Category: Man’s Purpose

Why Did God Choose Israel — Part 1?

Posted on by

According to Scripture, God chose the people of Israel, that is, the people descended from the patriarch Israel, as his chosen people. The people of Israel had a special and privileged relationship with God.

“O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones” (Psalms 105:6).

To many in our modern culture, the fact that God would designate a particular people to be “chosen,” separate from other peoples of the earth, would seem grossly unfair, and would make God partial, and a respecter of persons.

Why did God choose Israel? Let’s explore what the Bible has to say about this question.

Continue reading →

How You Can Know the Future

Posted on by

Many have wondered, especially in times of tumult, of chaos and confusion, such as the time we are living in now, as many are bearing burdens of stress and worry, what does the future hold?

In every age, people have asked similar questions, and sought answers in various ways. As in past ages there are those who have claimed to know the future, predicting things to come in specific ways or at a specific time. Over the years people have predicted within a certain time frame things like a stock market crash, or catastrophic climate change, or the return of Jesus Christ on a certain date or within a certain time frame, such as five years or ten years. Very often, however, these predictions have failed to prove accurate.

However, the Bible tells us how it is possible for us, for you, to know the future.

Continue reading →

Is This the Only Day of Salvation?

Posted on by

Is it true, as has often been taught within professing Christianity, that the question of eternal salvation is sealed at the time of one’s death? Are some of your loved ones, simply because they did not profess faith in Christ during their earthy pilgrimage, destined to suffer eternal torment forever?

Continue reading →

God Is the Giver of Every Blessing

Posted on by

Since Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, chose the rulership of Satan in the Garden of Eden over that of God, their Creator, human beings have suffered many calamities and sorrows.

Yet, God has also greatly blessed humanity, as well, especially the descendants of Abraham in the latter days. The apostle James, a half-brother of Jesus Christ, wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

We may look around us and see all kinds of evils, and things to be concerned about, but we also need to be mindful of our blessings. And the Bible promises that in a future age, there are even greater blessings to come. In this article I want to explore the subject of God as the Giver of every blessing.

I’m going to show you from the Scriptures, that testify of God’s intervention in human affairs, how God is the source of specific blessings. Those discussed below are by no means an exhaustive list of God’s blessings, but they are fundamental to life and happiness, and too often we take them for granted.

Continue reading →

Firstborn From the Dead

Posted on by

“Firstborn from the dead” is how Jesus Christ is referred to in Revelation 1:5 and Colossians 1:18 (New King James and other translations, some translations into English phrase it somewhat differently, but with essentially the same meaning). In this article, I want to discuss the implications of the title “Firstborn from the Dead,” as it applies to Jesus Christ.

Is this term to be understood only as a title denoting preeminence, as some have suggested? Or does it also imply that Jesus Christ is the first, in time order, to be “born” from the dead, as a metaphor for the resurrection? We know that others were resurrected from the dead before Jesus Christ was. He himself had resurrected his friend Lazarus, who had died, and had also resurrected others from the dead during his ministry (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25; 11:5; Luke 7:11-16, 22; 8:41-42, 49-56; John 11:11-45). So why is Jesus Christ called the “firstborn from the dead,” and what significance does that have?

Continue reading →