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EVERYTHING LOST in EDEN COMPENSATED a MILLION-FOLD with SPECTACULAR REWARDS

Part 1

When thoughtful and serious human beings reflect on the current (first half of the 21st century) conditions and ongoing evolution of all that is material, physical, and spiritual, many may well begin to DOUBT the goodness, love, and power of the Supreme Creator God who, according to those who believe in him, conceived, planned, and brought into existence all that is seen, heard, or otherwise experienced in one way or another in the Universe.

A. Nations, peoples, societies, homes, and hearts plagued by immorality, iniquity, violence, suffering, disease, and death.

B. The entire, enor-
mous animal kingdom
is filled with violence, disease, and death.

C. Planet Earth, with all its resources, is ravaged by frequent disasters of extensive impact such as floods, hurricanes, violent thunder storms, tornados,  earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, forest and grass fires, as well as massive industrial pollution, etc.

D. The overwhelming majority of human beings is headed down the “broad road… that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13) as the natural result of partaking liberally, even gluttonously, of a deadly concoction of fleshly, mental, and emotional vices, cravings, passions, obsessions, egotism, dark philosophies, superstitions, religious nonsense and fanaticism, fantasy worlds of Avatars and Online Personas, etc.

1. Everything living, whether animal or plant, AGES and DIES. The tallest and most majestic tree, the beautiful butterfly whose life spans only a few hours, the enormous elephant, every flower, every blade of grass, and also every human being. Nothing is living that does not die sooner or later!

2. Planet Earth itself, along with the entire material universe, is rushing toward the point in time when it will disappear eternally. This outcome is asserted by many scientists who do not even believe in God, any god, goddess, or spiritual being of any kind.

a) WHAT A BLEAK OUTLOOK!

                                                              ​b) So many circumstances, conditions, and states of matter, so many destructive forces we would like to eliminate, or at least diminish in frequency and power! Yes, and creations of different categories, both moral-spiritual and physical-material, that have become alarmingly imperfect, resulting in threatening and dangerous environments.

c) One might be tempted to ask: Almighty God in the Heavens, why do you allow so much deterioration and destruction in YOUR OWN WORK?

E. This same Almighty Creator God also informs us that multitudes of FALLEN ANGELS are kept “in eternal chains under darkness for judgment on the great day.” Jude 1:6. And this information may also cause one to wonder: “Lord God, why punish them so long in that way? Why not sentence them to the Second Death and be done with them forever?”

Again, one might be tempted to ask: Is it our FAULT that we humans and the fallen angels are to blame for choosing not to live according to the DIVINE ARCHITECT’S designs for us? For not conforming to his will but choosing to follow our own will, thus rejecting the role he assigned to us in his creations? Did he not give all of us the power of Free Will?

Well, of course, he did, on his own,  empower all of us with Free Will, and we may vainly argue that we are not, therefore, responsible for the wrong decisions we make in its exercise.

A painting of Adan and Eve, heads bowed, leaving the Garden of Eden, behind them angels in tones of gold obstructing their return.

What we are usually prone to do often is COMPLAIN to him about the CONSEQUENCES of our decisions and actions! Judge him. Reprove him. Condemn him. Be angry at him. Deeply angry!!! Not a few human beings even curse him.

“Okay, God, we have NOT been GOOD according to your standards of “GOOD.” We have messed up, yes, messed up our own lives, families, neighborhoods, country, the world. But our PUNISHMENT is truly often TERRIBLE! We endure and suffer everything presented in broad strokes at the beginning of this investigation, without noting there every physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual evil we experience throughout our existence. The truth is that hardly a single day passes without some physical, mental, emotional, or soul pain, from mild, moderate, severe, to excruciating. Conflicts, disappointments, worries, fears, fatigue, frustrations, setbacks, failures, depressions, threats, dangers, accidents, plagues, etc.

And near or perhaps somewhat distant in time and place, but not out of sight and hearing, thanks to television, the Internet, smartphones, and all kinds of digital communication devices, the unnerving news of crimes, debauchery, depravity, deep, very dark evils, riots, wars, and rumors of wars regularly invades our minds, unless we turn all of them off, and who does?

Part 2. An imagined verbal confrontation with God continues with murmurings, complaints, and recriminations against him for the terrible punishments he unleashes on humanity. Job and Jesus Christ included. Beware the downward spiral, the vortex of continuous murmuring, complaining, and arguing! How to stop it. The divine, immutable oath of God to fulfill his promise to give a Great Eternal Reward in Heaven to the faithful “saints… prophets… those who fear” his “name, both small and great.”

Author: Homer Dewayne Shappley

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