What exactly does that mean ?
Can you tell me, in your own words ?
Generally when asked that question, Christians just repeat or paraphrase without adding a jot of insight or meaningful commentary.
It is all very well to say that your experience validates the message of the bible re forgiveness, charity etc. But this peculiar piece of theology makes no sense whatsoever, and I have never heard a sensible word said about it.
It is central to christian dogma, yet is essentially meaningless. And totally weird !
What does it really mean, if anything ?
In your own words, please.
First I would like to point out that this is no simple matter to explain. I do not have the knowledge that God has. Imagine trying to explain everything about yourself and fit it into just a few paragraphs. You can't do it. Now imagine trying to explain everything about every single person who has ever lived and place all that information into just a few paragraphs. Then imagine trying to explain in complete detail everything that is in existence and fit it onto the same page. It is impossible. So from the very start, I can assure you this will be a complete failure, so bare with me please because we are talking about something, that is more expansive than everything that exists.
God is eternal.
God is perfect.
And God is just.
Now consider evolution.
When things evolve they begin simple; and as they evolve they become more complex.
Now consider meditation, which is a state of mind engaged in contemplation and reflection.
I believe that before this existence that we are all so familiar with God. I stop there because that is all there was; God, an eternal and perfect mind engaged in contemplation and reflection. I believe it was during this time, or lack thereof, wherein God conceived us and all of creation. In other words, it was during this time, wherein God formed and devised His creation plan. Heaven and earth and everything in heaven and everything made of earth were conceived in the mind of God until the moment came to put his plan into action. Before He put the plan into action, "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness
was upon the face of the deep." And then "... the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." And then God spoke. When God spoke He said "let there be light". It was at this time when the Word of God manifested Himself.
You see, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life."
Everything evolves. Everything changes. With all things that evolve one instance of existence begets another. It is true with everything that is contained in our universe. And so it is true with all living things as well. Life begets new life. Every life form begets the next life form. And one of the key ingredients to life is Family. You cannot have life without family. And as we all know, we cannot have a happy family without love.
When God contemplated mankind, He saw the end from the beginning. He knew you, and He loved you because He saw the good in you, because the good in you was manifested to you through His Son. But families are not composed of robots. Free will is also a necessary component to family as well. If there is to be love, it is worthless unless it is given freely.
If I had many children, and one of those children should happen to choose to be an obstacle and a threat to the happiness and well being of all of my other children, though I love him, I could not allow that child of mine to exist as a member of my family. He would have to make a choice between being a part of our family or not. There are many people today who are indeed threats to the Family of God. They deserve to be destroyed.
We have to remember the nature of the universe which God created. We can see it in the laws of physics. I would call them the physical laws of God. One of them goes like this. For every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. I can't explain how it is so, but I gather it is the same with spiritual components of existence as well. For those who hate, there must be an equal and opposite reaction of hate. For those who do harm, there must be an equal and opposite reaction of harm. You can call it karma if you like. But God so loved us that He incorporated a plan to deal with the corrupted free will of mankind. He gave His only begotten Son to die for all of the sins of the world, but it was going to have to have one stipulation. If you, despite your sinfulness, desire to be a part of the Family of God, you're going to have to believe that God sent His Son to die for you, and that God's Son willingly died for you because He also loves you. There are no free rides.
