Q: Hi, how can I reach to God? Who am I? Why I am in this world? If everything is controlled by God then why are we killing others? What is Death and Birth? Please give me the answers to the above questions.
A: Hello and thank you for your thought provoking questions. Throughout history mankind has wrestled with the questions you have asked. My prayer is that I will be used of God in order to answer them for you.
How can I reach to God?
Mankind is incurably religious in nature. No matter where you go on this planet you will find the local people worshiping or paying homage to a deity, or deities, of various kinds. These religious beliefs are often accompanied by a system of laws, rituals or rules designed for the adherents to “reach” up to their god. However, it is impossible for mankind to reach up to God through our own efforts in order to be pleasing enough to Him to accept us. This basic belief is what separates the Christian faith from every other belief system on the planet. Religion is man’s best effort to reach up to God, but Jesus Christ is God’s only method to reach down to man in forgiveness and offer him true life. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18).” Because mankind is spiritually dead to God in sin, the only way to “reach” up to God is to realize that you cannot. Salvation is through faith alone in Jesus Christ. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).” Religion is based on works, whereas faith is the recognition that you cannot measure up to God’s righteous requirements. By realizing this truth you are then able to accept God’s one and only provision for salvation, which is Jesus Christ.
Who am I? Why am I in this world?
Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? These are age old questions asked by countless generations of people. However, the real question is where do we go for answers? For most of us we try to find answers to these questions through our occupation, our behavior and even through religion. We often respond to the question of who we are by saying that we are businessmen, athletes, doctors, etc. Other times we are labeled by our struggles as we call ourselves things like alcoholics, thieves or addicts. And many of us have proudly worn the label of Catholic, Baptist or some other religious denomination. These are identities that change and do not last. But, as a Christian you have an identity that will never change, is eternal in nature and gives you meaning and purpose to life. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).” When you accept Jesus Christ as your savior you immediately become a child of God. As a child of God you receive an eternal inheritance as a free gift through faith in Jesus Christ. Part of that inheritance includes total acceptance by God (Romans 15:7), unconditional love (Romans 8:38-39), complete forgiveness of sins (2 Corinthians 5:19), holiness (Hebrews 10:10) and eternal life (1 John 5:13). It is the pursuit of these things that are at the root of religion. But, it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that these things are found. Who am I? In Christ, I am a child of God. Why am I in this world? I am in this world to share what I have received from God, through faith in Jesus Christ, with those desperate to find what God offers as a free gift of faith.
If everything is controlled by God then why are we killing others?
One thing God has given every individual on earth is the free will to choose. Pastor Aaron Budjen of Living God Ministries has some insight on this that would be helpful. “If we assume that people have the choice to believe and follow God or not, then people have the freedom to choose not to follow God. For this choice to exist, people must have the liberty to live their lives in context of their rejection of God. For this to occur, it is necessary to allow people to choose to do evil. Therefore, the bad things that happen are not the choice of God, but the choice of the people who decided to do bad things. God has given everyone [the] freedom to choose to do evil or good. His giving us this choice does not make him responsible for people’s evil choices. It is necessary however if we are going to have the freedom to choose not to do evil. Therefore, the allowance of evil is necessary to make allowance for people to do that which is good. This is the cost of our freedom.” The reason you have people killing each other is because you have sin in the world. And the reason you have sin in the world is because the first man, Adam, chose to disobey God. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).” All of us have been born under the curse of sin. However, when we do sin it is because we have chosen to do so not because God has made us do it.
What is Death and Birth?
Death is the absence of life. And birth is life. When someone dies they are checked for the absence of life not the presence of death. The reason that death is in the world is because, as mentioned earlier, Adam chose to disobey God. In the book of Genesis the creation of mankind is recorded. The “LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7).” Adam was created spiritually alive with the very life of God indwelling him. However, God gave Adam a warning. God told Adam he “must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:17).” Adam chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he died. However, the death he suffered was a spiritual death, not a physical death. The life God breathed into Adam (Genesis 2:7) was removed. Adam went on to live 930 years before dying physically. He was alive to the world, but dead to God. Therefore, all mankind is born into this world in Adam, dead to God in our sins. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was God’s answer to man’s problem of spiritual death and sin. The death of Jesus Christ satisfied God as payment for our sins. His resurrection allowed God to offer the life lost in Adam as a free gift to all who accept Jesus Christ by faith. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their savior they are “born again (John 3:3).” They were born once physically and then they are born again spiritually after they accept Christ. The spiritual death is removed as the life of God is restored to them. They are given eternal life at that moment. Those who do not accept Jesus Christ remain dead to God and, should they physically die apart from Christ, will face what the Bible calls the “second death (Revelation 20:14);” eternal separation from God in Hell.
My prayer is that I was able to give you some help with your questions. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to address them.
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