Things God Has Revealed
“…What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love Him — these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-11)
It is rare to hear about God's plan for his creation in a traditional Christian church. I have met only a few in the ministry who have even an opinion about the grand and detailed plan found in the Bible. Following is a summary of what I heard growing up:
“The Trinity (God, the Son and the Holy Spirit) created everything, and Adam and Eve were the first humans created. They were deceived by Satan, disobeyed God and sin and death came into the creation along with all the evil that follows sin. After a few thousand years God decided to send his Son Jesus to pay the price for sin by dying on a cross which makes salvation possible. God brought Jesus back to life and he is now in Heaven and through the gospel preached by those who believe in him, people are now offered salvation if they repent of their sin and accept Jesus as personal Savior before they die. When they do so, they join a local Church, are baptized, and partake of the Lord's supper from time time. Obedient church members will attend regularly and support each other with their prayers and finances. They will also cooperatively join with other churches to fulfill the great commission of winning the world to Christ. The members are to love the sinners but hate their sin, and try to avoid evil themselves. When church members die they go immediately to Heaven to live in bliss. Everyone else goes to hell where they are forever separated from God and punished in a lake of fire created for the Devil and his angels. And finally, most churches teach that Jesus is coming again to judge the world. At that time He will raise all the dead bodies of saved people, join their new body with their souls, hand out rewards and take them back to heaven. The bodies of the unsaved will also be raised, that raised body joined with their souls and then returned to hell to be punished forever."
That is pretty much all that is taught from the thousand or so pages of Scripture. But for "those who love" God, He reveals the wonder of "what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" - things revealed only "by his Spirit" as the "unsearchable riches of Christ". As Paul says...
It is rare to hear about God's plan for his creation in a traditional Christian church. I have met only a few in the ministry who have even an opinion about the grand and detailed plan found in the Bible. Following is a summary of what I heard growing up:
“The Trinity (God, the Son and the Holy Spirit) created everything, and Adam and Eve were the first humans created. They were deceived by Satan, disobeyed God and sin and death came into the creation along with all the evil that follows sin. After a few thousand years God decided to send his Son Jesus to pay the price for sin by dying on a cross which makes salvation possible. God brought Jesus back to life and he is now in Heaven and through the gospel preached by those who believe in him, people are now offered salvation if they repent of their sin and accept Jesus as personal Savior before they die. When they do so, they join a local Church, are baptized, and partake of the Lord's supper from time time. Obedient church members will attend regularly and support each other with their prayers and finances. They will also cooperatively join with other churches to fulfill the great commission of winning the world to Christ. The members are to love the sinners but hate their sin, and try to avoid evil themselves. When church members die they go immediately to Heaven to live in bliss. Everyone else goes to hell where they are forever separated from God and punished in a lake of fire created for the Devil and his angels. And finally, most churches teach that Jesus is coming again to judge the world. At that time He will raise all the dead bodies of saved people, join their new body with their souls, hand out rewards and take them back to heaven. The bodies of the unsaved will also be raised, that raised body joined with their souls and then returned to hell to be punished forever."
That is pretty much all that is taught from the thousand or so pages of Scripture. But for "those who love" God, He reveals the wonder of "what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" - things revealed only "by his Spirit" as the "unsearchable riches of Christ". As Paul says...
"Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." (Ephesians 3:8)
I was amazed at what I found by reading through the Bible without consulting those who tell people what the Bible says - the amazing grace of God will save everyone when God's plan reaches its conclusion!
I was amazed at what I found by reading through the Bible without consulting those who tell people what the Bible says - the amazing grace of God will save everyone when God's plan reaches its conclusion!
"To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)