No God or Know God
As I was reading through 2 Thessalonians the other night I came across a verse that was not your feel good fluffy and pretty scripture, but one that nails down what happens to those that do not know God and those who believe in no God. The verse was 2 Thessalonians 1:8 and in regard to Jesus and his angels coming back to earth it says "in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." Not so pretty is it?
Why do we want to know God? Well, first we can know of something or someone. For instance I know of Michael Jordan, but do not know him personally (see where I am going). I can know that someone exists or intimately get to know someone on a deeper level, like a close friend or relative. We are to do the latter when it comes to God. We don't just know of him and kinda read and study. We need to stay focused on what He wants from us in all circumstances. Staying in 2 Thessalonians, in Chapter 3 verse 16 we see that God is referred to as the "Lord of Peace" and His peace can be with you all day when He is with you. You don't get that kind of peace by just kind of knowing someone.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tells those who are weary and burdened to come to him. That is key when Jesus says "come to" him. He does not say stay there and I will find you. If you want to be comforted, seek Jesus. Isn't a moniker of Jesus "the Prince of Peace"? That is so. Jesus's load is peaceful. He will not make you busy. People pleasing and living according to the world's standards will stress you the heck out. Jesus's yoke is light. Seek his peace.
There are a bunch of verses and retellings in scripture about knowing God. We can either pretend like God doesn't exist or we can seek His presence and read and know Him. Get into a deeper relationship with Him.
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Just Because You Can....
I'm sure you have heard of that saying "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." We can apply that saying to so many different areas of our life, but there is one area it needs to apply to. It needs to apply to our walk with Christ. In Christ we have freedom from condemnation and from the death of sin (death in connection to God), but that does not mean that just because we can seek forgiveness we should just go and sin anyway? I was confronted a couple of different times by an atheist and by an agnostic and they both said that since I can be forgiven by God, I should just go an sin intentionally or else I am wasting what Christ did on the cross. Wow. Seriously? What a ridiculous statement.
First,
I needed new people to hang out with. I needed new people to hang out
with and as a Christ follower, I needed to be around other Christ
following men. That didn't mean that I no longer spoke to those guys,
but I need men in my corner who also follow Christ. If we look at
Proverbs (great book) but specifically the wisdom contained within
Proverbs
13:20, then we see we need to be around those who are wise. Not
so much worldly wise, but also wise in the Holy Spirit so that he can
assist me in my growth and I can assist him as well. If I am attacked
by a man (or sin in this case) a brother in Christ can help me up if
I fall and stand with me as we fight with the Holy Spirit against
Satan's temptations (Ecclesiastes
4:12).
Man
understands things a certain way and outside of the Holy Spirit they
will not know what God has for them in life. Proverbs
14:12
tells us people think a certain way and think it is okay, yet they
have no idea that death is inevitable in that way. Maybe you are so
accustomed to being isolated. In isolation, no one can keep you
accountable about the sinful ways that you succumb to. No one can
love you in isolation. No one can hold you in isolation. While
isolation may seem like it is "drama free" it is also void
of love, accountability and growth. Just because it seems okay for
you doesn't mean that God wants that for you.
A
common thing I see is people who control others. They are always
taking charge and always the boss. If they don't get their way they
become the take my ball and go home type or the "it's my way or
the highway." Not everyone, but there are those that feel like
they should control what is going on. Why? It seems right to do so,
but why? Is it a lack of faith in others to do their part? Is it to
hard to trust others? Or maybe the faith that God isn't going to
provide you with what you need? If we read the word we know that God
provides for those doing His will (Philippians
4:19). It doesn't mean life will be perfect. There will be some
bumps. That's life. But just because you are comfortable controlling
everything doesn't mean that is how it needs to be or even what God
wants from you. If you aren't asking for His guidance before and
during a task, then that is part of the problem (Psalm
32:8). You need to submit to God's will and let Him show you what
it is that needs to be done. Not just on the surface, but also on the
inside of you. Your spirit is important and it needs to be in
conjunction with God's will.
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Herod's Disbelief
Remember Herod from Matthew 2 when Jesus was born? He was in power when Jesus was born. He was the one that sought to kill Jesus after he was born but was tricked by the wise men who originally had been instructed to bring baby Jesus to Herod. His son, Herod the tetrarch (the Herod from this chapter) is the one that had John the Baptist beheaded (click here for more details).
John the Baptist was someone who foretold of the coming of Jesus in Luke 3. Herod the tetrarch had heard about all of the healing and miracles Jesus was doing and was perplexed (puzzled). Rumors were going around that a dead prophet (Elijah or John the baptist) had risen from the dead and was the one really doing the miracles through Jesus. Even though Herod the tetrarch was puzzled, in Luke 9:9 is says "And he sought to see him."
You know what you don't see much is the disbelief in Jesus that leads to an individual doing their own research. Herod the tetracrh went to go see for himself. I see alot of disblief in Christ today that leads to belief in emotion and feelings. People feel it must not be true (Jesus's miracles and life and resurrection) and then they believe it. They do not try to find out how something done is so amazing that it must not be true.
My point is that if you do not believe, do your own research. There are plenty of resources out there online that give you the information you need in order to understand the existence of Christ. Many say Christians have blind faith because you cannot prove this (the ark of the covenant or that Noah's ark) so things must not be true. People provide no evidence to counter, just an emotion.
We have to be careful not to let our emotions dictate what we do and do not do. Reactions from our feeling such as anger and lust can lead to sinful ways that draw us further from God. No matter what you feel, seek. Seek Jesus. Seek God's will. Seek the evidence. Go and see for yourself. Jesus wasn't made up.
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