earlier. Just like Jacob, Moses rashly tried to accomplish God’s purpose his way rather than God’s way. Moses as heir to the throne of Egypt forsook the throne and decided to lead the Jewish slaves in a revolt. His motive was noble but his method was all wrong. He took matters into his own hands and murdered an Egyptian taskmaster. As a result, he had to flee from Egypt and spent 40 years learning the principles of meekness and patience before embarking on His mission to deliver God’s people. When he was finally ready to do the job God’s way instead of his way God called him to lead Israel, and he was successful.

The Arborator’s Allegory

I live on an idyllic hilltop in southern Missouri where I dream of honing my skills as an amateur orchardist, an arborator. I love to plant, prune and nurture fruit trees. I feed and train them and I promote their healthy growth and development. My goal is to make the trees beautiful, symmetrical, abundant producers of colorful, delicious, nutritional fruit.

A secondary goal is to provide a delightful little world in which to walk or sit while taking in the fragrances and visual beauty — an enchanting wonderland filled with songbirds, flitting butterflies humming bees and other fascinating creatures.

I envision my trees espaliered, corkscrewed, vased and manicured into all kinds of interesting shapes, which, as the place matures, will give it a charming mystical appeal. Unfortunately, the reality of battling cancer and trying to get my writing done while I still have time means that my vision is far behind schedule.

My apple orchard contains 22 varieties, including the world famous Cox Orange Pippin, purportedly the most delicious apple in the world. The Cox is an heirloom dating back hundreds of years. It stands in my orchard near modern cultivars such as Fuji, Liberty and Goldrush.

My favorite is the Macintosh and I truly enjoy a tree ripened Golden Delicious. I have the famous French culinary heirloom Calville Blanc, the original Hawkeye (Red) Delicious and the well-known Gravenstein. I have several Russetts, apples not famed for beauty but filled with pear-like flavor and very aromatic. The French Florina Querina, along with Enterprise and Freedom are among new disease resistant varieties interspersed in my orchard. Each unique tree plays its part in the springtime gene pool as the trees pollinate and begin fruit production.

I’m struggling against drought, deer and cancer to cultivate China Pearl peaches and Arctic Jay Nectarines. I even have a tough little Great Wall persimmon — candy on a tree! Cherry trees will grace the orchard with their blossoms, symmetry and lovely bark. Each tree adds to the richness and diversity of the orchard; each has its unique role to play.

The first lesson to learn about orcharding is that you can’t just stick a tree in the ground and then ignore it if you expect to have something worthwhile years down the road. Trees must be fed, watered and fortified against diseases and pests. But perhaps the most important thing is pruning. Pruning is cutting off something superfluous or undesirable so that something desirable can take its place.

Often, when planting a young tree it is necessary to cut it back to a whip. A whip is essentially a stick approximately 24 – 30 inches tall with buds growing on it. When I first began learning my skills as an arborator I abhorred the thought of cutting a pretty five foot tall tree with branches down to a whip — a stick! It required discipline on my part to follow protocol when it appeared to do harm rather than good and when it appeared so unnecessary.

But there are solid fundamental reasons for the severe pruning that a developing tree often needs. For example, most young trees arrive in shipping, bare-root and dormant. That small-undeveloped root system is not capable of properly nurturing a large tree above it. Furthermore, the tree is often not shaped and structured properly for optimum future development. By taking the tree down to a whip, I am able to build a scaffold of branches in the design and pattern I desire. As the buds come to life, I pluck off the superfluous ones and nurture the keepers. I shape and mold the tree to fit the silhouette and design that pleases me.

There are other reasons for a hard pruning as well. I planted my newest apple orchard and blueberry field in early spring of 2011. That summer a triple disaster struck. A thirteen-year cycle Cicada outbreak occurred along with a severe summer-long drought. Those two disasters were compounded when I was unable to care for the young trees and bushes due to some extreme traumas and losses in my personal life.

As a result, when I examined my orchard and berries in late winter 2012 I was met with a sad sight. Three-foot tall competitive weeds had overgrown the whole place and my fruiting trees and bushes were stunted in size due to water and food deprivation. But worst of all was the devastation left behind by thousands of rabidly chomping Cicadas. They had chewed and burrowed pell-mell into the bark of the tender young trees and bushes. The stems, trunks and limbs of the trees were so weakened that they snapped under the lightest stress. I had only one choice if I wanted to save my trees and bushes — hard pruning!

All of the Cicada damage had to go, with the exception of a few superficial wounds and even those will leave scarring. Most of the Blueberries had to be taken down to bare sticks some only 6 or 8 inches tall to get all the Cicada damage removed. And I had to severely prune many of the apple trees back to whips. A couple of the whips were cut down to little more than 18 inches.

I wondered if my Cox Orange Pippin would survive because it is a finicky tree difficult to grow even without the added problems confronting it. After pruning, it was about 18 inches tall and had only dormant emergency buds on it, which took a long time to finally break open and begin developing. But break open they did and now, I am developing very shapely limb scaffolding on the Orange pippin and the leaves are deep green and very healthy looking. I am pleased with the little tree’s progress and prospects.

The pruning principles of an orchard are a good representation of the work God is doing in the lives of the precious people He is preparing for citizenship in His eternal kingdom. As the Master Arborator He prunes and shapes us through sharp trials and trying troubles.

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . . Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”(John 15:1-8 NKJV)

Through a series of devastating losses similar to the losses of the ancient patriarch Job, God, this past year, cut me back to a whip, a bare stick! By the time He got most of the undesirable stuff cut out there wasn’t much of me left! Apparently, there was a lot wrong with me and it took some very severe pruning to save me. I love Him for the discipline and I have come to see this as the greatest experience of my life. I won’t go into detail here but in other chapters of A Fly in the Ointment I share many details of the amazing journey God brought me through. God sometimes has to hard-prune us “that [we] might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3b) I thank Him and I love Him!

The Stump King

Did you know that part of the Holy Bible was written by a heathen king? That’s right! God inspired a heathen king write down ardent praises of God’s wisdom and authority and then He placed that amazing testimony in the Bible for you and me to meditate on.

Nebuchadnezzar the Great lived some 2,600 years ago yet his fantastic story is relevant to us today. Nebuchadnezzar’s palace was in Babylon with it magnificent hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Nebuchadnezzar defeated and subjugated many nations. His powerful armies conquered Israel, destroyed Jerusalem and took many thousands of Israeli captives to Babylon. But he did not do any of that without inadvertently carrying out God’s design and purpose.

Israel needed disciplining and God used a heathen king as His instrument of chastisement and correction. Nebuchadnezzar the Great was unwittingly an agent in God’s hands to further God’s purposes. God has always been in control.

“For thus saith . . . . the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.”(Jeremiah 28:14)

God loved Nebuchadnezzar and longed to snatch him from the jaws of hell just as much as He desires your salvation. Oh yes it’s true — God loves even heathen kings and desires their heart conversion and salvation. “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1^st Timothy 2:3b-4 NKJV)

God used a very severe pruning process with Nebuchadnezzar. The pruning was so severe that the king, a fully matured “tree” was reduced to nothing but a stump! God reduced him to a stump, but through that severe pruning process, he became a true believer, an admirer and follower of the God of heaven. Let’s read now in Nebuchadnezzar’s own words how he became a stump and how that pruning process lead to his conversion and salvation — an amazing story.

“Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great [are] his signs! and how mighty [are] his wonders! his kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion [is] from generation to generation.

“I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. . . . Daniel came in before me, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, [saying], . . . tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

“Thus [were] the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof [was] great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: The leaves thereof [were] fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it [was] meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

“I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and [let] his portion [be] with the beasts in the grass of the earth: Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him: and let seven times [years] pass over him.

“This matter [is] by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof. . . . Then Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee.

“Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream [be] to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; Whose leaves [were] fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it [was] meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: It [is] thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

“And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and [let] his portion [be] with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;

“This [is] the interpretation, O king, and this [is] the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

“And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. . . .

“All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word [was] in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling [shall be] with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

“The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' [feathers], and his nails like birds' [claws].

“And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom [is] from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth [are] reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and [among] the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

“At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works [are] truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” (Daniel 4:1-37)

Wow! The stump king will rise to eternal life at the second coming of Jesus! What about you? What is your destiny? Dear friend, God, at creation, made all humanity “of the same lump.”(Romans 9:21) At that time He foreknew that our original parents would fall, that we would all inherit tendencies to sin, and that only a relatively “few”would accept the offer of grace to be regenerated and transformed.

“Wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”(Matthew 7:13b-14)

Foreknowing all things, God did not scrap the “lump” of humanity. Instead He looked down the telescope of time and identified each one who would eventually yield to the drawing of His love were He to offer grace sufficient for them to choose Him. Those He intimately foreknew to be His special treasures He predestined to be conformed by His grace.

God knows in advance, who will and who won’t be saved. Even so, He continues to mediate grace, making it available to everyone, even those whom He knows will not accept it. As the sovereign of the universe, He has granted each of His children the freedom to choose whether to accept or reject the authority of His government.

What God proposes to do right here at the very end of time is to reverse the whole sin process that Lucifer began. Lucifer began as a pure and perfect, holy and loyal, child of God. But of his own free will he incrementally corrupted himself, and ultimately became an irredeemable, incorrigible rebel against the lifestyle God had established for the subjects of His kingdom. He crossed over the bounds of his conscience, searing it in such a manner that his character became fixed in lawlessness, and unreformable.

But God now proposes to take the weakest of the weak, rebels born in sin, in this little backwater of a planet on the edge of the universe, after 6,000 years of the degenerating effects of sin, and transform them incrementally into His own character likeness. “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.”(Isaiah 13:12) He then proposes to elevate these redeemed human beings into a condition similar to that of the angels, granting them the spoils of heaven, the high estate, the noble positions of responsibility from which Lucifer and his followers fell.

God actually proposes to take a few of us weak and foolish sinners, and write His law into our hearts and minds. He proposes to settle us into His truth, His love, so that we cannot be moved. He proposes to take us, human beings born with inbred sin, and purify our consciences, as we cooperate with Him in developing pure and loving thoughts, feelings, and lifestyle practices. He will give each of us high and holy positions in His government. (See Revelation 3:21) What an honor! And what an unfathomable happiness will be ours then, if we are among those elected to such a high calling.

The curtain is being raised on the final scene of this world’s history, the last act in the Great Drama. Every one of us is playing a role in the theater of the universe. My friend, God has a plan for your life. You have a foreknown destiny. What is your role in the great controversy between Christ and Satan? Are you a vessel“of mercy which He [has] prepared unto glory”? (Romans 9:23b) Or are you a vessel “of wrath fitted to destruction”? (verse 22b) God has always known the choices you are making and accordingly He has chosen your time and your place in the grand scheme either on His side or on the Devil’s side. But never forget, even though He has foreseen the choices you are making, He does not force you to make those choices. He, by offering super-abundant grace, allows you to make your own choices. This gives both liberty and real meaning to your life.

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