Sunday, January 12, 2014

January 13, 2014

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day." Genesis 1:31

Mark Evans shares this powerful story:

I once had a co-worker who asked the question, "If God is really a loving God then why does He permit all this evil in the world. In response to my co-worker I said, For just a moment, pretend that you are God and in your imagination you are going to recreate a perfect world.

Keep in mind, however, that for every thing that you do there is a ramification, a certain consequence.


Now to help my friend get started I begin to assume what any person in his/her right mind would think of. I said OK let’s start by wiping out "all murder". POOF! NO More Murder! Whoops…now all the Pro-Choice people are mad at you because you forgot to exclude abortion.

Now let’s get rid of "all rape". POOF! No More Rape! 

Oh, I said, you can’t stop there, why don’t you stop all robberies. POOF! NO More Robberies!

I said, again, while your at it why don’t you eliminate World Hunger. POOF! No More Hunger! People are helping to plant crops again and are giving food in abundance! People are being fed again. Great! Fantastic! I tell my friend you continue to wipe out every known evil till you are finished.


Oh wait a minute! Something is wrong. Oh yes, very, very different. No one is following you anymore. No one believes in you anymore and no one loves you anymore. What do you mean my friend says! Why I just finished wiping out and eliminating all the evil in the world and you mean to tell me that no one loves me anymore!


Well, remember in the beginning, I said, "keep in mind" that for everything you do there are ramifications, certain consequences?

1. When you wiped out all murder, you wiped out the "choice" of certain people to "commit" murder.

2. When you rid the earth of rape, you rid the "choice" of certain people to "choose" to rape.
3. When you stopped all robberies, you stopped the "choice" of certain people to "choose" to rob.
4. When you stopped World Hunger you took away certain people’s "choice" to NOT help those in need. OR man’s choice not to work in the fields in such a way to preserve its crop.


So you see. When man’s "choice" was taken from him; Man could no longer choose to do "evil", however, he could also no longer choose to do "good".

If man cannot "choose" to hate man cannot "choose" to love either.


Thus, mankind cannot "choose" to love a "loving" God who loved them first.

But God is a loving God, isn’t He?


God "chose" to create the earth we live on. Man "chose" to create the world we live in!


The Earth is by "Design", the World is by "Choice".