Rescued!
"The Lord will rescue me from EVERY evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:18)
We will be rescued from every evil deed when the Lord has brought us "safely to His heavenly Kingdom." But for now we live in what Paul calls "this present EVIL age," (Galatians 1:4) and it is His will for us to suffer at least some while we are here.
And why not? Just think about it for a minute. If you have never been ill, could you truly appreciate your health and give genuine thanks for it? If you had never been hated and rejected, could you truly appreciate being loved and accepted?
EVIL serves as the contrast to GOOD. Adam and Eve would have never known how good they had it, except for experiencing the evil that came when they disobeyed. What we learn from experiencing evil is simple. Good is better than evil. God and Jesus are good. Hitler, Idi Amin, Nero, Satan, and many others are not.
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst." (1 Timothy 1:15)
Paul says that Jesus came into the world to "save sinners" and that he has already saved the "worst." Tell me, who has a greater need to be saved - the Mother Teresas of the world or the Hitlers of the world? If he saves the "worst" then it seems logical to me he will save us all. And he will!
We will be rescued from every evil deed when the Lord has brought us "safely to His heavenly Kingdom." But for now we live in what Paul calls "this present EVIL age," (Galatians 1:4) and it is His will for us to suffer at least some while we are here.
And why not? Just think about it for a minute. If you have never been ill, could you truly appreciate your health and give genuine thanks for it? If you had never been hated and rejected, could you truly appreciate being loved and accepted?
EVIL serves as the contrast to GOOD. Adam and Eve would have never known how good they had it, except for experiencing the evil that came when they disobeyed. What we learn from experiencing evil is simple. Good is better than evil. God and Jesus are good. Hitler, Idi Amin, Nero, Satan, and many others are not.
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst." (1 Timothy 1:15)
Paul says that Jesus came into the world to "save sinners" and that he has already saved the "worst." Tell me, who has a greater need to be saved - the Mother Teresas of the world or the Hitlers of the world? If he saves the "worst" then it seems logical to me he will save us all. And he will!