RELEASING THOSE WHOM WE LOVE-Prelude

I had not been able to eat for two days and the grief overwhelmed me as I stood in the cemetery for my husband’s burial. I felt faint as though all my life was draining from my body. So many thoughts were flying through my brain until they all seemed to be scrambled. I prayed for hope. Had it only been a few days since I had really released Pete into God’s hands. By that I mean, I had prayed one more time that God heal Pete. I had watched Pete suffer so in a deep depression with what appeared to be an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. He had described to me that the pain he felt was greater than he could ever explain. So this time as I prayed, “God please will You heal him—I don’t know what to do. If the only way for his pain to go away is for you to take him home and he for certain knows Christ as his Savior, then I let go. But if he does not know you, please Lord become my voice that he may find you.” It was only two days later that he died on July 23, 1994. My whole life had been wrapped up in Pedro Barba. I had loved him no matter what the problems. After all those years, I still got butterflies as I saw him walking down the street like some teenager in love. For many years my purpose in life had been to try to bring him peace and joy. I had gently tried to show him Christ through my walk and testimony. Now he was gone and I had the task to pick up all the broken pieces and the shattered lives of my sons to go forward. My boys were just becoming teenagers and had already suffered so much. How was I going to help them through this tragedy? I didn’t know how nor did I know what to say to comfort them.

I had buried my father in 1993 after a massive heart attack and my brother in 1987 following a tragic car accident. My heart had ached with their loss; but this time I felt so lost in the grief that I wondered how I would go on. I looked at my sons and knew I must for them. I also knew that they had a lot of their own inner struggles to deal with. That became evident at moments while I watched them go through their teen years. Amazingly, they were such grounded children that really they did well in school, they were well mannered, and never really got into trouble. Still, I knew they had a lot bottled up deep inside. I saw it in their faces at times. The same was true of my dear Melissa who had suffered through all this and even more because she was living away from me with her father in California. Then I was diagnosed with cancer. All three stood with faces of strength and care, so only they know what they felt and suffered at that time. I did not know how to help. The only thing I knew to do was to pray and to keep pointing them to the only Comforter I knew, Christ Jesus.

As is sometimes the case, when I began to write this chapter; I still could not face the real issues which lead me to this chapter. For that reason, I transposed those feelings onto a friend instead. The truth was I really wanted to take all the pains or sorrows that came into my children’s lives so that they would not have to face it. I wanted to block all the trials from their path. I was overwhelmed with this desire when I wrote this chapter back in 2003. God used a friend to teach me what I needed to know for my children.

RELEASING THOSE WHOM WE LOVE

“Hearken unto this,…stand still and consider the wondrous works of God” Job 37:14

The other day a dear friend told me that he had cried all night. He began to tell me of the pain he felt and the frustration he was experiencing because of not being able to see his dreams fulfilled. His description of his pain reminded me of how many times I had felt the same devastating pain. My concern and empathy at that moment rose so high that I wished there was a way that I could reach out and make all his sorrows go away or that I had a magic wand that could give him all that he dreamed of. Instead I fell on my knees before God and pleaded that he lift the burdens from my friend. I asked that God remove his pain and give it to me. I asked that God would grant all of his dreams and pass his sorrow to me to carry for him. I was amazed at how sincere my desire was to carry his pain and release him from his sorrow. I initially thought that my desire was good. Surely, God was merely showing me how to love more like Christ loves. That day I carried a heavy burden in my heart, though my friend was not aware of my prayer or my desire to lift his burden. I continued to remain in prayer. Yet, the response that God gave me surprised me.

I thought of all that God had taught me through the pain of my own life and of the strength and faith that was now mine for having walked through the valleys. In that moment I wondered that if I interceded for his pain, would I interfere with his reaching Gods greatest blessing? I found that I then had to return before God and ask that God send my friend a host of angels to guide him through his sorrow. I was reminded that “he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11-12. I knew that God honors prayers that include His scripture prayed back to Him. So I prayed this promise before God on behalf of my friend.

I knew that I was weak because I did not know what to pray for, so I prayed for God’s will to be done. I knew that God loved my friend with such a perfect love that he would not allow any pain or sorrow that was not also a part of His perfect plan for him. I also knew that in the midst of any sorrow that God allowed He would walk with him to lift him up and protect him with a band of angels. God provides His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to protect him in the midst of his sorrow. It was at that moment, that I knew that I did not know what to pray for or how best to intercede. I was reminded that “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8: 26-27.

In simple faith, I then stood before the almighty Sovereign God and asked that He intercede in my prayers and in His infinite wisdom to give His best to those I love; even when I don’t understand the plan. He who knows my heart, knows that I would gladly carry their pain and would protect all those that I love: my friends, my children and my mother. But the truest love that I can demonstrate is releasing them into the arms of the wise and loving father who can love them more perfectly than I could even imagine in my frail and human understanding. Has He not already taught me of His marvelous Love and Wisdom, which would only allow the best for these His children. If I have learned to trust Him with my own life, shouldn’t I more easily trust Him with those that I love?

How often as a mother had I wanted to protect my children from all pain. But I knew that if I held them too tightly, they would never learn how to walk. I wanted to cover them with my arms and protect them from all harm, but I knew that if I put them in a bubble of protection of my own making it would fail. I had failed my little girl by wanting to protect her. Instead I have learned that the only way to protect them is to release them so that God’s protective arms would cover them. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Psalms 91: 4. He, the God of the Universe, is able to cover and protect my loved ones under his wings. Is that not so much more than I could ever offer them myself?

I must at those moments remind myself of His Promise. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. He did not say that all things are in themselves good or without pain, but rather that “all things work together for good”. Most of my life I have quoted this scripture. I have continued believing that the final truth was that God would so work the circumstances that the circumstances would become good in themselves. I failed to grasp the depth of this scripture until one day I read the following verse 29. A light bulb suddenly went off in my brain as I continued my reading of Romans 8. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” Romans 8:29. All the things that happen within the life of a believer are ordained by God. He gently weaves each thread of sorrow, pain, joy, and hope together in order to complete a final portrait of Christ. The more we look like Christ, the more we are able to also love Christ. The more we love Christ, the more we seek and savor His presence. We can then begin to see our sorrows through His Sovereign eyes. We begin to understand the purpose in our suffering. As we understand this we become more filled with awe of His Glory and all that He did for us. As that happens we begin to be filled with His Joy, His Peace, His wisdom and His love. The circumstances themselves may or may not change, but how we view those circumstances does change. It is this transformation that allows us to grow so deeply in faith that the darts of the devil cannot penetrate us. We are then made able to sing forth with joy and peace in the midst of deep suffering, to the extent that the sorrow cannot penetrate our being.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32. He will give us all things. “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4. He will provide all the desires of our hearts and give us all things, as He transforms us into the image of His Son. The miraculous part is when we delight ourselves in Him, our desires transform. His desires gradually take over our desires. What better desires to have than those of a Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient God. For Christ knew how to delight Himself in the Father. As we become transformed into His image, we too know how to delight ourselves in the Lord; that this promise may be realized. II Corinthians 3: 17-18 “¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” God’s goal and His promise to the believer is to transform the believer into the likeness of Christ. How can I, my children, my friend or any believer ever look like Christ without carrying a cross at some time in their life?

Certainly Paul the Apostle understood this principle. He knew that his former desires and dreams were rubbish compared to that which he had gained in Christ. This is certainly shown in Philippians 3: “⁷But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  ⁸Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, ⁹And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: ¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” This from a man who reports of his life in 2 Corinthians 11 as follows: “in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. ²⁴Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. ²⁵Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; ²⁶In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; ²⁷In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. ²⁸Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. ²⁹Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? ³⁰If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.”

If I want my loved ones to be truly protected and to receive all the best that God has to offer them, then I must be willing to trust God and to release them freely into His arms. I must step aside and quit trying to manipulate the circumstances. God will provide them with “every good and perfect gift.” For “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17. There is no gift that I might give to those I love to compare with what I know God will give them.

My task of true love is to lift them up before God in prayer and release them. This is truly the best that I can give. If I try to hold them in any way, I will fail to allow His best for them. As I let go and I let Him, they will truly receive His best. As I lift Him up before my loved ones, I release them into His arms of love. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?. Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 35-39.

Dear Heavenly Father, As I stand before you, I release into your arms those whom I love that you might perfect your work in them. Take them forth into the world where you would have them go, even when that is far from me. I know that your loving arms will bring them to a place of perfect peace and joy. Thou art able to accomplish your work in them and bring them all perfect gifts and fulfill the desires of their heart. Let me stand firm as their prayer warrior by allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through me asking that which is best for them. Let me always be mindful to lift them up in prayer. Help me to understand when my understanding fails and help me to fulfill the purpose that you have for me in their lives. Let Thy words flow forth from my lips when I know not what to say. Let my voice ever lift you up before them that they might see your awesome grace. Let me always trust you with their lives as I have learned to trust you with my own. It is to you whom I give all my praise and to Your Son be glory forever. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

THEREFORE, RELEASING THOSE WHOM WE LOVE

As I now look at my children, I am amazed at all that God has done. They display in their lives the fullness of His Grace, His love, and His truth beyond anything that I could have ever hoped for. They live out their faith every day, displaying it to the rest of the world. God has woven their lives with the threads of His love. So here are the steps to learning to release your loved ones.

1.      Remind yourself of God’s Sovereignty.  Isaiah 40: “28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (Isaiah 40: 28-29) 

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)   

All things were made by him; and without him was not

     anything made that was made." (John 1:3)

    "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:

     for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are

     and were created." (Revelation 4:11)

    "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and

     create evil: I the Lord do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7)     

    " . . . whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine."

     (Job 41:11)

    " . . . for all the earth is mine." (Exodus 9:15)

    "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon

     a thousand hills." (Psalms 50:10)

    " . . . for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof."

     (Psalms 50:12)

2. Remind yourself of His Omnipotence

²⁷For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? ²⁸In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden (Isaiah 14: 27-28)

¹⁷Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: (Jeremiah 32: 17)

behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. ¹⁴And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7: 13-14)

For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke1:37)

for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure ( Isaiah 46:9-10)

3. Remind Yourself of God’s Omniscience

⁴He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. ⁵Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite ( Psalm 147: 4-5)

⁴He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.  ⁵Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (Job 37: 4-5)

³The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good (Proverbs 15: 3)

²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. ³⁰But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10: 29-30)

¹³The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. ¹⁴From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth (Psalm 33: 13-14)

⁹And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. (I Chronicles 28:9)

4. Remind Yourself of God’s Omnipresence

²⁴Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD (Jeremiah 23: 24)

¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:19-20)

¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:15-17)

⁷Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? ⁸If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. ⁹If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; ¹⁰Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. ¹¹If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. ¹²Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. (Psalm 139: 7-12)

5. Remind Yourself of God’s Love

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3: 16-19)

⁷How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. (Psalm 36: 7)

for God is love.  ⁹In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  ¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (I John 4: 8-10)

⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5: 8-9)

⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.  ⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.  ¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. ¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. ¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. ¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. ¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. ¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. ¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. ¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; (Psalm 103:8-17) In this fear really should be “stand in reverent awe of.”

6. Remember that your departed loved ones who know Christ are standing in His presence- No more sorrow, no more pain, no suffering. Would I be so selfish as to deny them that blessing to hold them here on earth with me? Paul expresses this so well in 2 Corinthians:

¹For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  ²For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:  ³If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.  ⁴For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.  ⁵Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.  ⁶Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:  ⁷(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)  ⁸We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.  ⁹Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.  ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  ¹¹Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.  ¹²For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.  ¹³For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.  ¹⁴For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:  ¹⁵And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

In conclusion, whether it be that you are called to release a loved one to God in death or life; remember He who created the heavens and earth will accomplish His perfect work in them. So pray, always for each of your loved ones that God’s will and purpose is carried out. Live a testimony of how God has worked everything together in your own life. Sometimes all you need to do is stand by quietly present while that loved one goes through whatever trial. Ask God for the wisdom to know when to speak and when to just stand firmly at their side.

FORGIVENESS

Lord, how does this bleeding heart

Learn to forgive the hurtful words

Or those who would tear me apart

By all they’ve said and done to me

Their acts have stabbed a part of me

Abuse and selfishness have reigned

This pain, I feel please set me free

That I might stand and shine Thy light

So, take me back unto that cross

You bore my guilt and paid my price

That I might understand Your loss

The price You paid forgiving me

If I could see me as I am

Compared to perfect righteousness

So undeserving of the lamb

Who gave his life full sacrifice

Oh, then dear Lord, I’d see mankind

Through eyes filled with Your love

Forgiving Spirit then I could find

For every act and every word

So let me have this heart of Yours

To reach a bitter world in pain

So joy and love and peace outpours

To shine Your light of hope through me.

WHEN I CAME TO THE END OF ME

So many times I strayed so far from you

And wondered what was I there to do

I tried so hard, my might, to do your will

I could not see I should stand still

What could I do to bring you a gift

The harder I tried, the farther I’d drift

I reached that point, reality

I’d broke your heart, you still loved me

CHORUS: When I didn’t have the strength

You were so strong

When my heart was filled with tears

You were my song

You are the love,

you are the peace,

you are the joy that flows in me

When I didn’t have a hope

At the end of my life’s rope

And I couldn’t find my way

You came to save this wandering stray

And now I know a different me

It is your love that set me free

That in this world I might now see

All that you are, your majesty

When I came to the end of me

My love for you, Your love for me

Why did Christ have to Die?

Isaiah 53: “ ²For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

⁸He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

⁹And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

I do feel that it is necessary to belabor the importance of understanding the true depth of God’s glorious holiness and justice, our depth of unworthiness, and the extreme cost of our salvation. Without this understanding, there is no real salvation. Unless our hearts are touched by God’s greatness, His holiness which forces us to understand our personal unworthiness; then, there is no hope for truly accepting this wondrous gift of justification. We cannot understand the cost of our being declared just; unless we first understand our guilt. We cannot understand our guilt unless we first see God’s Glorious Holiness and Perfection and thereby understand that He must be Just in His Righteousness. If He were not Just in His punishment of Sin then His Righteousness would not be Perfect. He cannot be both Righteous and Holy as the Creator of the Universe unless He demands full payment for sin. My personal sin required a death penalty and by all rights I deserved to be the one to die; yet, Christ took my penalty upon Himself. Too often we seem to want to declare ourselves, “Not so bad” and compare ourselves to other humans instead of recognizing the perfect Holiness of God as being the only comparison that matters in the determination of our guilt.

So often, we hear people proclaim that yes they believe in Christ; but that they don’t believe themselves to be a sinner. Other people believe that if they are “good” then God will accept them. Some want to follow after Christianity because they want to gain heaven, prestige, a better life, and the gifts of God. Too often, I fear they do not understand the truth of salvation and are much like the crowds that followed Jesus because of His miracles. Even Judas believed that Christ was the Messiah who had come to set up His kingdom. Judas believed that when Christ set up this Kingdom that he, Judas, would be the treasurer with great wealth; yet, he never saw “the holiness of Christ”, nor did he realize the depth of his own sinfulness, or that Christ’s death and resurrection would be his only chance at justification before a mighty and Holy God. The crowds who had witnessed the miracles of Christ and who ushered Him into Jerusalem were the same as would later cry out “Crucify Him.” Thus I fear that many proclaim the name of Christ or follow after Christianity that never knew the power of Saving Grace and thus are not truly His Child. By no means am I in this trying to say that I, so unworthy to be His Child have any way of discerning the truth of another man’s salvation. Nor am I to be able to discern by even their outward walk; for I am certain that there are many who may have walked more uprightly than I who have never come to a saving knowledge of Christ. My desire is that I and you both know the difference between following after Christ and being known by Christ. After, Christ even said, “²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7. I, daresay, that there is one question which I have asked myself and anyone who claims to know God. “If God were to give you nothing in return for your praise, and there was no chance for heaven; would you see Him worthy to be praised anyway?” If you can answer that question as yes, then I would propose a second question. “Have you ever come to that moment in which you saw God as Gloriously Holy and by thus recognizing His Magnificence you saw yourself as being wicked and unworthy to stand before Him?” If your answer is again yes, then there is a third question, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God died to pay your penalty for sin and thus becoming the only way to make a way for sinful man to have communion with a Righteous and Just God?” Once again, if your answer is yes then I propose one final question. “Have you asked Him into your heart that you may seek and savor Him?”

Christ took upon Himself God’s entire wrath toward sin. As I have indicated above this means little to anyone unless they by the help of the Holy Spirit’s prompting come to realize the magnitude of that wrath and the Supreme Holiness of God. Only then can a man become overwhelmed by the love that God has. If I am unable to see my own unworthiness of such an act of Mercy then I cannot understand the Greatness of the price that Christ has paid. He, who knew no sin, paid the price for my sin and in thus doing has proclaimed me Just and righteous before God. In the same moment of my greatest unworthiness, I have become greatly significant to God because of faith in Christ. Not because of any works of my own have I been made His beloved; but because of what Christ did and my acceptance of His gift I have become His beloved. Any goodness that I may then demonstrate comes out of His love flowing through me and back to Him in praise as a perfect and beautiful music to magnify His Glory which somehow brings my being ever more present to sharing that glory step by step until I shine forth His Glory and appear in His likeness one day. 2 Corinthians, “¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

This being said then why did Christ have to die and what did He accomplish by taking upon Himself the Father’s entire wrath toward sin? We were created to be the full recipients of God’s love; yet, because of sin He was unable to pour out that love. Additionally, we just as Adam did not even understand what it was to be loved wholly by God. We were incapable of feeling the ultimate joy and inspiration that this union with our Creator could provide. When we are born we merely know that our hearts are hungry for something and we search out pleasures and joys which are mere counterfeits in their comparison to that which can be found in Him. We realize our lack of something; but do not fully understand what it is that we seek. Christ came in an act of full obedience to God, in perfect Righteousness, to suffer temptation, sorrow, hunger, loss, betrayal and death that He might pay the penalty for our sin and forever to destroy the chains of sin’s dominion on mankind. By this, He demonstrated God’s love for you and for me. In this sacrifice, He was magnified as being most worthy of praise and Glory. He came that we might be declared righteous and thus become transformed into His own image worthy of Glory and praise-which reflects back upon Himself. To share in His love, His Joy, His peace we need to be transformed into His image that we might understand and rejoice in that which is His. That transforming work begins the day that we accept Christ as our Savior and is not completed until one day we stand before Him clothed in His righteousness.

We are clothed in His righteousness and declared righteous from the moment we accept Christ; yet, we in practice do not fully perform as such until we grow in that knowledge. A baby when born is dependent upon his parents to feed and care for him. When we are born again into the body of Christ, we have legs much like the baby has been born with; yet, we require nourishment and care to gain the strength to one day walk. As I watch my grandson, Aiden, grow I marvel at how similar at times his maturing has been to that of my maturing as a child of God. He has begun to walk. I watch him walk at times staggering. He falls frequently and frequently must stand again with determination to take more steps forward before again falling. How many times have I fallen in my walk with God!! Yet, each time He stands before me and coaxes me ever so gently to stand again and walk forward. He knows one day that as He continues to strengthen me, I will run and then soar; but, patiently and gently He watches as I fall and get back up to go again. The desire to please Him is always before me. I stand again looking toward Him with the hope to hear Him say, “Well, done my good and faithful child” His love for me as demonstrated by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross compels me to love Him and creates desire to please Him—not out of fear, but love to bring Him pleasure. The more I come to understand His Glory, the more I seek to know of Him. The more I learn of His Sacrificial Love the more I grow to love Him. As I grow to love Him more and learn of His Glory, the more I lay aside all other desire to seek after Him. The more I seek after Him the more fulfilled, inspired, hopeful, and peaceful I feel regardless of my circumstances. The temptations, sorrows, lusts, fears, and disappointments, that this world may surround me with, fade into nothingness. Who I am (my very being, and all that I do) become subject to Him. Again, I am not a finished piece of work and may at moments turn my eyes off of Him; but, I am growing each year toward a closer walk. As He continues to sift the chaff from my life, I know that He will finish this work in me one day. My hope lies in this truth. It is His work for which He paid the dearest price and I know that He will finish it.

Christ had to come to earth to suffer and to die, that I might begin to understand His greatness and holiness. He also came that I might understand my unworthiness. Furthermore, He came that I might be ransomed from my sin and declared just before my Creator. In all of this He declared His love for me and thus demonstrated His Right to be Glorified above all, worthy of all our praise.

Chapter 3 Sin’s Destruction and the Cost of Love

Before I can move on to begin describing the fundamentals of salvation and joy in Christ, there is one more set of fundamental principles that are necessary to understand. I will try to unravel these in as simple of terms as possible. We must first understand our purpose. To understand our purpose we also need to know exactly what were we created for. I did explain this in Chapter 1; but I hope to expound that very subject. Additionally, we must understand why and what went wrong. Third, we must understand the cost to repair the damage. Then finally; how can the repairs be accomplished.

In Genesis, we are told that God created the heaven and the earth, the seas, the stars, the moon, the sun, the plants, the trees and all the animals. Once He had placed everything needed to supply man’s needs, He created man. Genesis 1: 26 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” As you will note that here He used the plural–let us, our image. Here He refers to the Trinity which is God the Father (soul-the essence of all), God the Son (flesh) and God the Holy Spirit (spirit). Therefore man was created body, soul, and spirit in the image of God. I do believe that in one of my previous books I erred in an attempt to oversimplify this fact; and, therefore must be very careful to explain this to a greater extent. Man was created with body, soul and spirit. The body is the flesh which desires the basics of needs to eat, drink, urinate, defecate, procreate, and physically survive. The soul is the essence of who we are-our thoughts, our desires to belong, our actions, our life, and that which makes us so very different each from another. The soul is that basic DNA which makes each of us unique within the world—blended with all those social forces which surround us forming our personality. The essence of who we are is our soul. Yet that soul is in the state of eternal death and dying to God when we are born. Our spirit is that driving force toward being fully actualized into something or someone more than this simple flesh with thought and action. That light within our soul is dead to the true light. It is like a beautiful light fixture with all the wires in place, but without the electrical force to illuminate it. The transformer broke and that energizing spirit which can bring the light to glow is cut off from the source of its electricity which is God. He then created woman in the same image to be a “help meet for him.”

So, I have told you why God made woman after He had made man. The question remains why did He make man or woman? Perhaps if we look somewhat closer at man’s creation we may get a hint of why. Everything else was spoken into being except man and woman. Genesis 2: 7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul”. He formed man somewhat like a potter forms a beautiful vessel out of a lump of clay. He gently molded man, like an artist so lovingly creates his masterpiece. With gentle, loving hands smoothing every aspect to make this His most prized creation. Why so much detail and love when creating man? He could have just spoken him into being, but no, He gently and lovingly created him. The point becomes very clear. He created mankind to communion with Him, to talk with Him, to lovingly listen for His voice, to walk with Him in the Garden He had given them, so that He, God, could share His Overflowing Love and Joy. There was great love and care placed into the creation of man. Genesis 3:8 “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:” They knew His voice. They had heard it before on just such an evening and they walked with Him, they talked with Him, they (I suspect) even laughed with Him, and they loved Him. What did God create mankind for? He created mankind to share His love with, to be their friend so that this love would continuously circle back to Him in adoration and praise. Not like the angels who were created to serve Him. Lavishing these His children with everything they needed. He would rejoice with their joy. He would be their gentle teacher, guide, and Father. Much like the triune God who dances in the love of the Son and Holy Spirit, that connecting energy when the human spirit is connected to God as it was meant to be it has life, joy, hope, and peace. You see Christ the Son is not separate in actuality from the Father in the terms as we see a human Father and Son; because Christ did not come after the Father, rather He was forever present—eternal with no beginning in the Father. The illustration of Father and Son was merely the best analogy that could be provided to help these finite human minds to understand that though they are one they are able to love, glorify, respect and enjoy each other in a way that a father can love his son. This is a very complex issue to explain. Yet when we see man in his brokenness we can see that there are three elements that are all a part of us; yet, at times can be separate. Have you ever watched as a person with great spirit of love becomes trapped in a body that is dying, piece by piece. I have worked with a girl who has Freidreich’s Ataxia. She has a beautiful spirit and mind which still cannot help her to move her broken body, much like a progressively worsening quadriplegia. Joni Eareckson Tada has a beautiful alive spirit and mind trapped in a body of quadriplegia. A beautiful mind was a movie about a brilliant mathematician who due to schizophrenia was trapped in a world of thoughts that were crippling to him. All of these are examples of mankind who is body, soul and spirit. The difference is with God there is the perfect embodiment of righteousness, love, joy, brilliance and life such as none of these broken human beings can obtain. Yet, it may help you to understand the triune God who is one and yet three at the same time only unbroken.

He has formed each of us in that same loving fashion as He did Adam and Eve. David said in Psalm 139: 13-14 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s wombI will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” God chose and put together exactly the right DNA strands to form each and every human being. He lovingly created each of us just the way He knew we would be able to give the most beauty and joy. That way each is a work of beauty in His eyes. Exactly the one He wanted to commune with and to be one in spirit with Him eternally. He knew exactly the way He wanted each of us so as to harmonize with Him. Each of us began, were created by God at the point and time of our conception in our mother’s womb. He knew before that we would be here; but we first began at the point He created us.

So what happened?

Since you cannot truly love something freely unless you have choice, He gave Adam and Eve a choice. He placed that choice in the center of the garden in the form of a tree and told Adam not to eat of it, for on that day he would surely die. Adam then shared that information with Eve. When it came time for the choice, Satan in the form of a beautiful serpent tempted Eve. Satan’s words began with the same lies he still uses against us. Genesis 3 1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

²And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

⁴And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

He began with appealing to her doubt. Having felt God’s love, it was easy to convince her that God surely did not mean that we would die as a result of sin. How could He allow the death and destruction of this His creation which He loved? He then appealed to her pride that she would be like God. She was swayed easily to doubt what God had said. After all, she had heard it from Adam and perhaps he just wanted to prevent her from being like God. Once she had eaten, she gave it to Adam. He didn’t doubt what God had said, but he loved Eve so much that he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. He willfully and deliberately broke the commandment of God. This does not make one less punishable than the other. Both had sinned. With us it is the same, whether it is due to our being easily confused or whether we deliberately disobey, disobedience is still disobedience. Yet, Adam had never known what it was to be without God’s presence. Did he understand the value of God’s presence in his life? Did he appreciate the Glory of God? Did he really love God, his creator or did he just receive the blessings of God much like we without ever realizing the magnitude of God’s all-compelling love for us? I dare to say that if he truly understood the value of what he possessed in God, Adam could never have taken that bite from the fruit of that tree. Instead, he much like we chose to love the creation more than the creator.

At that moment, they knew the difference between good and evil. Before that there was no comparison as all they had ever seen was God’s Goodness, Righteousness, and Glory. You cannot know evil unless you see the evidence that evil exists. Although evil had existed, the protective hand of God shielded them from any presence of evil; because they were alive spiritually until their sin separated their spirit from God’s presence. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil indeed did allow them to see more fully the righteousness of God; but also to suddenly see the evil which now filled their hearts and soul. Their partition of eating the fruit had suddenly said they did not trust God to provide them with all that was good, and right, and beneficial to their life. They had doubted the sincerity of His Plan for their life. At the point of Adam’s sin, mankind’s spirit became dead to God’s spirit and man’s soul was plunged into eternal death due to that separation. The evil that had existed came into their knowledge and now had become a part of their being. They were now separated from their only source of protection from evil’s effects—God’s spirit and communion with them. They did not immediately die physically, but they did die spiritually. The spirit is what their connecting source to God was. Their spirit had been in communion with God, knew God and was ever in presence with Him. Now suddenly, instead of feeling His love; they felt fear at His presence. They no longer were able to feel His spirit of love toward them, His protection, His guiding hand, nor His giving nature. They were separated from Him and now needed a way back into fellowship with Him. Their peace died, their joy died, their sense of hope died and they now were able to see and feel the evidence of evil surrounding them and within their own hearts. The life essence that had been a part of them was now dead. Their soul was filled with evil and plunged into an eternal death; because their unrighteousness prevented their being able to see the Glory of God. They began to lie and blame others, even God for their failure. From that day forward, mankind was born with a soul dead to righteousness and goodness with a spirit that vainly is in search of some means to rise to become a being that is greater than all this nothingness. That never-ending search for something greater that brings us back to a life of hope, love, joy, and peace can only be found when the spirit is once more joined to that of its Creator. Whatever attempt we might have toward attempting to fill that void with counterfeit spiritual highs; we can never reach that full place of contentment without being filled with the Spirit of God-His love, His righteousness, His joy, and His Peace.

God’s plan was not to with one sweeping hand destroy what He had so lovingly made. Instead, God the Son (his flesh) would have to leave all the comforts, all the glory surrounding His throne to come to earth as a man. He would have to be separated from His eternally present Father (the soul of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit). This would be a tremendous sacrifice. He would do this willingly at such tremendous cost so as to provide a way to restore the communion with mankind. God could not change the nature of who He is. He is perfect righteousness. There is no evil within Him. Man now had good and evil. Nothing could provide a way back, unless perfect righteousness was willing to give everything to provide the payment for the sin. Justice required a payment and God is also perfect justice. The transformer that allowed God’s Spirit to commune with our spirit was dead. Our soul was separated from God’s thoughts and therefore was plunged into eternal death because all true life was in God. There was no means to restore life to that soul so that it could commune with God unless the transformer was restored and the Spirit of God could reach the spirit of man and give it light to bring the soul to life. Again a very limited illustration, but may help you. Frankenstein the monster was a creation of Dr. Frankenstein who had pieced together all the human parts but it lay dead and lifeless until the electricity shot through its body and brought it to life. We are born with a soul that is dead to God and a spirit that must become connected to its life source God that it might become eternally alive.

Blood is that which pumps through our bodies providing food and carrying byproducts away. It is what traverses every single cell. Only the shedding of innocent blood could cover every single bit of evil that now indwelt man. That was why this was the only sacrifice that could remove the stains of evil from mankind that he might once more be filled with a Spirit Alive To God–the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ would not only have to come to this earth to die a martyr’s death; but He would have to conquer and proclaim victory over death and Satan. There was a moment in time that He would have to bear all the sins and guilts of mankind and in that shame be shunned and forsaken by both God the Spirit and God the Father. Matthew 27: 46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He cried out to both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This for Him was a sacrifice beyond anything else. The horrible beating, human rejection, and cruel physical death were nothing in comparison to His being separated from the Spirit and the Father. It is a sacrifice that goes beyond anything that you and I can imagine. He who had known perfect righteousness, perfect joy, perfect peace, perfect love and perfect glory was suddenly plunged into utter pain, darkness, and hate so that He could overcome death and break the chains of sin forever for anyone who would accept His gift. He did this to pay the sin price for every man or woman that had ever been born, knowing that many would reject this His sacrifice.

From the beginning of time, God, being all knowing, knew each and every person that He would create that would accept His gift of love. He could not bare to lose a single one of those whom would commune with Him. He could not bare to not allow them to be born so that they could participate in this incredible splendor and Glory with Him. He wanted to see each one in their fullest potential. So mankind has continued since that day until now and will continue until the last one has been born of all the ones who would join Him in an eternity of overflowing joy and Glory such as they could never imagine now. He knew that some would refuse His gift of love and be condemned; yet, He could not think of losing one of those precious children that He already knew would choose to be with Him. Matthew 18:12-14 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish”

Let me try to put this in simpler terms. Let us say, that you had every resource at your hand and walked into an orphanage one day where there stood 10 children. You looked into the eyes of each child and saw what great talent they had. You knew that each child that accepted your offer of a home would be able to come to their fullest potential and reach their goals. Each child that rejected your offer would be condemned forever to a terrible workhouse. You pleaded with each and every child to come and live with you. Some refused your offer. Would you stop pleading with each child after the first five? Or would you continue to plead until the very last one had been presented with the opportunity to be saved?

So, God the Son, Jesus Christ came to this earth, separated from His continuance presence of His Father, leaving everything behind. He came to shed His blood so that everyone would have the chance to choose an eternity in the presence of the Father. That is a love beyond anything we can ever comprehend in our humanity. In the Old Testament, a sacrificial lamb was used to represent the Christ who had already determined to come and pay the price. It is through Jesus Christ that we have access to God. Through His payment for us, we can now become reborn spiritually. The spirit that we are born with from our mother’s womb is dead to God’s spirit. We each have a choice to accept the gift that was provided for us from God and become alive to Him–to be filled with His Holy Spirit and communion with Him. If we choose not to accept Him our spirit remains this blend of good and evil-separated from His perfect love. John 3:3-6

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

It is a spiritual birth that we need to join our spirit with His.

So, the price was paid to restore fellowship with God. Now, how do we accept the gift? We only have to acknowledge the fact that we are sinners and need a Savior. We have to ask Him into our hearts. John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”.

From the day that we are born our soul will remain throughout eternity-either alive or in a state of continual death. We have a soul and spirit which can feel love, happiness, pain and sorrow but we are dead to the magnificent glory of God’s love, protection, and companionship.

Some say, oh, there must be many ways? How could a loving God be so narrow minded? Why wouldn’t He be!! He sacrificed everything to provide a way. How could He accept any other way? He gave it all, He provided it all. Were there any other way, would He have sacrificed so much to provide a way? If anything else could have provided for His righteousness, His Justice, and His Mercy all at the same time; then, why would Christ have come to earth to die? John 14:16 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There was one redemption plan and only one. He had paid the full price. He had established the plan and He made it simple and open to anyone who would accept it. It would be the highest insult to God that man would think that he could offer up any other plan.

Ephesians 2: 4-9

“4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. “

Let me try to explain this in a way that you might understand, though any illustration falls very short of the full act. Let’s say that you want to buy a beautiful house set on a hill that expands thousands of acres. The owner knows that even if you work for a lifetime, you will not be able to pay the price for that home. He decides to give you that house and land as a free gift. Beyond that he wants to give you the work force to tend the land and house. His only desire is your friendship and to spend time talking with you, guiding you in the care of that gift, and your trust. You, because of self pride, become offended and say, “No, I will not take the house or your friendship until I can earn it. I will work very hard and one day then you can give me the house after I have earned it.” Year after year goes by and still you have not been able to pay even a small portion toward the price of that house. You have not been able to enjoy the home nor his friendship. You become frustrated, angry, and then blame him for the price being too high. What kind of fool would you have been? Another point is also evident. If you accept the gift, your gratitude and love would command you from inside to try to please the gift giver by caring for the gift. He gave you something very precious and that in its own would cause you to follow his direction in its care out of love not out of labor.

What truly Amazing Grace, Mercy, and Love has been bestowed by God the Father through His Son.Not only did God provide the way and pay the price, He then sent Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit to indwell each of those who accept His gift of love. In John 14, Christ said

16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. ..

25These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” He again tells us of this in I John 4:

“13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”

For all those who accept Christ as their savior, God provides them with Himself. The Holy Spirit indwells us and we are able then to rely upon His guidance to help each of us to reach our full potential. We are then able to become what God truly intended each of us to be. Our truest beauty and work can only be performed as we allow ourselves to be one with Him. He still allows us choice. We can either listen to His Spirit or we can listen to our fleshly carnal desires. The key is learning how to discern between the two voices at war within us. That is precisely what the remaining chapters of this book are devoted to; although I do feel it is very much necessary to further illuminate the reasons that Christ died and to deal with the affections of our hearts. Do you want men’s best for your life? Or do you want an omnipotent, all knowing God’s best for your life? It is as simple as choosing whom do you love?