Proper World Perspective

First, Christ would not have come and and died on a cross to pay for the

Sins of all mankind past present and future if there we any other way.  No amount of good deeds will suffice.  Mankind was doomed beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and we all need a savior to pay our sin debt.  God demands justice and no one will come into the Kingdom of God (New Heaven and New earth) without full payment of their sin debt before they die physically.  Notice it’s a choice that must be made in this life—after physical death its too late.  Only a pure innocent sacrifice will do.  You say well that’s not fair.  Mankind doesn't make the rules, but God did at least let us know what the rules were by sending prophets and His only son Jesus to document and demonstrate His power here on earth.  Getting back to that perspective I just mentioned.  In the Old Testament book of Job 38:1-33  Elihu one of Jobs friends was trying to give him counsel about God and at this point God breaks in and responds as follows: 1Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up [God’s] dominion over the earth"

Wow.  I can't imagine having God speak to me like this.  Job’s friends were really in a pickle.  I recommend you read the rest of that story for yourself to see how that situation ended. Luckily Job was a good friend.  Also Isaiah 40 has more of the same if you’re intrigued.

Another couple things I like to share: two instances where men were given a glimpse of heaven.  Rev 1:17-18 & Rev 4:1-8 :
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^a of God. 6Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” 

And then the prophet Isaiah also had a glimpse of heaven:  Isaiah 6:

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 

Notice first that both instances where Isaiah and John saw God or I should say their visions of heaven and God-- they both were literally overwhelmed.  I have an inkling all of us would have the same reaction whether we believe in God or not. 

The last person I’d like to quote for the proper perspective is Solomon – the wisest man who ever lived.  I’d say that qualifies him a few minutes of our time. 

I’m adding the last verses of Ecclesiastes 12 but I recommend you read the entire book: Since many of you won’t here is the down and dirty:  Solomon states that all endeavors in this life are meaningless and ultimately are worthless – the best he says we can do is as follows:

8“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”  Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

I hope this helps give you a proper perspective of mankind compared to God.  We all need a savior so desperately.