Praise God from whom all blessings flow

The Bible reveals to us a God who has wonderful things in store for all of mankind. He has designed a plan through which all might come to know both the evil of sin and its consequences and the joy of living in harmony with him and his laws. We have the testimony of scripture that this plan will leave a lasting determination in the hearts of mankind to seek righteousness and harmony with God. Each heart will have the opportunity to taste of the goodness and greatness of their great God. The accomplishment of this plan will bring forth from every heart songs of praise to God as the source of all blessings.

God's great gift 

The present effects of sin and it’s consequences are easily seen by all. Man has been learning a bitter lesson. What is God doing to remedy this condition? He has given us a great gift. This gift is his dearly beloved son, Jesus, who came to lay down his life as a ransom for all. Through his death Jesus has purchased Adam and all his descendants from the condemnation to death. This provides the basis of restored fellowship and relationship with God.

In 1Timothy 2:4-6 we learn that God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” God has determined that eventually all will know of his saving grace through Jesus. To those who have the faith to believe, that time is now.

God purposed the rescue of man through his Son from the beginning, even before sin entered the world. We are told in Revelation 13:8 that Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” John 3:16 tells us “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him would not perish (in death), but have everlasting life.” God’s great love is manifested to us by this gift of his Son. Jesus also demonstrated his love when he chose to freely offer himself up as that lamb. Yes, God has given us a great gift - the way back to him through his son. This is the answer to all who are“sin sick and weary”. This is the answer to our longing.

To those who have the faith, God has offered a grand invitation to come to him and through Jesus he claims us as his children. The Apostle Paul prayed for our faith that: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” God is ready to claim us as his own, to love, instruct and prepare our hearts for a future work in resurrected glory with Jesus!

Not only are there blessings now in faith-communion with our Father and His son Jesus, but there are promises of greater things in the future. If we remain in faith, and faithful to the Lord, we are promised joint-heirship with our risen Lord. This is the reward for exercising faith and trust in God and his Son at this time. Jesus speaks of those with faith as blessed - “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” And indeed they are! They have tasted and seen that the LORD is good. They have songs of praise in their hearts not only for their Savior Jesus, but for their Heavenly Father from whom all blessings flow!

What of the still blinded world?

While we may rejoice to see the gift of God in Jesus, most of the world is still blind to this “good news”. What of them? In His wisdom God has allowed his creation free choice to learn about good and evil through experiencing the fruits of both. Man has learned and continues to learn a bitter lesson in the experience of sin and its effects. In fact this experience has brought with it a deep longing on the part of most for something better. The Apostle Paul writes of this: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now . . . For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Yes the world, though it knows not God's plans, longs for release from the condition it is in.

God intends yet to restore mankind to the moral and physical perfection that was lost in Eden. This will require the enforced rule of the glorified Christ and the risen Church over his earthly kingdom. Then will “all the families of the earth be blessed” through that benevolent rule. In Revelation 21:2-4 we are given a glimpse of this new arrangement: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” This will be a time when the blindness of unbelief will be removed and mankind will see God as he is through the work of His son Jesus Christ and the Church.

The prophet Isaiah tells us: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” What a glorious prospect!

God will be "all in all"

Will all welcome this new kingdom? It is hard to imagine that most would not welcome and rejoice in the long awaited blessings. The response of their grateful hearts will be as the words in Isaiah 25:9, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” There will be blessings poured out and instruction received for all to benefit from. After a period of opportunity for change, those who choose to continue with a disobedient heart will be cast into the symbolic “lake of fire”, second death, which represents the final condemnation to everlasting death (oblivion). Revelation 20:14 tells us, “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Both Adamic condemnation and the condition of Adamic death are cast into this symbolic lake of fire showing their complete destruction.

What of Satan? He also will be destroyed in the symbolic “lake of fire”. This will be the culmination of God’s determined will for man as stated by the apostle Paul: “For he (Jesus) must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death . . . And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

When this is accomplished, then all will have songs of joy and gratitude in their hearts. They will truly praise God from whom all blessing flow!