© 2021 Don Pinson | [Download]
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God made man “in His image” to look like Him in spirit. He made man “in His likeness” to look like Him in his soul; that is, in his mind, his will, and his emotions: And He made man to rule over earth, as God rules in heaven and in earth.
But we, as mankind chose to rebel against God’s plan for us. We refused God’s offer of Covenant with Him; which means the “meeting of minds”. We wanted to think our own thoughts and act in whatever way we chose.
But God never gave up on His dream of man being a vessel of His life. He continued to offer restoration to that Covenant for any man who chose to agree with Him again. But people must forever come to God the same way: By admitting He was right, they were wrong, and that only the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, could “…[take] away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
And for those who would re-enter the Covenant, there awaited them the best possible life on this earth!
Daniel Webster, the great Senator from the first half of the 1800s, stated:
“If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering…
If we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion…and shall respect His Commandments…we may have the highest hopes [for] the future;…
But if we and our posterity neglect religious instruction and authority; violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political Constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”
(1763. Webster, Daniel. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States of America (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 270 | Henry H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1927, 1965), p. 18.)
This is why we can’t have it “our way”. Only by the powerful discipline of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, the Lord of this earth, can we choose to think of others first; and thus, respect their God-given right to “life, liberty, and property.” Socialists can philosophize about a “perfect world” all they will; but man is incapable of creating a perfect world. The selfishness in us will always prevent it. And this root of selfishness cannot be “educated” out of us. No matter how pervasive and persuasive our current education system may be, humanistic education cannot overcome the selfish root in man. Those doing the humanistic teaching, be they professor or president, have the very same selfish nature in them that you and I received when we were born into this world. The Bible says,
“[For] as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12)
George Washington warned us:
“And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of [Christian] principle.”
(Washington, George. September 19, 1796, in his Farewell Address. John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution (Baker Book House, A Mott Media Book, 1987, 6th printing 1993), p. 119.)
Our only hope, as an individual or as a nation, is to come back into God’s Order by agreeing with Him about His purpose for us. IN SHORT: OUR ONLY HOPE IS GOD AND HIS LIFE!!! God says,
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” (Acts 3:19)
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.