The Bible Explained, part 04/40: Origin and Destiny

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THE BIBLE EXPLAINED

A Guide to the Holy Bible
for Parents and Teenagers

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Where did you come from?
What is your purpose?
What happens when you die?

These questions--and more--are answered in 'The
Bible Explained', which is based on the teachings
of the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is a collection
of ancient books which claim to be the word of the
one and only God. This one and only God claims to
be the sole creator, owner, and sustainer of all
things; he further claims to hold the one and only
key to eternal life. Are these claims true? Get
the facts and then decide for yourself.

This document is meant to be understood by everyone,
and is therefore written in plain, simple language,
avoiding complex religious jargon.

Understand the Bible like never before.

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Introduction
Quest for Truth
The Holy Bible
Origin and Destiny
The Big Picture: Good and Evil
The Story of Man
The Purpose of the Earth
The Standard and the Test
Work: The Key to Success and Life
Pyramid Society
Failure of Man
Male and Female
Family Relationships
Marriage and Family
Sexual Immorality
The Value of Life
Multiplication and Overpopulation
Racism
Creation and Evolution
Government
Politics
Justice
Words, Speech, and Censorship
Church Matters
Monotheism, Jews, and Christians
Temptation
The Nature of Evil
Life and Death of Satan
Reincarnation
The Rapture
The End Times
The Near Future
Preparing for the Future
Groups and Labels
Understanding Judgement
Preparing for Death
Conclusion
Appendix A: Questions and Answers
Appendix B: The Ten Commandments
Appendix C: Marriage

-----<availability>

The above book is available for purchase at:

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Search for:
TITLE: "The Bible Explained"
AUTHOR: "Arrant Knave"
ISBN-10: "1468197061"
ISBN-13: "9781468197068"

Or try this direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Explained-Parents-Teenagers/dp/1468197061

-----<excerpt from book>

Origin and Destiny

As you cannot plot a vector without a point of origin, neither can you plot a course through life without first knowing your origin. Where did you come from? Are you the product of intelligence or chance? If chance, then life is composed of a series of random incidents and everything is pointless, meaningless, and motiveless. On the other hand, if you are the product of intelligence, then you must look to said intelligence for your purpose. This document is based on the assumption that humans are products of the God of the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." [Genesis 1:1] "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 being." [Genesis 2:7]

The Need for God: As a healthy plant needs light, so a healthy man needs God; as a plant without light dies, so a man without God dies (spiritually and eventually physically). Each day, a certain number of humans die; among the dead are those who knew God, those who chose not to know God, and those who were ignorant of God. Those who had joined themselves to God will inherit life; those who had separated themselves from God will perish; those who were ignorant of God will be judged in the upcoming Day of Judgement.

Consequences: There is a basic law of physics which states: 'For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.' This law is not only true in the physical world, but is also true in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, this law is called 'justice'. Justice will be fulfilled in the Day of Judgement. Whereas man's idea of justice is laughable, God's justice is fair, equitable, and eternal. In the Day of Judgement/Recompense, the following scripture will be fulfilled: "As you have done, it shall be done to you." [Obadiah 15] All our thoughts, words, and deeds are subject to judgement.

Fear, Knowledge, and Peace: Fear is torment; fear is unhealthy; fear causes anxiety, which causes depression. The mind which desires health should eliminate fear as soon as possible. How? What is the source of fear? Fear is caused by uncertainty: people fear that which they do not understand. Thus, the cure for fear is knowledge of the truth: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." [John 8:32] Once you understand all things, there is no more fear. You can know all things by following a simple procedure: Procure a question from your mind; then seek the truthful answer. Repeat this process until you satisfactorily answer all questions residing in your mind and heart. If you know all things but are still apprehensive, it is because you don't possess the spirit of love/God: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." [1 John 4:18]

Making Decisions: Man's decision-making mechanism involves three components:
 1) Spirit (Conscience);
 2) Mind (Thought, Reason);
 3) Body/Flesh (Desires, Passions, Feelings).
There is a constant struggle between the Spirit and the Flesh for dominance of the Mind. When it comes to making decisions, some say 'follow your heart'; however, God says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" [Jeremiah 17:9] Others say 'follow your conscience'; however, God says it is possible to have your 'conscience seared with a hot iron.' [1 Timothy 4:2] So, what's the solution? If neither the conscience nor the heart can be relied upon, how does one make right decisions? Simple: Know and keep the word of God, for the word of God never changes; and you will be judged by it -- and that judgement is eternal. If you trust in yourself or in any man, here's what God says to you: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited." [Jeremiah 17:5-6] If you put your trust in God, here is what God says to you: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." [Jeremiah 17:7-8]

Road Trip: Suppose you wanted to take a road trip from New York City to Los Angeles, how would you go about it? There are basically two approaches: You can simply get into your car and start driving, hoping that you somehow arrive at your destination; or, you could construct an elaborate plan to guarantee your safe arrival at the desired destination within a reasonable amount of time. Life is like a road trip, but there are only two destinations: life and death. To further simplify things, there is only one path which leads to life -- the word of God; all other paths lead to death. (Note: often, when I use the terms 'life' and 'death', I am referring to 'eternal spiritual life' and 'eternal spiritual death', respectively.) Thus, the word of God may be viewed as a "road map" which you can utilize to plan your life -- and your eternal destiny.

Influencing Children: Most modern children spend significant amounts of their time immersed in some form of media -- be it music, movies, television, video games, or the Internet. I have considered the various media, and have arrived at this conclusion: The media (backed by large corporations) will do anything within the (often vague) law to coerce money from malleable children and gullible teenagers. To achieve this goal, the media tends to appeal to the basest desires of human nature, often depicting children and teens as nothing more than promiscuous, irresponsible adults. (This is not an attack on the media; everyone -- including the media -- must always have absolute freedom of speech. Nevertheless, there is an inescapable responsibility which accommodates our speech, since we will all be judged for our every word on the Day of Judgement.) God understands the power of the media, and has therefore provided a powerful weapon to combat all negativisms in the world: the father.

Fathers as Guides: God has appointed fathers as the primary educators of their children. It is the duty of every father to show his children the path which leads to life: the word of God. The greatest responsibility of a father is to provide his children the wherewithal to keep themselves pure in an impure world. Unfortunately, many modern fathers are AWOL in this respect. (AWOL is an acronym for 'Absent Without Leave', which is a military term used to describe an officer who has deserted his duties and responsibilities; in the case of the father, AWOL does not necessarily describe a runaway, but one who shrugs off his obligations.)

The Diligent Father: God has given fathers the responsibility of teaching their children the path of life: "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." [Deuteronomy 6:6-9] Why does God want fathers to be so diligent in teaching his word to their children? Because the devil -- God's adversary -- is very diligent in teaching his word to your children, and, unless the devil's word is negated by the word of God, the devil will prevail over your children. Consider the amount of time you, as a father, spend teaching God's word to your children; then consider the amount of time your children spend under the influence of television, music, computers, the Internet, school teachers, friends, etc.: Who has the upper hand? As a father, why should I teach my children the word of God? Because the word of God is the only path which leads to life eternal. You, with God's help, gave your children physical life, but what about spiritual life? Obviously, you can't give your children spiritual life, but you can show them the path which leads to it: the Ten Commandments.

-----<availability>

The above book is available for purchase at:

http://www.amazon.com

Search for:
TITLE: "The Bible Explained"
AUTHOR: "Arrant Knave"
ISBN-10: "1468197061"
ISBN-13: "9781468197068"

Or try this direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Explained-Parents-Teenagers/dp/1468197061

-----<copyright notice>

The above excerpt from 'The Bible Explained' is copyright
2010 by Arrant Knave. All rights reserved. No part of this
document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
prior written permission of the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be
printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are
taken from the New King James Version (R). Copyright (C)
1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.

-----<end of book promotion>