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“Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a milestone tied to his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So, watch yourselves.”
(Luke 17:1-3)
Part One
“Taste and see that the Lord is good…” is our timeless invitation. Experiencing God is totally personal, and it is more fulfilling than enjoying the world’s finest food!
It has always been pointless for those who have not yet tasted heaven’s grace to pretend that they don’t want it. Their doubt of God’s love and self-revelation is merely an evidence that they have not yet personally experienced His wonderful spiritual reality.
This is why a Christian’s testimony about knowing the truth and being changed by it, is factually irrefutable. Looking ahead, prior to one’s spiritual rebirth and looking behind, after having “tasted” and “experienced” the Lord – are simply two different worlds!
Thinking – is normally reality’s best friend, but only when that mental exercise acknowledges reality. It must understand that what cannot be seen is just as important as what can be seen. The Bible explains, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
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Part Two
Our comprehension of God’s truth will forever be incomplete this side of heaven. However, heaven’s truth has always been complete. This is why prayer for understanding from regular Bible study has always been important. We are only shown what we are prepared to receive and value. Vividly expressed, the Bible teaches that we are not to “give pearls to swine…” (Matthew 7:6) This instruction clearly reveals how God also operates.
Mankind is typically fascinated by knowledge. However, humanity struggles with the heavy responsibility of knowing good from evil (see Genesis 3:6). That weighty experience when compounded by free will – established the need for absolutes. As delivered to Moses, God’s unchanging moral and ethical laws were provided to help a fallen world!
While we could not fully keep the Ten Commandments, society greatly needed to understand God’s will. Today, many centuries later, all the colonized parts of the world still have legal systems that, with variations, still reflect God’s universal standard.
Part Three
Knowledge never insures wise behavior. However, the Ten Commandments provide the enduring standard for successfully living together. History therefore acknowledges the universal need for moral and ethical absolutes. However, that reality comes with the heavy weight of guilt!
Understandably, discovering that the “…Lord is good…” (Psalm 34:8) includes discovering how much both – in us and in those around us is actually bad. The contrast is unmistakable! (See Romans 3:23)
Those who reject God’s ultimate reality do so in cooperation with their own sin nature. Because they reject the source of reality, sadly they reject reality—itself. This results in the endless unfulfillment that masquerades as happiness in lost secular society!
In response to the delusion of man’s intellectual failure, the Bible states, “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
By Billie Hanks Jr.
