Why Did God Make Human Beings the Way He Did?

Fred R. Coulter—October 13, 2007

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We're going to look at some very easy to understand Scriptures and have an overview as to why God made us the way that He did. Here's a principle that we can follow that is through the Bible; as Jesus said 'I am the Beginning and the Ending, Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last,' (Rev. 1)—which tells us that there is a consistency in:

• God's way
• God's plan
• God's creation

to accomplish His purpose!

We're not going to read a single Scripture that we haven't read before, but what we want to do is put it together in such a way as to answer the question: Why did God make human beings the way that He did?

Genesis 1:26: "And God said, 'Let Us…'" This refers to the One Who became God the Father and later the One Who became Jesus Christ! The Lord God of the Old Testament was the One Who became Jesus Christ.

"…make man in Our image, after Our likeness…" (v 26).

What was the purpose in doing that? God never did that with any of the other creatures that He created! Yes, some angels are made in the likeness of men, but others are not. Why did God do this? Then He went one step further, He gave them dominion over everything that He created on the earth!

Verse 27: "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female…. [for a great and tremendous purpose because He said]: …And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth'" (vs 27-28).

When you have dominion you have choice, and God has given all human beings choices! This becomes a very important thing in having an overview of why did God make man in his own image? What was the purpose of that?

We see other animals such as the chimpanzees and apes, and various other of the monkey family, who look similar to men in certain ways, but are not. Man is special! Man is special because of God's direct involvement in creating him. Also, we're going to see through procreation God's direct involvement in creating all human beings!

Genesis 2:7: "Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

You know the rest of the story; God said to put them in the garden to dress it and keep it. That also meant

• to guard it
• to protect
• to watch over it

and set before him the choices! If God wanted to make us robots He could have made us robots. But how many would be happy? If you were a robot, you can do nothing more than just be a repeat machine!

God made us in such a way that we think we can create, and all of these are qualities of God. None of the other animals or creatures that God created can do what man can do.

For example: We have two nice little puppies at home. They're full-grown dogs, but they're puppies because of their size. We have a little kennel for them. We had some work done and some men came over and so we had to have them in the kennel so that our 'vicious' dogs would run and attack them. We put them in the kennel and shut the gate and there's nothing they can do; they can't get out. They can't dig out because we have cement square blocks to put over the ground. We have cemented in steel posts for the chain-link fence.

However, if men were put in such a place, with their thinking ability they would soon figure out a way to get out. Man was made to think! God has given human beings thinking powers and choosing powers that are very close to His, because we're made in His likeness! Also, we're made in His form. in His image. So, human beings are the image of what God is.

Let's cover something else here that's important for us to understand. Because God's plan is so great and choice is absolute, God has given us choice and we must make the choice, and God has provided a way to overcome the mistakes that human beings make. But we are so close to what God is that men of themselves have powers very close to God.

As we've seen there in the rebellion in Gen. 11, that whatever man thinks he can do, he can do: 'that nothing would be restrained from them that they can imagine to do.' So, you just keep reading about all the things that men can do, find, make and so forth; it's astounding!

There was the fallen angel Satan who knew this. Satan and one-third of the angels rebelled against God when they found out the plan of God: that God was going to make human beings after His image after His likeness and offer them eternal life that would be above the angels. This is why when the serpent was allowed to come into the garden… Adam should have keep guard over it!

When the serpent tempted Eve and she ate of the fruit and she gave to her husband who was with her—there are many things you can you could cover concerning that—what was it that Satan said to them? You could become as gods deciding good and evil! That's the kind of mind that God gave human beings:

• to choose
• to decide
• to judge

The key is that God's plan is to bring us into His Family, but Satan's way to destroy man by offering it to him in the flesh. That was is what happened in Gen. 3. We started out with the beginning, let's go to the end.

Right here in the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible, the seventh division of the Bible, we find a very interesting statement in Rev. 13. It's also very interesting in where this is placed, because it has to do with the beast who Satan gives power to rule over all the nations and is the most evil man with the power of Satan behind him to ever exist in the history of mankind.

Revelation 13:6: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the saints, and to overcome them…" (vs 6-7). We are going to be tested unto death whether we will receive eternal life as God has determined to give it!

"…and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (vs 7-8).

Now isn't that interesting that that is put in this particular place? We won't get into a discussion of what is the unpardonable sin, but that is a complete rejection of God, which is a choice that a person could make. What I'm pointing out here is that from the beginning of the creation God made provision to save His creation of man so that he could come into the Family of God.

God's purpose: God has said, 'As I have proposed so will I do, as I have thought so shall I accomplish.' We find that even with the problems with Adam and Eve and being expelled from the Garden of Eden and everything that took place there, God's plan is not going to be obliterated! Because man is made in the image in the likeness of God, therefore, given these choices man must be given a way to be redeemed, which is also a choice.

Let's talk a little bit about God from this point of view: Adam and Eve were able to talk to God directly. They lived with God in the Garden of Eden. And of course, living with God in the Garden of Eden was a type of what it's going to be like living with God in New Jerusalem in the entire spiritual realm. So, the beginning and the end are always tied together.

How did God appear to Adam and Eve? We have this in Exo. 33, this becomes very important for us to understand. We can conclude from this Scripture that when God appeared to Adam and Eve—and whoever would come to the east entrance of the Garden of Eden after they were expelled from it—because that's were God would meet with man and that's where Abel offered his sacrifice etc. God talked with Abel and Cain, with all of the patriarchs, and He talked with Noah and his family, and so forth. However, God did not appear in His glory because:

Exodus 33:18: "And he said… [Moses to God] …'I beseech You, show me Your glory.' And He said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.' And He said, 'You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live'" (vs 18-20)—because of the difference of the level of existence of God in his full glory.

God had to appear to Adam and Eve as another human being, though He was God, and this becomes important to understand:

• Why did God make us in His image?
• Why did God appeared to them in that manner?

Part of the reason with most Christianity today is that they need to follow the Bible rather than their own ideas and their own interpretations. One man was told by his relatives when he showed them these Scriptures—because they were so convinced that their mom and dad were already in heaven—in Acts 2 where the Apostle Peter said, 'David is dead and buried and his tomb is here with us today.'

He also showed them this Scripture in John 3:13—and I'll give you their answer to show the power of choice—"And no one has ascended into heaven…"

That's parenthetical statement because Jesus did not speak these words. This was inspired to be put in there by the Apostle John—who canonized the New Testament—so we could understand something about not going to heaven and who has ascended into heaven.

Verse 13: "(And no one has ascended into heaven, except He Who came down from heaven… [that's when God was manifested in the flesh] ….even the Son of man, Who is in heaven.)"—at the time that John wrote this!

Jesus was speaking in v 12 and v 14 continues right at that point. But when John canonized the New Testament, he put this in so that everyone would know you don't go to heaven when you die!

Now when this man pointed these Scriptures out to his relatives, guess what the answer was? I don't care what the Bible says I know my mommy and daddy are in heaven! Choice!

Now let's see another reason why God made man the way that He did in relationship to God: for a very special purpose and the very reason of redemption! Let's see what God did.

Also, some of the relatives of this same man, he's had some interesting conversation with his relatives. He'd tell them about the Sabbath and Holy Days. One of the relative said, 'I'll keep the Sabbath when God comes down and tell me tells me to keep the Sabbath.' Well, he said, 'God did!' Gen. 2 and Exo. 20 and wherever it is the Sabbath. He said, 'And by the way, Jesus said He was Lord of the Sabbath.' I won't believe it until God comes down and tells me I ought to keep the Sabbath.

Not only did God do it in the Old Testament as Lord God of the Old Testament he also did it in the New Testament in a form that this man demanded, that God would come and appear as a man and tell me. That's why we have the Bible.

Philippians 2 is the major reason why God made us in his image and his likeness so that God could redeem us, because He knew when He gave choice that He had to provide a way of redemption! God also knew that

• He had to be fair, because human beings want fairness.
• He had to be just, because there needs to be justice
  • it had to be true
  • it had to be humble
  • it had to be in a form that was human

That's why He made us in his image, so that He could become a human being just like us. Phil. 2 tells us the ultimate goal of why God gave us the ability to think the way that we think, and why we think and why we have choice.

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." That means there's a choice you have to choose it! This is the ultimate development of the human mind with God's Spirit for the spiritual purpose of God, as we will see in a little bit.

Verse 6: "Who, although He existed in the form of God… [because He was God] …did not consider it robbery to be equal with God." We'll talk about the two Jehovah's of the Old Testament and Mark 2:29 a little later.

Verse 7: "But emptied Himself…" That means divested himself of His glory! The glory that He showed on top of Mount Sinai when He came down to give the Ten Commandments.

His presence and His glory was so great that all nature was completely upset from the point of view that God was so powerful when He came down on Mount Sinai. You had the trumpet blowing to announce that he's coming. You had the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the voice of God, and the mountain was on fire. I don't know if there were what you would call volcanic rocks, hot rocks, coming down off the top of the mountain or not. However, God in His full glorious power no physical thing can exist in His presence.

That's why in the Old Testament when He appeared to Adam and Eve, He appeared as a human being. After the Flood God withdrew and did not come and appear to men like He did then, except to Moses. All the rest He appeared in dreams and visions with the exception of probably Abraham. He probably appeared as a human being with him several times. When He wrestled with Jacob, too. Yes, that's true!

What does God require of human beings? To be humble, to be obedient! This is what God did. This is the greatest act of humility on the part of God. No man could ever be more humble than God! The reality and truth is that in order to be God with all that power, you've got to be humble, because if you weren't, you would abuse it. Yes, there would be no mercy. So, what He did He humbled Himself greatly to save His creation, to save mankind.

Verse 7: "But emptied Himself, and was made in the likeness of men…"

Rom. 3 says 'in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemned sin in the flesh,' because a great Truth in the Bible is that God not only took on human flesh, but He took on human nature, the mixture of good and evil!

He had to condemned sin and evil in the flesh. If He could not overcome it in the flesh then there would be no salvation for human beings, because He had to pay the penalty for giving the judgment upon every human being to give them the human nature with the law of sin and death! This is a fantastic thing that God has done! And this is why He did it!

Furthermore, He took upon Himself the form of a servant, or as the Greek is 'doulous,' or you could say slave.

• He didn't come as king, He came as a human being
• He didn't come as some great political leader, He came as a lowly infant man

Why did He have to be born of the virgin Mary and live the life that He did? Because all human beings after Adam and Eve are pro-created and are born into the world! He planned it this way. But if He did not do that, what would what would some human being say to God? 'Well, how can you judge me? You were never a baby. You never had to have a childhood. You never had to grow up.' So, God can say, 'Yes, I did!'

Verse 8: "And being found in the manner of man…" Very important to understand, that's what God did. Everything about being a human being He was completely human, yet, God manifested in the flesh, because that's why He created us the way that He did, so that He could do this, to redeem his creation. Also, to project forward what He is going to do with us in salvation.

"…He humbled Himself…" (v 8). So no man is going to say, O God, You just required so much of me. What did God require of Himself? To redeem his creation!

"…and became obedient unto death…" (v 8). No one's going to say, 'O God, You don't know what it's like to suffer the way I've suffered.' That's why the prophecy was fulfilled that His visage was more than any man!

"…even the death of the cross" (v 8). Jesus came into the world at a time when execution was one of the most vicious in the history of mankind.

Because He did this, this is telling you the meaning of the Scripture, 'that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him may have eternal life and may not die'; that is not taste death forever. Because of this, then at the resurrection:

Verse 9: "Therefore, God has also highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name, which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow took the form of a servant, of beings in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (vs 9-11).

That's quite a thing that God has done; stop and think about it! If you ask: 'God, what have you done for me lately?' This is what He's done for all human beings! So that:

• He can save you
• He can bless you
• He can give you eternal life

That's why we are made in His image!

Now we also have something else that's very important to understand. We were made to receive the Spirit of God! In order to receive the Spirit of God, we have to first have the spirit of man. So, let's talk about this a little bit and review just some of this.

Let's, first of all, come to the book of Job, and we will start talking about the creation of all human beings through procreation. Human beings are so important and life is so precious that God has determined to create all human beings through procreation. This puts man in a special status and woman in a special status. The way that God has designed it, to reflect God, God has given to man only the determination of the gender male or female. That's why it has to be a male Savior, to save man and woman. The woman cannot produce a man unless the determination of the inheritance from the man is impregnated in her womb.

Women are very special to God, because God made women to be able to reproduce life! She's very special in the way that she's made and created:

• to support that life
• to bring that life into the world
• to nurture
• to teach
• to train

This is why God has made women the way that He has! It's not a put down to say that a man is the head of a woman, because 'the head of every man is Christ and the head of Christ is God.' So, it's not a put down; it's a matter of a proper relationship.

Now let's talk about how we are created in the womb. Let's talk about life for just a minute in a very simplistic way. What happens when there is the conception of a new life in the womb of the woman? A very special spiritual thing takes place! It's important for all women to realize and understand—most do today, but too many do not—which is this once you are pregnant it is not your own body alone, because you have a new creation within you. God's creation! It is a spiritual something that happens!

James 2:26: "For as the body without the spirit… [the spirit of man] …is dead, in the same way also, faith without works is dead." So, there must be the spirit of man at conception!

It is absolutely true, you are what you are in the flesh with the spirit of man, which all women have, too, because the last three letters in 'woman' is man. When I talk about man, I'm not excluding women. Those who are all hot for women's rights, please understand, God gives you the greatest rights and the greatest blessings, not some movement or group of women in the world. God does!

At conception they have been able to determine that—and I have only been able to find this mentioned in one book—when conception takes place there is an immediate so-called electronic reaction of 480,000 volts, instantaneously!

What does this tell us? God is involved in every new human life, whether the circumstances are in perfection with a husband and wife or clear to the opposite extreme of the most distressful kind of impregnation. God is involved because He set in motion the process! It is true that you are what you are at the point of conception, and the only difference between you and a full human being adult human being is growth; that's it! You are what you are at that point, and God gives has to give the spirit at the point of conception, otherwise there would be no life.

Note the video In the Womb on the National Geographic Channel, you will see that from the very beginning God has set it forth that He is creating human beings by the reproductive process, which instills closeness, love, understanding and participation, in a way that is absolutely fantastic.

Now let's see that this is verified in the book of Job. They had more understanding than we give them credit for.

Job 33:4: "The Spirit of God has made me…" You're made by the Spirit of God even though you're in the flesh, so that you can receive the Spirit of God and then you can become a son or daughter of God.

"…and the breath of the Almighty gives me life" (v 4). God gives breath to every human being! Whether sinner or saint, we all breathe. God created the whole earth and has provided everything for all human beings which expresses his love to all mankind whether the just or the unjust.
Job 32:8—Elihu said: "But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding."

With the spirit of man we're able to have understanding of the things of men, but also, God is able to communicate with us spiritually! God is also able to inspire us with His Spirit.

Let's see about the Spirit of God and the spirit of man. God has created by His Spirit, because when they show the new life being developed in the womb, things take place in an automatic way and they do not know the power that keeps it going to create the human being in the womb, but it is a spiritual power of God.

1-Corinthians 2:9: "But according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" God's whole purpose is far greater, way beyond anything that we can conceive or imagine!

Verse 10: "But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit… [this is why the Word of God is so good] …for the Spirit searches all things... [that's what we read in Job] …eventhe deep things of God."

That's why the Bible is the most unique book in the world. No other book can do this, because no other book has been inspired by the Spirit of God! When God's Spirit is in us, we can understand what God has given to us, even the deep things of God. A part of what we're covering here, though it is an overview, covers some of the deep things of God.

Verse 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man, which is in him?…."

That's the spirit that God gives to all human beings, but that spirit of man is lacking the Spirit of God to unite with it to make it complete.

"…In the same way also, the things of God no one understands except by the Spirit of God" (v 11). That's why you can't pick the Bible up and just read it! It's different than any other book.

Verse 12: "Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God."

Also let's see that—as we found out here in the book of Job—they had a great understanding about how life comes to be, and David reiterated here in Psa. 139.

If you watch that video In The Womb, you will understand this even more. You cannot watch that without going through actually a spiritual experience and understanding in seeing how human beings are born. This is why we need to understand that the greatest sin in this nation is the killing of many millions of unborn creations of God!That's why we have 1.4 immigrants for every abortion that is taken place and that's why all the political things off fence building and surveillance and passing laws and voting for politicians will never solve the problem because there's no repentance to God!

Psalm 139:1: "O LORD, You have searched me and have known me." God can know the thought of anyone anywhere at any time! But He doesn't choose to do so because He has not made us robots, He's given us choice.

Verse 2: "You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off. You measure my going about and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways… [especially if the Spirit of God is in you] …for there is not a word on my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, You know it altogether" (vs 2-3).

Your spiritual communication with God is the greatest communication that you can have in your lifetime. God knows it, and God hears it.

• that has to do with prayer
• that has to do with your thoughts
• that has to do with how you live
• that has to do with how you think

That's all involved here!

Verse 5: "You have enclosed me behind and in front, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it" (vs 5-6).

That's why we have these things revealed to us. We have things revealed to us in the New Testament that David did not have access to.

Verse 7: "Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I go up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in the grave, behold, You are there" (vs 7-8)—because he's going to resurrect all the dead!

Verse 9: "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the farthest parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me shall be night'; even the darkness does not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; as is the darkness, so is the light to You" (vs 9-12).

Tie in Rev. 22 that you know there's no night there in New Jerusalem. This is a reference toward that.

Verse 13: "For You have possessed my reins..."—a way of explaining how God can deal with our mind as God in a spiritual way, in a special spiritual way that is not available to any of the rest of his creation! That's why God is determined to redeem mankind.

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When did that start?

"…You have knit me together in my mother's womb" (v 13)—because the Spirit of God has made me!Now, that's really something to contemplate: what is going on inside the body of a pregnant woman and the development of the child.

Now we're about ready to have another grandchild here. Rachelle is pregnant and she's due some time the late part of November or the first part of December. She showed us a nice picture, and she gave us a profile with her big belly. She knows it's a very special thing because God has chosen woman to perform this wonderful and fantastic thing of recreating human beings in His own likeness! So, if you view it from that point of view, take away all the thoughts of everything that human beings have. That's why sexual sins become so profoundly important and have such consequences because it is so vital in this special creation that God is given.

Of course, Satan is there saying, 'I'll take away the penalty. You can have an abortion.' He doesn't tell you he will kill it for you. Or you can take the morning after pill or you can take the pill before, but go have fun, have sex with anyone you want. That is Satan's destruction of the society! Does that not describe our society today? Those who are of the modern day ten tribes of Israel have rejected God, and God says He will reject our children. Our children are rejected, even beginning in the womb!

Now let's continue to see the purpose of God, and the wonderful thing that God wants to happen.

Verse 14: I will praise You, for I am awesomely and wonderfully made…" The more they study about the whole operation of the human body, it is very complex! It is it is so fantastic the way that God has made us because we're made in His image and His likeness.

"…Your works are marvelous and my soul knows it very well. My substance was not hidden from You…" (vs 14-15)—a modern term referring to newly conceived life where the cells begin dividing, and they begin dividing according to the pattern and Spirit of God, which in this case is the spirit of man that God has given to every new life!

"…when I was made in secret…" (v 15)—because a woman doesn't know she's pregnant until about six weeks afterward, and by that time, the baby is almost completely formed, though only about an inch long.

"…and intricately formed in the lowest parts of the earth…. [that's a metaphor for the womb] …Your eyes did see my substance, yet, being unformed; and in Your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet, there were none of them" (vs 15-16).

We know now that's how human life is. Man is so great it is abilities they are even trying to perfect what is called the genome, and the genome is the numerical sequence of your existence with the DNA and RNA inheritance from your mother and father and each one is numerically and individually different with the exception of twins and there's still a slight variation in each one of them.

Verse 17: "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You" (vs 17-18).

So, the truth is that no human being is ever free from God. You're all subject to God. Every human being that has been because God made us and created us. Now let's carry this another step further: We're all born once into this world, and we all have a living memory that that is so. One of the greatest ways to remain humble is that you remind yourself where you came from. If you just take your hand and you reach right in the middle of your abdomen, and what do you find? A belly button!

What does this tell you? You were born from your mother and begotten by your father, and you are not an independent thing by yourself! You are totally dependent on your mother and father for your existence, and you're totally dependent upon God for your daily breath! So, this is a great humbling factor ! Whenever you get all lifted up and think how great you are and the great things you are doing, just do a belly button check and come back down to earth and understand:

• God loves you
• God has made you for a purpose
• God is calling you
• He wants to be your spiritual Father forever

That's the important thing to remember! He made us to receive the Spirit of God to unite with the very spirit of our mind!

Rom. 8 says that 'If you have not the Spirit of Christ, you are none of His.' If you don't have the Spirit that also dwelt in Christ, which is the Spirit of the Father, likewise, you are none of His!

We see that the Spirit of God operates in two distinct levels.

• the Spirit of Christ, which gives us the mind of Christ, the ability to think as Christ thinks with the Word of God
• the Spirit of the Father, which is the impregnation or the uniting of the Spirit of God within our mind to become the begotten sons and daughters of God

That's why He made us this way!

1-John 3 shows the difference between Satan's way in the world and God's way with His people.

1-John 3:4: "Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness."

That's a stronger term than the King James has,which has anyone who sins transgresses the Law. Lawlessness is greater from this point of view: because the proclivity of men in their carnality and evil under the jurisdiction of Satan the devil in this world is to always amend God's way to their own way, which then is lawlessness. It is presumptuousness to do away with the Laws of God, not just merely the transgressing of the Law because of sin, but a wholesale attitude of sinning in a lawless way by making void the Law of God!

Verse 5: "And you know that He appeared in order that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin."

That's why in Phil. 2 this is why it came to take away our sins so that we can have a relationship with God and that we can become the spirit born sons of God, which is born again.

Read in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version the two appendices:

• Appendix P: What does it Mean to be "Born Again"?
• Appendix Q: What Does it Mean to be "Born of God"?

Verse 6: "Everyone who dwells in Him does not practice sin…"—because there is no man that doesn't sin! But practicing means living in sin.

Verse 4: "Everyone who practices sin..."

Verse 6: "Everyone who dwells in Him does not practice sin… [because that follows all the way down through] …anyone who practices sin has not seen Him, nor has known Him"—though you may be 'religious.'

God makes it clear. A lot of people like to say, 'I'm Christian,' because they practice some Christian things.

• Is that true?
• Do you practice all that Jesus said?
• Do you observe the day that Jesus observed?

You need to come to the conclusion from what the Bible says, not an opinion based upon how you feel.

There are a lot of people who say that they know Jesus and don't keep His commandments. It says in 1-John 2:4 they're liars! So, you have to go by the Truth of God.

Verse 7: "Little children, do not allow anyone to deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous"—because:

• they're under the grace of God
• they have the Spirit of God
• they're repenting daily of their sins
• they're growing in grace and knowledge
• they're developing the righteousness of Christ

Contrast it with v 8: "The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has beensinning from the beginning…."—and he's a liar from the beginning. So, if you believe lies, whom do you believe? Satan!

How many lies do I really believe? You may not even know what the truth is so you can have a gauge into determining what a lie is: the Word of God is Truth! The commandments of God are true. Christ is 'the Way the Truth and the Life' and that has to be your gauge!

• not what some minister may teach you
• not what some pope may teach you
• not some religious doctrine

but what does the Bible say?

"…For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil" (v 8). That's the way he's going to undo all sin!

Verse 9 is a very key important thing because we talked about how human life begins. Now let's talk about how Godly spiritual life begins. What is the ultimate end of that? This answers the question: Why did God create man the way that He did?

Verse 9: "Everyone who has been begotten by God does not practice sin…"—because His seed… The way it's pronounced in the Greek we have a very similar word for it in English, it is called 'spermatos.'

• How are you conceived? By the sperm of your father, physically!
• How are you conceived spiritually? By the Spirit of God, which is a begettal!

Because of that you have an attitude that you don't want to sin. If you sin you repent of those sins because you can't possibly practice sin, you can't stand it. Why? Because the Spirit of God will smite your conscience and bring you to repentance! So, you can't live a life of practicing sin,

"…because His seed of begettal is dwelling within him…" (v 9)—and actually united with the very spirit of man that is in your mind!

"…and he is not able to practice sin because he has been begotten by God" (v 9).

That's why God made us in His image so that He can give us of His Spirit, so that we can develop the Godly character through Christ! We're going to see that instead of being just the children of our mother and father, now we become the children of God and will become the spirit children of God, born from flesh to spirit at the resurrection.

God made us in His image so He can become like us, and we are made in His image so we can become like Him. After all that I've said, you can reduce it down to that!

Verse 10: "By this standard are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil…. [you have to choose which one you are] …Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who does not love his brother." Let's see how John started this out:

1-John 3:1: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!…."

This is a very special Greek word because God is not adopting us. He is making us His children, His very offspring! The word for children is not the Greek word 'huios,' which is just general son, but this is 'teknon,' meaning His very own offspring! So, God is directly individually involved in our lives!

"…For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God…" (vs 1-2).

What's going to happen to us? We live our lives and die! We end in weakness and ignominy and are buried in the earth. We become dust again, but we're going to be resurrected, and that's the born again. That's what born again means, because you're born once as flesh, and then you have to be born again as spirit. No one has been born again except Jesus Christ, because the one who's born of the Spirit 'goes wherever it wants to like the wind.' You can't see it, you can't hear it, and no born again Christian has ever done that. They're misunderstanding born again.

Verse 2: "Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested… [the return of Christ] …we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is."

Where did we start out? You can't see God in His glorified form and live! So, you have to be glorified to see God in His glorified form. This is why we live:

Verse 3: "And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure." That's the driving motivation of:

• what we do
• what we think
• where we're going
• how we're changing, growing and overcoming

It is our direct involvement, personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ!

Now let's see how it has been revealed to a certain extent. Then we will see what John saw of the glorious spiritual vision of Christ, because it says we will be like Him!

Then it says in Rev.22 that we are going to see the Father face-to-face. Well, you can't do that unless you're a spirit being, and you can't be a spirit being unless you were physical being first, which God created you in the womb of your mother.

Philippians 3:20: "But for us, the commonwealth of God…"—Greek word is 'poloteia.'

What is the greatest sin? The killing of many millions of the creation of God with deliberate malice to tear and rip apart and kill! Like we said, they have circumvented partial birth abortion! You cannot solve spiritual problems with political solutions! There must be repentance to God!

Verse 20: "But for us, the commonwealth of God exists in the heavens, from where also we are waiting for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

• What is He going to do?
• Why were we made in the image of God?

Verse 21: "Who will transform our vile bodies…?"

If you're dead in the grave and you're dust, you are vile! If you don't believe that, the next time you see an Egyptian mummy is it not vile? It stinks, too, and they're still dead!

"…that they may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the inner working of His own power, whereby He is able to subdue all things to Himself?" (v 21). So, we're going to be transformed into glorious spirit beings!

Now, let's see what that is like. Think about the greatest thing that you'd like to be just in this world just in this life. Here's how much better we're going to look—Rev. 1—this is written to the churches. John heard this voice saying:

Revelation 1:11: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book…" God wanted it all written, the Word of God is God breathed, so that no one could say that God didn't tell you.

If you have a Bible in your house, He has told you! If you don't pick it up and read it, that's your choice. It's not God's fault. Is God keeping you from reading it? Is God there restraining your hands reaching up on the shelf to get it? Maybe you need to blow the dust off of it! Maybe you need to open it up to take it seriously and examine your own life!

"…write in a book, and send it to the churches… [through all time that the seven churches depict] …that are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea" (v 11).

That's all in our sermon series Daniel/Revelation

Verse 12: "And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands." These lampstands are in a circle because you can't be in the middle of them unless it's a circle!

Verse 13: "And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of man… [we're going to be like Him] …clothed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate. And His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire… [so clear and piercing, so absolutely beautiful] …and His feet were like fine brass, as if they glowed in a furnace…" (vs 13-15). That's what it's like to be composed of spirit in glory!

"…and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth… [which is the Word of God] …and His countenance…" (vs 15-16).

You can't talk top this in anything you can do in this life. Whatever you choose to do, or perform or whatever it is, look at this:

"…and His countenance was as the sun shining in its full power" (v 16). How do we know that that applies to us as well?

When we're born again, we're going to be transformed from flesh to spirit.

• that's why God has given us His Spirit
• that's why God has given us His Word
• that's why these Scriptures in the Bible we need to know, understand, live by and be inspired by
• this is why God has made us

Yes, we're going to get old, yes, we're going to break down and die that is true. But that's no problem to God as long as you have the Spirit of God is going to give you a new body and a new mind, and it's going to be spirit, it's going to be glorified and you're going to live forever. No more death!

Daniel 12:1: "And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even until that time…. [and we are on the verge of entering into that] …And at that time your people shall be delivered—every one who shall be found written in the book."

The most important thing that you need to understand is that your name is written in the Book of Life so you can be resurrected when Christ returns!

Verse 2: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt"—because, yes, there is the unpardonable sin!

Verse 3: "And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament…"

What I want you to do the next time you see any of these fantastic pictures taken of the universe from the Hubble telescope, realize that that's how we're going to be in glory.

"…and they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever" (v 3). That's why God has made us the way that He's made us.

Let's see that Jesus verified this, too. He talks about the glory that we will have. This is why God has made us. That's why it's important that you need to repent of your sins and be baptized and receive of the Holy Spirit, because God has the greatest thing that He's going to give you: eternal life forever and ever! Not some fleeting soul out there viewing a beatific vision that you can never comprehend God. God says,

• you're going to see Him face-to-face
• you're going to be like Him
• you're going to be His very children

It's something to get excited about!

• that's why we're here
• this is where we're going
• this is the goal and the whole project of our lives

That's why God has made us the way that He's made us!

Matthew 13:37—the parable of the sower and the tares: "And He answered and said to them, 'The One Who sows the good seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the kingdom…" (vs 37-38).

That's us! We have the seed of God! Did we not read that? The begettal, the 'spermatos' from God!.

"…but the tares… [because Satan as the wicked one; that ties in with 1-John 3] …are the children of the wicked one" (v 38).

Well, now the enemy who sold them is the devil and the harvest is at the end of the age. That's when the resurrection occurs, and the reapers are the angels. We're going to take those who are resurrected from the dead and take them up to the Sea of Glass where Christ is when He comes back to the earth. It's going to be in the clouds, not be way up in the third heaven someplace.

Verse 40: "Therefore, as the tares are gathered and consumed in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all the offenders and those who are practicing lawlessness; and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (vs 40-42). (tie in with Rev. 16 & 19).

Now notice then shall the righteous because see if we have the seed of God in us we're righteous even as He is righteous.

Verse 43: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father…." That's exactly as Christ looked, and His countenance was as the sun in its full strength!

"…The one who has ears to hear, let him hear" (v 43). Do you hear?

God has called you to be as He is, the way that He has determined that you will be. You cannot become as God Satan's way, because that is rebellion. You have to do it God's way! This is why we are made the way that we're made!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Genesis 1:26-28
• Genesis 2:7
• Revelation 13:6-8
• Exodus 33:18-20
• John 3:13
• Philippians 2:5
• James 2:26
• Job 33:4
• Job 32:8
• 1 Corinthians 2:9-12
• Psalm 139:1-18
• 1 John 3:4-6, 4, 6-10, 1-3
• Philippians 3:20-21
• Revelation 1:11-16
• Daniel 12:1-3
• Matthew 13:37-38, 40-43

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 11; 3
• Acts 2
• Exodus 20
• Romans 3; 8
• Revelation 22; 16; 19
• 1 John 2:4

Also referenced:

Video: In the Womb

from: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:

• Appendix P: What does it Mean to be "Born Again"?
• Appendix Q: What Does it Mean to be "Born of God"?

Sermon Series: Daniel/Revelation

FRC:po/bo
Transcribed: 2/3/19