The conditions preceding God’s creative effort
God’s literature is the only source document that can reveal the rationale motivating God to create anything. That document teaches that time-and-space did not exist before God was motivated to create it.
In that regard, Exodus 3:14 identifies God as “I AM.” God was the present tense “I AM” who pre-existed everything in time-and-space. Revelation 1:8 declares “I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” God existed before “the beginning” of creation and will continue to exist after “the ending” of creation. God is eternal.
The names “I AM” and “Alpha and Omega” indicate it is continuously “now” (present tense) where God resides. Thus, God’s rationale or motivation for Creation cannot result from a sequential cause-and-effect. But the Genesis account reveals that everything was created as a sequential cause-and-effect event that occurs in time-and-space.
Thus, God’s rationale for creating must be described metaphorically simply because humans cannot conceive anything that exists outside the sequential cause- and-effect of our time-and-space dimension. For example, the literature of Revelations 4 uses metaphor to describe Heavenly construction materials that simply don’t exist in time-and-space. Things that are indescribable can only be described metaphorically.
Revelation 13:8 uses metaphor to describe those “whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The metaphor is written in the past tense for us humans even though there is neither past tense nor future tense where “I AM” resides.
The literature of Isaiah 6 describes “seraphim crying unto each other, and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is full of His Glory” That obviously describes a future time-and-space testimony because the “I AM” has always been “Holy” but “seraphim” have just discovered that “The whole earth is full of His Glory.”
Nevertheless, Isaiah 6 describes a real event. Revelation 4:8 describes a similar event except “the seraphim” are described metaphorically as “four beasts.” Each of these descriptions uses metaphor to describe a sequential cause-and-effect event that occurred in a dimension that has no sequential cause-and-effect.
The events are real but each description is metaphorical for the benefit of time- and-space residents whose perception is restricted to observing only sequential cause-and-effect events.
The “I AM” simultaneously observes “the beginning and the ending” of every sequential event that has ever occurred or will occur in time-and-space. More to the point of this chapter, it seems “the principalities and powers” who reside with God “in heavenly places” have that same capability.
If that is true then “The principalities and powers” can observe finished events that time-and-space humans think haven’t happened yet.
For example, “The principalities and powers” viewed the “ransom atonement” being paid by “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” By contrast, time-and-space humans think the “atonement” wasn’t paid until about 2000 time-and-space years ago. “The principalities and powers” have similarly already viewed “The Day of the Lord” (2Pet 3:10) even though time-and-space humans think “The Day of the Lord” is yet future.
The omnipotent “I AM” could have instantly spoken creation into existence within His own Heavenly dimension. But He didn’t. The “I AM” personally describes His effort as a deliberate dragging out of creation over six sequential days of time-and-space cause-and-effect.
Why did God take six days to do that which He could have done instantaneously? I am not theologically trained so I am not credentialed to offer a theologically correct answer. Nevertheless, I observe the question “Why did God take six days to create” is typically ignored by Biblically trained theologians. But I suggest answering that question is critical to understanding God’s Purpose for all His creative effort.
Humans are restricted from viewing either the beginning or the end of time-and- space. However, “the principalities and powers in heavenly places” have already observed both the creation and the final destruction of time-and-space.
Time-and-space Humans observe everything sequentially but “the principalities and powers” have already observed the destruction of creation (2Pet 3:10) as well as observed “the new Jerusalem” (Rev 3:12, 21:2.) Thus, the “principalities and powers” have already viewed the beginning and end of God’s temporary time-and-space case-study. The “I AM” who resides in “the heavenlies” has already accomplished everything He intended to demonstrate by creating a temporary and disposable environment populated with temporary and disposable humans. Please pause reading to meditate on the limitations and restrictions of a temporary and disposable time-and-space environment. The Heavenly perspective of our time-and-space bubble can only begin to be understood after extensive meditation about predicted events that living humans are incapable of either “understanding” or experiencing.
The purpose for God’s creative effort
Ephesians 3:10 reveals the “I AM’s” Purpose-For-Creation (i.e., “to the intent that…”). The “I AM” has created sequentially executed events. Thus, the Ephesians context requires lengthy meditation. It requires “trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will direct your path.”
The analysis in this book is my inadequate and fallible attempt to describe God’s elaborately complicated Purpose that He planned in a dimension that exists outside our created dimension of time-and-space.
Each sequential step of God’s time-and-space creation as well as everything that has happened after creation was planned and executed (i.e., “predestined”) “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
I admit I was never taught this concept during the first half of my life. Thus, I never taught this concept to my children. The generations of my family have historically been God-believers and we have always claimed to trust God but none of us has ever heard this concept taught by the preachers in the churches we attend. This conceptual explanation of Creation has always been a “hidden mystery” within our religious communities.
However, God has allowed me to read the literature of Ephesians 3:2-10 without “leaning unto my own understanding.” Thus, I was forced to humbly admit that nothing was created for the benefit of us humans. The preamble to God’s Purpose Statement is recorded in Ephesians 3:2-9 “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Verse 10 reveals “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” Thus, everything was created for the benefit of “the principalities and powers” and nothing was created for the benefit of us temporary and disposable humans.
Hebrews 9:27 reveals “it is appointed unto men once to die.” Thus, every human including Adam and Eve was created to die – typically we humans die of old age, however, “the principalities and powers” who reside “in heavenly places” are neither temporary nor disposable like us humans.
Egotistical humans tend to think creation was for our benefit but the humiliating reality is that humans are merely temporary and disposable tools being used by God to accomplish a temporary time-and-space task for the benefit of “the principalities and powers.” Each temporary and disposable human (i.e., you and me) lives for a moment and then we die.
The literature of Scripture is replete with reports of entire populations being destroyed by God’s “wrath.” Noah’s Flood is a notable example. Another notable example is God’s command to Joshua to destroy the disposable nations that populated the “Promised Land.” Those disposable nations were destined for destruction due to their corrupt lifestyle of worshipping “Molech” and sacrificing their own babies to that non-existent god. The “good” God of “wrath” righteously planned for their destruction.
Scripture is clear that “God so loved the world.” But it is also clear that “loving the world” was not a motivating force when temporary and disposable humans like Adam and Eve were judged “thou shalt surely die” even though they had been created and or “born of the flesh” without prior knowledge of either “good or evil.”
“The principalities and powers” are obviously more important to God than any humans who are created to be temporary and disposable.
The elimination of temporary and disposable humans who challenge God is an extremely obvious cause-and-effect of God’s Plan. In that regard, Theophilus suggests Luke’s observation of 1st Century Christians challenging “the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed” was also according to God’s Plan. It also describes every instance of modern sectarian conflict.
Given the obvious reality that humans are temporary and disposable, why would any modern theologian think that God did all this Creation stuff so that temporary and disposable humans could purchase “everlasting life” by simply making a volitional decision to “believe in Him”? It is incredible that egotistical theologians believe disposable humans are precious even though “God is love.” Please affirm that every disposable human is born to be “dead in trespasses and sin” (Eph 2:1) and is incapable of choosing to do anything at all. Humans especially cannot choose to “believe in Him” (John 3:16). That’s the way an omniscient and omnipotent God planned for everything to work.
Ephesians 3:10 teaches “the principalities and powers” are so important to God that He took 6 days to create an elaborate but disposable world including disposable humans “to the intent that the principalities and powers in heavenly places” could observe “the manifold wisdom of God” as a sequential cause-and-effect activity.
Human participation in God’s time-and-space case study will eventually be complete. The literature of 2Peter 3:10 predicts “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Peter reports the final step of God’s Plan will be the elimination of God’s entire temporary time-and-space.
However, eternity continues after time-and-space is eliminated. The elimination of time-and-space is mentioned in a song written by James M. Black “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more … when the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”
God’s graciousness is displayed by God’s creation
The literature of Hebrews 9:27 teaches that you and I were each created to be disposable. However, “a few” disposable humans have been graciously “called and elect” to be “born again by the Spirit” (John 3:8) to inherit a new Spiritual DNA of “everlasting life.” Those “few called and elect humans” will escape the elimination of time-and-space into an eternity of “everlasting life.”
Humans who are “called and elect” will benefit greatly because the “called and elect” are divinely protected from “the judgment” of “a good” God’s “wrath” according to “the manifold wisdom of God.”
“The manifold wisdom of God” ≡ “the Grace of God.”
“The many” disposable humans who are not “called and elect” will simply get whatever God created them to get – nothing more and nothing less. Satan and his demons are also disposable and will get exactly what they were created to get. “For God so loved the world” that “the world” will get exactly that which a “good” God planned “before the foundation of the world.” Accordingly, it is absolutely true that “God is good all the time; All the time, God is good.” Who are the principalities and powers
Those who reside in time-and-space are precluded from knowing “the principalities and powers in the Heavenlies.” Nevertheless, it is clear they are not disposable humans.
The only information available to time-and-space humans is that “the principalities and powers” reside where God resides. Angels and Seraphim (perhaps even Satan and his evil demons) may be included in “the principalities and powers” but we can’t be sure because God does not say so.
“The principalities and powers” reside “in the heavenlies” where the sequential cause-and-effect of time-and-space does not exist. Dimensions “in the third Heaven” seem to have some similarity with the created dimension of The Universe but the dimension of “the Heaven and Hell” have always been a “mystery” to time-and-space humans. It is a “mystery” to us simply because we are disposable and don’t need to know all those extraneous details.
The logical implications of cause-and-effect
Every event within our created dimension of time-and-space is the outcome of a cause. This is true even when the cause is unknown to us mere humans.
Nothing happens that was not caused by God. And every cause results in an event. Random events may be allowed by God in some other dimension but random events do not exist within our dimension of time-and-space.
Randomness does not exist at the sub-atomic level despite the expensive Cyclotron experiments being studied in hope of learning about the Higgs Boson and proving/disproving Heisenberg’s thesis about “The Uncertainty Principle.” Please affirm that an unpredictable sub-atomic event is evidence of scientific ignorance rather than evidence of randomness.
Neither does randomness exist at higher levels of complexity as proposed by Darwin in his thesis titled “The Origin of Species.”
Studies of biological mutations may have medical and academic benefits but questioning how life originated is evidence of scientific ignorance rather than evidence of random mutations.
Scripture suggests every event in time-and-space is caused by a prior event simply because God uses sequential cause-and-effect to demonstrate “the manifold wisdom of God” to “the principalities and powers in the Heavenlies.” The evidence suggests there was no other reason for God’s creative efforts. Cause-and-effect is essential to God’s plan. By contrast, Cyclotron experiments and evolutionary studies are proposed by humanistic scientists to demonstrate the absurdity that disposable humans don’t need an eternal God. Thus, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Rom 1:22).
Wisdom deficient theologians have neither “eyes to see nor ears to hear.” They agree with humanistic scientists by devising doctrine to teach that humans are capable of volitional free will choices despite any “predestined” cause-and-effect established by God. That explains their foolishness.
For example, typical Christians seem to be aware when a “salvation” event occurs but wisdom deficient humanistic sectarian-created Theophanies of God conflict about the volitional intellectual decisions disposable humans must make to cause a “salvation” event to occur. Sectarian-created Theophanies of God teach the wisdom deficient humanistic doctrine that “salvation” is a volitional free will choice that needs no “predestination” by a sovereign God.
Despite conflicted theological doctrines manufactured by sectarian-created Theophanies of God, the literature of John 1:3 asserts “All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.” Thus, God’s literature seems to indicate that a Creator God could conceivably have veto authority over everything including “All things” about which sectarians are observed to conflict.
Yet, the evidence is that God rarely vetoes sectarian conflict. Nor does God immediately veto debates about “the certainty of” God’s Words. It seems the human sin of questioning “the certainty of” God’s Words as well as all other human sin was planned by “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.”
There is nothing that characterizes the time-and-space Christian religion more than religious conflict. Every sectarian segment of that which egotistical theologians assume to be God’s Universal Church is characterized by conflict with rival egotistical sectarians.
It seems that God planned sectarian conflict to demonstrate “the manifold wisdom of God” to “the principalities and powers” using the cause-and-effect example of local churches being populated by “predestined called and elect” God-believers who sit next to those who were deliberately created to be egotistically conflicted sectarians.
It is intuitively obvious that not every member of a local church is also a member of God’s Universal Church.
Nevertheless, God graciously “calls and elects a few” out of our sectarian churches to be included within God’s Universal Church despite the obvious universal conflict between sectarian rivals. The obvious implications of sectarian conflict
Theologically created sectarian Theophanies of God are observed teaching that a sovereign God effectively cancels His own sovereign control of cause-and-effect by allowing humans to volitionally cause the population of God’s Heaven to be expanded (i.e., salvation is volitionally acquired). Some of those same sectarian Theophanies of God extend the contradiction by teaching Heaven’s population can be volitionally reduced (i.e., salvation can be lost).
Those kinds of Biblical interpretations are effectively the Magna Carta of sectarianism – sectarians declare themselves to be free from God’s sovereign control just as the Magna Carta stripped governing control from British monarchs.
True-sovereigns control everything. By contrast, very little is controlled by pseudo-sovereigns. For example, Queen Elizabeth II of England was a pseudo- sovereign who controlled virtually nothing. She couldn’t even control her own family much less control the British Empire.
British royalty is merely a figurehead supported by taxation without representation. As I am writing this paragraph, some tax-supported British royalty (i.e., Harry and Megan) don’t even reside on British soil.
Sovereign control by a British Monarch was stripped by the Magna Carta in 1215. Since then, all decisions have been made by Parliamentary peers.
The common theological concept of Partial-Sovereign-Control is a logical absurdity yet some sectarian-created Theophanies of God attempt to teach that absurdity as if it is their Magna Carta from God’s sovereignty.
Theologians who teach that absurdity are frequently observed contradicting themselves by teaching that God’s Words are preeminent to all other words just as British citizens typically believe the nonsense that they are governed by British Royalty.
Scholars are aware dictionaries define “Sovereign” as “a supreme ruler, especially a monarch” but sectarian theologians inexplicably redefine that definition to limit God’s sovereign control of time-and-space.
The literature of Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19 seems to teach it is sin to redefine the meaning of any of God’s preeminent Words. If those verses apply to all of Scripture, then pulpit attempts to explain (i.e., “understand”) Scripture must be done carefully and respectfully to ensure correctness. The risk of incorrect clarification is eternal damnation and yet sectarian clarifications are famous for conflicting with rival sectarian clarifications. Sectarian preachers always conflict with rival preachers. Both sides of that conflict also conflict with God’s Words. Theologians who matriculated at an academically deficient Bible school may be humanly excused for preaching nonsense. But why would an educated theologian claim authorization to clarify (i.e., mutilate) the immutable Words omnisciently inspired by a sovereign God? That kind of educated thinking is the antithesis of “Trusting the LORD with all thine heart.”
Every theologically motivated clarification of Scripture is an opinionated mutilation of a preeminent text which had been sovereignly inspired by God to be both immutable and inerrant.
Imagine the effect on theological conflict if egotistical theologians would humbly and respectfully pray to a sovereign God to request an explanation of their questions about the meaning of His inspired Words.
Think about how the Christian life would appear if Christians would humbly relinquish the absurdity that sectarian theologians control the meaning of God’s Words. Think how the Christian life would appear if Christians would humbly pray “not my will but thine be done”?
“Theological-Interpretation” is the cause and “Pulpit-Conflict” is the effect when egotistical theologians usurp control from a sovereign God by choosing to “lean unto their own understanding” rather than humbly and respectfully “trust in the Lord with all their hearts.”
Following is a list of questions intended to demonstrate the futility of theologically sectarian interpretations
• Why did an God create Adam even though He omnisciently knew they would
sin?
• Why does God tell us that Cain martyred Abel?
• Why does God tell us about “The Flood”?
• Why does God reveal the gross disobedience of “God’s Chosen People”?
• Why does God tell us about “His only begotten Son” being crucified?
• Why doesn’t God just “forgive” us and then declare “it is finished”?
• If God “is not willing that any should perish” then why does everyone perish?
Answers are de facto when God’s Purpose is recognized.
My credentials to summarize God’s plan
You don’t need a theological education to analyze the Literature of Scripture. Anyone who can read is credentialed to analyze the Literature of Scripture.
I was taught to read as an adolescent in the early grades of elementary school. Therefore, I have those credentials. You are reading this book so it is obvious you also have those credentials. My summary of the Literature of God’s plan is in the next chapter titled “The conclusion of this book.” Please read that chapter to see if my summary agrees with your summary.