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God's going to "get you" all
right-but it is H is planto "get you"
into His Kingdom, "get you"
changed, saved, born into His very
family so you become God
as God is
God!
It is our Father's pleasure to
bring many sons to glory, to see to it
that no temptation comes our way
which is impossible to overcome, to
make all things possible through
Christ, to give us freely of His own
divine nature, to grant us eternallife,
to bring us to the same perfection He
enjoys. " But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to be–
come the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God" (John 1:12-13).
God's Will
That is God's plan for frail man. His
counsel will stand. His plan will
work. He Himself proclaims that He
is not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repen–
tance-and God's will shall be
done!
God has not chosen a plan that has
a built-in failure mechanism. God
has not created an instrument (man)
which is hopeless in the hands of its
Creator. And more, God-the Fa–
ther and the Son- has perfect faith
in Hi s own plan, in His instru–
ments. In short, God has faith in
man!
Now God doesn't need faith in
man in the same way man must have
faith in God. God doesn't need to be
saved from anything. He is life, self–
regenerating, eterna!, all-powerful.
Yet, by His own design and the pur–
pose for which He created mankind,
He will remain alone in H is Kingdom
with His Son unless that plan suc–
ceeds and men become full-born
God-Sons. The Bible exudes confi–
dence that the many will eventually
make it (see Rom. 11 :26; 11 Peter
3:9; I Tim. 2:4). (Write for our free
article "Is This the Only Day of Sal–
vation?")
He is no harsh judge eager to pun–
ish every wayward act of every way–
ward human who so easily goes way–
ward- He is rather our loving Fa–
ther, anxious to smooth our way at
every turn, nursing, caring for, prais-
18
ing, blessing us a thousand ways
every day to bring us to the point of
birth in H is own family!
Beneflt of the Doubt
Let's see the measure of His trust in
us. Let's see the measure of how
much He has gambled on us, if you
please-because there is with each of
us that possibility that we may not
make it; we can reject Him, His Spir–
it, His efforts, His will. Let's see how
much of the benefit of the doubt He
has given to each of us.
First, mankind is unique in all of
creation, both physical and spiritual:
We are the only beings God ever
created in His own image! (Gen.
1:26.) Physical, mortal, frail , tempo–
ral, finite, feeble-but in the image
of God! God gave uniquely of Him–
self in our very basic design. Of the
entire created spirit world, the angel–
ic host, our Father God says they
were created to be ministering spir–
its, servants, for them who shall be
heirs of salvation! (Heb. 1: 14.)
The entire limitless universe was
created both as a setting, an incuba–
tor, a birthing place-and as a pos–
session, a reward, a responsibility for
His future sons ( Rom. 8:17). Now,
nobody goes to that much effort un–
less he has faith his plan will work,
trusts the instruments he has chosen
to accomplish the plan!
In addition, God offers His own
life-in the person of Jesus Christ,
our Passover sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7)–
to pay the penalty of the sins that so
easíly beset us (Acts 2:38). Given
freely before we recognize its need
(Rom. 5:8). No other beings are of–
fered that sacrifice!
Beyond that, God designed us to
be uniquely capable of receiving His
own Spirit, His mind, His power, His
essence to be joined to that "spirit in
man" so each of us might become a
new being, a true Son of God, calling
Him Abba, Fatber-not just as a re–
ligious-soundíng phrase, but as a
spirítual reality (Rom. 8: 14-16). No
other being is designed with that ca–
pacity.
He gives us an "earnest," a down
payment of His very Spirit
(If
Cor.
1:22). He trusts us with His greatest
treasure, His Holy Spirit (Luke 19:12-
27). He offers all we need at any time,
without measure, to deal with the dif–
ficulties we face (1 Cor. 10: 13)-and
addsspecíal gíftsofthatSpirit for us to
use!
(1
Cor. 12.)
" Ciouds of Witnesses"
And these evidences of God's trust in
mankind are amplified in the daily
care He lavishes on us. He says:
"Ask, and ít shall be given you; seek,
and ye shall find; knock, and ít shall
be opened unto you.... If ye then,
beíng evíl, know how to gíve good
gífts unto your chíldren: how much
more shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?" (Luke 11:9, 13.)
Examples from the líves of others
who have gone before us, that "cloud
of wítnesses" Paul refers to in He–
brews 11 and 12, help us see how
much our heavenly Father is for us–
and "íf God be for us, who can be
against us?" (Rom. 8:31.)
Take Noah, for example. And re–
member, God is no respecter of per–
sons. The great men·of the Bible were
great because of their exercise of the
spiritual giftsGod granted them. They
were all erring and very human, just
like you and me: "Elias [Elijah] was a
man subject to like passions as we are,
and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain: and it rained not on the earth
by the space of three years and six
months. And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit" (James 5:17-
18). If God trusted Elijah with such
power, and Noah with such a job, He
will trust you and me to do what He
requiresofus.
Noah was about 500 years old.
Noah was a farmer, a grape grower
and a wine maker. Noah was not a
shipbuilder. ButGod's plans called for
the constructíon of a shíp the likes of
wbich the world had never seen. A vast
vessel halfthesizeoftheQueen Mary,
a construction feat not duplicated un–
til the turn of the twentieth century!
Noah was gíven the commission and
120 years to finish the job.
I 'm sure Noah had bis doubts. He
doubted his capability, was unsure he
could complete such a fantastic task.
But God knew he could. God trusted
Noah to buíld that ark. And not only
trusted Noah to build a boat, but to
save alllífe on earth! Animallife and
The
PLAIN TRUTH June·July 1979