The Great Expanse

March 29, 2023

There is a great expanse of compositions written to persuade that there is no God or even any so-called spiritual realm. Those are usually the atheist authors “who do not believe in the existence of a god or any gods.” Then, there are agnostics “who hold the view that any ultimate reality…is unknown and probably unknowable.”

These mindsets allow complete freedom from any moral responsibility as there is no mortal nor metaphysical doctrine to answer to, nor any standard by which it is necessary to give account for harmful thoughts nor destructive behaviors. There is only self.

Unfortunately, Reality has the awkward tendency of rude awakenings.

Now, from those mindsets, there can only be weak family ties, frail friendships, mistrust of strangers, and fragile social networks. I believe the evidence is observable in the severe societal divisions and tragic family breakdowns, homelessness and drug addictions, and suicides and mass shootings and all the rest which baffles, frustrates, and sickens ordinary people living out their ordinary lives.

Then, to be intellectually honest, there is no need for mindful discussions but only the need for instinctive, base behaviors. Fight or flight… If it feels good, do it… Laws don’t apply to me… and myriads of other grandiose memes for self preservation, self aggrandizement, self worth, etc.

There is good news, however: Both God and the realm of Heaven actually do exist, and every individual can actually know Him and walk in that heavenly reality, that unseen but knowable realm. Quite the opposite of Humanity’s opposing views of agnosticism and atheism.

As for my wife and I, as twice born Bible believing Christians, we are frustrated that we cannot persuade decent sorts of people, family oriented or otherwise, and socially conscious individuals, that the reason the world is growing worse and worse, more dangerous and harmful, is that people have no clear consciousness of the root cause: Human Nature. By that refusal to see the obvious, people usually refuse to admit that human nature is what the Bible calls the fallen nature. Our natural tendencies separate us from the love God has in store for anyone and everyone. But each person must decide to turn away from that “sinful nature” and turn to God.

Jesus made the Way possible, obtainable, and free of charge.

“[We are] convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” (Romans 8:38, New Living Translation)

We all start our lives in the natural realm, separated from the loving God of the Bible, and as we grow, it becomes by choice, by persuasion, by assumption, and/or by internalized pain, disappointment, or other scar tissues which individuals are living with, accumulated over their lives…

That can all change in an instant, if only you would decide to turn away from self-centered Human Nature and turn to Jesus for rescue — what the Bible calls forgiveness and redemption.

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4, Berean Standard Bible)

This is an illustration of the loving nature of God.

Don’t you want the Good Shepherd to come and rescue you from all your wanderings, and all the crap inside you, and the cesspool swirling about you, and the predators seeking what they can take from you?

Our question is valid.

Not for nothing.