Tom Magnuson - My Worldview

Every man is under the spiritual DEATH SENTENCE imposed by God, because every man has committed moral crimes (rebelled) against God.  God is Holy and perfectly just, and, therefore, must carry out the sentence.  But the GOOD NEWS, the GREAT NEWS is that God offers a FULL PARDON.

The solution to the GOD-MAN problem is GOD taking the rap for man's rebellion against Him, AND THEN an individual human being accepting the PARDON.   The result of accepting Jesus Christ's sacrifice, which puts us in a perfect, right relationship with God, is being allowed into the personal presence of God after death, plus many other things.

The many other things includes great responsibilities.  The picture of people in heaven sitting on a cloud, strumming a harp is far from the truth.  God says, through the Bible, that we will reign with Jesus.  Here's a sampling,

"If we endure, we will also reign with Him."

- II Timothy 2:12

"They (believers) reigned with Christ a thousand years...they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years"

- Revelation 20:4,6

"Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High.  His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey."

- Daniel 7:27

"They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign forever and ever."

- Revelation 22:5

"Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?...Do you not know that we will judge angels?"

- I Corinthians 6:2

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father of mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

- Matthew 19:28,29

The above are the rewards and responsibilities believers in Christ's substitutionary death will inherit.  It's important to do the maximum with what we are given now, so we can maximize our rewards and responsibilities on the other side of death.

The GOOD NEWS seems so simple.  Billions of men have rejected the message, calling it childish and foolish.  But, it needs to be simple, so EVERYONE can grasp it, so God can make it available to EVERYONE.

Let me say something important here.  The thousands of words I have written to defend my world view are NOT necessarily necessary.  A person can hear the GOOD NEWS message, and simply accept it without all the scientific and historical evidence I've made available to you.  Through the centuries, multiple millions of people have heard the message and accepted the PARDON with very little extra "head knowledge".  But there are millions more, like me, who needed to look over the evidence before a decision to accept the PARDON was made.

The consequence of NOT accepting the PARDON are horrible, almost unthinkable;  eternal separation from God.  Think of the mental torment you would experience if you found yourself in that position after death, and had all eternity to think about how it "could have been."  Eternal regrets.

Some atheists like to talk about the "presumption of atheism", which means, when the evidence for and against the personal God of the Bible seems equal, the presumption ought to be that there is no God.

First, the argument is logically fallacious.  Atheism is a claim to know something, there is no God.  Theism is a claim to know something, there is a God.  Therefore, atheism can claim no presumption when the evidence is equal.  If anything, we ought to speak of the presumption of agnosticism, there may or may not be a God.

Second, if the evidence seems equal, it seems rational to pick the view which gives life ultimate significance, value, and purpose.  If the evidence were equal, then it's irrational to prefer a world view which preaches insignificance, purposelessness, and hopelessness, rather than significance, purpose, and joy.  I would be inclined to argue for the "presumption of theism."  As Pascal said, "We have nothing to lose, and eternity (with God) to gain."

Lastly, the evidence, as I have shown, is not even close to being equal.  Their is compelling evidence for a personal God who cares for every human being that ever existed, or will exist.

There is so much at stake:  eternity with God, or eternity without God and knowing you could have had it.  It seems logical to choose the former.

Suppose you were before a judge in a court of law.  The judge himself had gone out and installed speed limit signs, in plain view, throughout his community.  Wouldn't it seem crazy to stand before that judge, after receiving a speeding ticket, and argue that you saw the speed limit sign but thought it was too small and quaint to take seriously?  However, and we have seen, the evidence for God's existence is NOT "small or quaint", it is compelling.

If I was driving on a country road, and I saw a sign which read, "BRIDGE OUT AHEAD",  wouldn't you consider me reckless for accelerating past the sign because I thought it was too small? The cost for not accepting the evidence for the existence of God and His provision for our spiritual rescue is enormous.

Yes, the God of the Bible has given each person sufficient evidence pointing to His existence.  And God has given special revelation to the GOD-MAN problem and the solution.

Simply accept God's gift of forgiveness for your moral crimes (sins) against Him, Jesus Christ's sacrifice, and you will be "born from above", out of spiritual death, into eternal life.  All you need do, in your own words to God, is say that you are a sinner, and realize and accept God's solution to the problem, Jesus Christ's sacrificial death.  Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is your personal savior.  He took the rap, paid the penalty in full, so you can have a right relationship with God, and spend eternity with Him.

If you have done that, you are in a permanent, right relationship with God.

To cause the relationship with God to grow and flourish, you must do the following:

- read God's Word, the Bible, to learn more about Him and how He wants you to live.  Good starting points are the Gospel of  John, followed by the book of Romans.

- spend time with other believers in a church that teaches the true message of God.  If you need suggestions, e-mail me.

- talk to God every day.  By that I mean pray.  This is important in building a relationship.   A lot of people use prayer just to give God their "wish list";  Do this for me, and this, and this, and, oh yes, this.   The "Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:9-14) is a good model to use in knowing how to talk to God.  We should:

- praise God for who He is (the awesome creator of    this incredible universe), and what He has done for us (made it possible to be in right relationship with Him)

- ask for His kingdom to come and for His moral will to be done on earth

- ask for daily needs, and maybe some wants

- ask for forgiveness of wrongdoings, and the strength of  character to turn from them

- ask to be steered away from tempting situations

- ask for personal safety, from humans and from the
supernatural evil (Satan and his accomplices)

A life full of the knowledge that there is a personal God, who loves you, is a life of  ultimate significance, value, purpose, and joy.  To know that "He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" is GOOD NEWS.  To realize that this life is only the beginning of an incredible, unimaginable journey is awesome...

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power, that is at work within us, to Him be glory ... forever and ever!"
- Ephesians 3:20

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