That is not what God says.
He says SIN separates us from him.
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How Do We Know God Loves Us?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
He says SIN separates us from him.
Just_me_Mike
Well-Known Member
IndieVisible
Official Party Crasher
There is not much we know about God, I mean really know. Sure religion attempts to explain every thing, but all religion is man's attempt to explain or understand God.
There are only three things we can be certain of regarding God
1. God is Great
2. God is Love
3. God is beyond our capability to fully understand the fullness of God.
That God is great is evident by our massive universe!
That God is love is evident by the attention to even the slightest detail (us) in this universe. Size obviously doesn't matter to God as there is attention from every detail from the massive universe to us to the microscopic world as well. And if you examine DNA which is our blue print you will find it resembles a sophisticated language!
The questions always arise of why there is so much suffering and pain and death if God loves us. A valid question but one that can not be fully appreciated or understood as we don't see the whole picture. Religion attempts to answer these questions but falls short imho. We don't know fully. We may never know fully.
There are only three things we can be certain of regarding God
1. God is Great
2. God is Love
3. God is beyond our capability to fully understand the fullness of God.
That God is great is evident by our massive universe!
That God is love is evident by the attention to even the slightest detail (us) in this universe. Size obviously doesn't matter to God as there is attention from every detail from the massive universe to us to the microscopic world as well. And if you examine DNA which is our blue print you will find it resembles a sophisticated language!
The questions always arise of why there is so much suffering and pain and death if God loves us. A valid question but one that can not be fully appreciated or understood as we don't see the whole picture. Religion attempts to answer these questions but falls short imho. We don't know fully. We may never know fully.
Must disagree with you on this part.
We CAN know a fuller picture as regards human suffering (or life) but it is not revealed to the natural man, that's what scripture says 1Cor.2v14. Anyone without the (added) Spirit of God can not know the things of God v 10-14. Without the Spirit of God the Bible does not make much sense to man - hence all this religious confusion and disagreement.
The Spirit of God does not only clarify scripture it also helps man to live according to right principles that promote genuine love and peace. Not believing God and being obedient to him causes our problems.
Actually, God says it loud and clear.
So where in the Bible does God say we are a part of him ?
He says that our iniquities and sins separate us from God Isah.59v2.
What man's next step should be is to again become 'reconciled ' to him.
Without God we are dead now spiritually and will be dead physically for all eternity. There is no life without God except now for a little time till we come to 'repentance'. It is God's Grace that allows us that short period to draw fresh breath.
Communication problems come into play when you leave out important information. For instance, you did not say 'The Bible' in your previous comment to me. You said 'God' and when I think of God I certainly do not think of the Bible. So based on my religion and my understandings about God, what I said is relevant and true.
Fair enough from your point of understanding.
You obviously assume there are more than ONE God. Tell me , what kind of gods are you talking about ? My God is the Creator of all things and there is only ONE who reveals himself in the Bible - his Word. Does he do the same in other religions and tell them something else ?
Beta, I am a Hindu. There is only One God from which all has come to be. Hinduism is the original monotheistic religion. The Bhagavad Gita is the main scripture which contains the direct conversation between Krishna (God) and Arjuna. This text was written over 5000 years ago and in it Krishna details the path of the soul (individual) and its relationship with God, the Supreme. According to Krishna, every soul is a part and Parcel of Him. In the material universe we are covered by illusion and this illusion is what causes us to perceive dualities. In reality, there is only God.
So we agree there is only ONE God !
Why then do other religions claim that what he says to them is true ? Why does he tell different people different things ? You make your claims and christianity make theirs. How can we know who is right ??? All can claim they were before others.
Those are false gods, the Devil and his demons. And yes, they do those things - (Jude 6-7, Revelation 12:9,12)
But the true God IS love. He proved his love by sending his only begotten Son into the world so that we might gain (everlasting) life (I John 4:8,9) and in countless other ways.
I appreciate and agree with your statement of God's loving concern manifest in his creation. And it is true we will always be learning about our grand Creator. Still, He has made his appealing personality clear through his written word and invites us to draw close to him, promising He will draw close to us. (James 4:8) So we can have a real friendship with God and come to know him and trust him as a close friend. He invites us to pray to him, throw all our anxiety upon him, and promises to help us. False religions, including many professing to be Christian, have obscured the truth about God. Those who worship with spirit and truth know God as their best friend(John 4:24)
Exactly, how do we know? Everyone thinks they know, everyone thinks they are right.
From a Hindu perspective the dogmas associated with religious institutions is not important. As long as you strive for truth and seek God (who represents the Source of All, the Supreme) then he will guide you to Him. There is no One path to God and therefore no single religion is completely right or completely wrong.
What is important, in my opinion, is to be mindful of the fact that different people find Truth in different places and that most of us are searching for truth, even atheists. Even if we disagree with other people, it is important to be respectful of their beliefs because whatever they believe is what seems like reality to them just as what we believe seems like reality to us.
False gods? I didn't know that you even believed they exist.
Caladan
Agnostic Pantheist
Or by another take he made love to a mortal, and once the boy fulfilled his duty he left him for dead.
Yes I can have some sympathy with your belief though it seems to imply an everlasting duration for mankind. You would have to allow everyone time to find God - that is as long as there are people on earth.
Have you any idea how long such a situation would be likely to last in view of dwindling resouces for our needs ? What would be the end of us and how many would have found God by their own efforts ? What of the rest ?
According to the Bible (since Adam & Eve) we have already been here 6000 years and there is little (I would say none) evidence that we have reached some satisfying state God would approve of ??? Humanity is a diabolical mess !!!
Technically there are limitless amounts of souls and the universe goes through cycles of creation and destruction. Resources are thus not really an issue. Humans have already inhabited this planet for hundreds of thousands of years and will continue to do so for thousands more before this cycle ends.
Until we Realise God we continue to reincarnate. Each life we come a little closer. This relates to the purpose of life, which is to learn and grow and come closer to truth.
As long as people have material desires or selfish desires they will continue to cause havoc in the material world and that is why humanity seems like a diabolical mess. But eventually everyone will develop enough wisdom to become selfless. It just takes a while (ie/ you can't make a baby walk before it is ready)
That is what I believe, at least.
Metempsychosis
Reincarnation of 'Anti-religion'
I would make a minor correction: Hinduism is monistic and not monotheistic.In fact Hinduism has never been monotheistic (though some medieval sects started to propagate monotheism fearing Islam but they never drew adequate number of followers).IMHO,Monotheism means one god is true and others are false(or satanic),it is not a surprise that some Christians may beleive in false gods.Moreover,Gita is not considered to be most authoritative scripture of Hinduism.Also,Gita is much later work among hindu scriptures.The text was written around 200-300 BCE ,i.e 2200 years ago,though Krishna is "believed" to have lived around 5000 years ago.
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That might make you feel better but it does nothing for me thank you very much !
Seems we have come to the end of sensible discussion friend.Technically there are limitless amounts of souls and the universe goes through cycles of creation and destruction. Resources are thus not really an issue. Humans have already inhabited this planet for hundreds of thousands of years and will continue to do so for thousands more before this cycle ends.
Until we Realise God we continue to reincarnate. Each life we come a little closer. This relates to the purpose of life, which is to learn and grow and come closer to truth.
As long as people have material desires or selfish desires they will continue to cause havoc in the material world and that is why humanity seems like a diabolical mess. But eventually everyone will develop enough wisdom to become selfless. It just takes a while (ie/ you can't make a baby walk before it is ready)
That is what I believe, at least.
Different religions have not agreed for thousands of years it's not likely we will do so after a few posts