Russ and I have been going through the New Testament of the Bible, which is a first time for both of us. I like to ask questions, lots of questions (now I know where Aurora gets it from). After constantly searching for answers, the Lord reminded me that I am not suppose to have all the answers; He is. I mean He is God, He created me, not the other way around.
When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them free will. He gave them food, water, and everything they would ever need, but that wasn't good enough for them. It was Adam and Eve (and satan) that brought death, sin, hate and unhappiness to this world. So blaming the Lord for all of this, to me, is unfounded.
God sent His son to walk the earth. He was born of a virgin birth and lived a sin free life. That is hard for people to comprehend. But Jesus was God and He didn't have all the deadly emotions that cause us to sin. It would have been a piece of cake for Jesus to live a sin free life. What about when he was a kid? "And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." Luke 2:40 So in layman's terms, He was a child prodigy. He didn't live the life of a normal child.
The question is not "did He exist?" but "was He the Son of God?" To say Jesus never existed is like saying that yesterday didn't exist or Michael Jackson didn't exist. I think that is where most people lose their way. They think that Jesus was a made up story and you just chose to believe if it was a real story or not. He was a real person and even as He walked the earth, people were denying him.
Our job as believers is to tell you about Jesus Christ and then you (free will) make up your mind. We see evidence of this throughout the New Testament:
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16
"Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33
I would like to think that if I were alive during the times of Jesus that I would have followed Him, but I can't be certain of it. But I believe that what is written in the Bible did in fact happen. All of it. I am so certain that I am betting my eternal life on it. I can't make people believe what I believe, I can't even make my children believe, but I can try.
Free will is apparent, even in believers. Why do you think there are so many denominations of supposedly the same religion? What you non-believers need to realize is, that the way we chose to live our lives has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Yes, you heard me right. Jesus existed and He wants you to follow Him, I am not asking you to follow me. You don't have to believe in anything I do, just in Jesus Christ. You may disagree with my interpretation of a certain Bible verse, you may disagree with the way I raise my kids, you may think I am a hypocrite, you may not agree with my political opinions, but no one asked you to. I am asking that you believe in Jesus Christ, not me. So please stop using the excuse that Christians are hypocrites, to not believe. We are not perfect and we don't expect you to be. We mess up, sometimes in a big way. We may judge you, but we are doing it out of concern, not hate. We may say stupid things (who doesn't) but this by no means should cancel out Jesus. Jesus Christ will have the final say in your eternal life, I won't.
The Bible holds all the answers we will ever need here on earth. I highly recommend going through the Bible a little at a time and absorbing what you are reading. I would start with the New Testament, but the choice is up to you.
I still ask questions, knowing my answers won't come for awhile or maybe never at all. It is OK to ask questions, because it is what's in your heart that matters. It is how we grow and mature. I don't have all the answers, but I do know who does.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Revelation 22:13
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