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tually to eterna! life in health ar.d
bappiness.
He warned them against choos–
ing the opposite way, portrayed by
the "tree of the knowledge of good
and evil"-representing self-cen–
teredness, selfishness, reasoning
apart from God, acquiring knowl–
edge by tria! and error, even living
Jife in outright rejection of God's
revcaled way of outgoing concern
for othcrs.
A wrong choice, God warned
man, would lead to coming under
thc sway and government of Satan
and unhappiness and death for the
whole human fami ly. "And the
Lord God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the gardcn
thou mayest freely eat: but of thc
tree of the knowledge of good and
evi l, thou shalt not eat of it: for in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:
16-1 7).
They chose wrong! The woman
was deceived by Satan. The man
willingly-not willfully-chose to
go the wrong way. They rejected
God's way and chose Satan's way
instead. They rejccted God having
any authority in their lives! They
built their own society and civiliza–
tion cut off from God's revelation,
from his revealed spiritual and
physical knowledgc. That's how
this world became Satan's world.
That's why mankind has suffered
throughout history. That's why all
the misery we see today. Mankind as
a whole has chosen to reject God's
revealed way of life- including his
promises of protection from evil, and
healing of our sicknesses and dis–
eases. God did not force our first
parents to choose correctly . He
hasn't forced mankind since. And he
doesn't force us today.
Except for a select few, whom
God has called out and to whom he
has revealed bis truth, humanity–
and that includes thc vast majority
that profess Christianity-has re–
jected revealed right knowledge on
how to live-that right knowledge
disseminated by God's law and
spelled out specifically in God's
Ten Commandments. The first
four show us how to !ove God and
the las t six teach us how to !ove
each other.
lnstead, humans have chosen to
Jive contrary to God: cheating,
lying, stealing, killing, coveting,
November/ December 1985
comm1ttmg fornication and adul–
tery and living selfishly and com–
petitively to the hurt of others. This
pattern of living has affected every
facet of life: business, education–
or shall we call it miseducation?–
medical science, politics and most
certainly religion.
Greed, for the most part, and
competition have been
the
motivat–
ing factors of human conduct. We
see the ugly result today with such
things as industrial pollution of the
earth's air, water and soil and the
chemical polluting of foodstuffs, a
major cause of many of today's
degenerative diseases.
Is it any wonder, then, why we
have unhappiness, suffering and so
many terrible heartrending person–
al and world ills?
God Can lntervene
lt
is not that God can't intervene in
the world's affairs. And it is not
that God cannot save children, or
adults, from disease, death or
injury in accidents. He can! God
can intervene and God does inter–
vene to help and protect those
choosing to truly live life his way.
God !oves children! Jesus, the
very personification of God, lived
life on this earth exactly as God the
Father would have, had the Father
become human. " He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father" (John
14:9),
Jesus said. J esus did what he
saw his Father do. Jesus openly
showed his !ove for children. God
the Father )oves children, too!
"Suffer [allow or Jet] little chil–
dren, and forbid them not, to come
unto me," said Jesus (Matt.
19:14).
He opened his arms to little chil–
dren, pul his hands on them and
prayed for them (verse
13).
Jesus,
who is at the right hand of God the
Father this very minute (Acts
7:56),
receives little children today
through his ministers who do the
same things J esus did.
Parents truly choosing to Jive Jife
God's way, according to his com–
mandments and instructions, can
bring their children to God through
his ministers today and, in prayer,
ask him to protect them and help
them. And he will! He does!
But the world, as a whole, is cut
off from God, and rejects God's
revealed instructions in the Bible
on how to live. God has given man-
Our world is
on a course of
lite contrary
to God's
wholesome way
of living.
Because of
it al/ humanity is
suffering .
. .
kind 6,000 years in which humans
under the sway of the devil can go
their own way and write their expe–
riences in human history. God has
kept hands off this world (except in
certain circumstances and locations
to fulfill his plan) and has stayed
out of the lives of those who reject
him or are ignorant of his teach–
ings.
Because of it, the world in gener–
al is having to learn the lesson- the
very painful lesson--of what hap–
pens when humans are cut off from
God's protection, guidance, right
way of living and contact. Children
have suffered, sorne dying early
deaths. And the world in general is
full of unhappiness and crime. Dis–
eases often rampage unchecked.
Nuclear arsenals are poised. And
you think humans and Satan have
no responsibility for what society is
doing?
Even the Rlghteous Suffer
Yes, our world is on a course of life
contrary to God's wholesome way
of living. Because of it all humanity
is suffering, sometimes even those
who decide to choose correctly and
Jive God's way.
We have to learn that all of us
affe.ct each other. Others' mistakes
and actions can and often do hurt.
Others' selfishness and inconsider–
ation, sometimes outright disre–
spect, persecution and hatred, cause
pain. And, of course, often they are
not another's actions, but our own!
The ancient poet-musician
Asaph records in Psalm 73 how
saddened and bewildered he be-
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