Shelby is your name right?
It is, dear Sab (and, again, peace to you!).
You have a truly amazing mind and I don't think you give youself 1/1000th of the credit you deserve. Don't deflect this complement: you are a shining beacon in this world.
Please understand: it truly is NOT my intent to minimize YOUR intent here. But there is no credit due me, dear one. Truly. I am being honest with you. It is not my mind that is amazing; it is the Most Holy One of Israel and His Son. If folks could just see... and hear... I dunno. Marvels. But we (mankind) COULD comprehend it... if we would become as little children... rather than trying to pursue "high" intellect. It just doesn't work that way. We can say we are humbled by the vastness and mystery of the universe. How much more so, then, should we be by the Maker and Former of it??
Please understand: I cannot take credit for what is not mine. It would be like you telling me the story of your life... which story would be a No. 1 Bestseller... and me going of and presenting it as if it were my story. Dishonest, deceitful, and possibly plagerism.
My gut tells me that you are telling the truth,
Well, you know what they say about going with one's gut, yes? LOLOLOL!
but that doesn't mean you're right.
It doesn't, you're absolutely right. But please know that I'm not trying to BE right, dear Sab; I am simply trying to be kind, loving... and obedient. I am simply trying to share what my Lord has told me and shown me, and in doing so do what I would want someone to do for me: tell the TRUTH about God and Christ. For once. For a change. That really is it and all.
I have been in deep contemplation of the Genesis Creation Account for over a year now and I am very convinced that it tells the story of how we began accurately.
It does, dear Sab (again, peace to you!), but does not include a great deal of the details. For example, the impression given in the first chapter is that when light came forth, the sun came into existence. Yet, that did not occur until the third day. What, then, is the light that came into existence on the FIRST day? And what is the darkness for which a division was created? And, why wasn't the darkness spoken into existence (i.e., why didn't "God" say, "Let there be darkness")? The account, while virtually accurate, is fairly general with a great deal of info/detail left out. Why?
Not as a historical account because we just do not have the data available to know exactly what happened.
That's only partly true, dear one. We, mankind, do not have that data available, true. But there is One who does. And he isn't all that stingy with sharing, in my experience.
Neither did the people, who figured out existence long ago, that wrote the Genesis Creation Story.
Those who wrote of it didn't figure it out; they wrote what they were told, what they received, from the same source as I did. BTW, Joseph wrote the Genesis account, when he was in prison and living as Pharaoh's grandson in Egypt. What he wrote was kept with his bones and transported back to Canaan.
Your testimony actually added many puzzle pieces to my collection and I thank you for that!
You are QUITE welcome! I am very glad to have been of some service!
According to your testimony, which allegedly comes directly from the spirit realm, all of this (human history) is a speed bump in God's plan, which doesn't sit well with me.
I understand that, but I'm not sure that it actually WAS a speedbump. I cannot go into great detail as I only understand part of it myself, but I can say that if one understands that life... comes OUT of death... one might begin to understand. The same applies in this world: in order for a plant to live... the seed MUST die. In order for living things TO live... something MUST have died (to fertilize the ground so that food can be produced to sustain that living thing). That is how it is in this world... and I think it has some truth in that one, as well. Again, I cannot comment further because I only understand part of it. I will be more than happy to share the full truth of it, should it be made known to me. But, again, that really may be a place to START trying to understand WHY what occurred did.
Once you accept the provision of Jesus (which could have failed, right?)
It could have, absolutely, but only by HIS choice; not God's or anyone else's...
we merely live out the rest of our lives (dust we will return).
Not quite. Some will live out their lives, with their bodies returning to the dust. Most, in fact. And these ALL await a resurrection; however, there are six (6) potential outcomes:
1. For those who have died when Christ returns, one of the two (2) resurrections:
(a) Either in the first one, when Christ returns, and thus to spirit bodies and life (and this is a partial fulfillment of the "seed" being sowed and dying, so that the "plant" can be raised up)... or in the second resurrection, which occurs during the Judgment; or
(b) In the second one, which occurs at least 1,000 years after his return. Those who participate in the second resurrection are either resurrected to life or judgment (and if to judgment, then to destruction, the second death).
2. Some, however, will never die... because they are alive when Christ returns. These and make up one of 2 groups:
(a) those who belong to Christ (his brothers, consisting of 144,000 "from among the sons of Israel" AND "a great crowd which no man could number") who have NOT died when he returns and so are changed (metamorphed) to spirit bodies ("white robes"/"white outer garments") at the same time as those in group 1 (the "first" resurrection) are raised up to receive spirit bodies; These join Christ and are "married" to him in the spirit realm, then return to rule over the physical realm and progress it to the caliber of the spirit realm; or .
(b) those who do not belong to Christ, but are given spirit bodies (white robes) and granted entry to the kingdom due to their good deeds toward his brothers (some refer to these as the "Raptured"). These are the subjects of the rulership of Christ and his brothers. They are called "sheep", but are different from the little flock and "other sheep" that Christ referred to. (Note: there are different kinds of sheep.)
3. Finally, some who do not belong to Christ will also be alive when he returns but are NOT given spirit bodies and thus are cut OFF from entry (because flesh with its blood cannot enter or inherit the kingdom). These are the goats, referred to in the Revelation as "Gog." They are destroyed, along with Magog (spirit beings awaiting destruction) at the battle in the "place" called "Har-Mageddon."
What about after you and I are gone? My son will be there and so will your grandchildren (hopefully). Would you have them all wait out their lives too? What about their grandchildren?
It is not what I would have them do: they have to decide for themselves. True, like all before me, my hope is that salvation and the first resurrection will occur in my lifetime. However, I do not serve with that in mind. I serve... because I love the One I am serving... and am learning to love those HE loves. Since God does not want ANY to die... my Lord does not want that, either. So, neither do I. If, then, it takes yet another 1,000 years.... or 10,000 years... so what? My dedication is not like a JWs... where I am "panting" to an end... and getting more and more irritated... and tired... when that "end" doesn't arrive.
When does this cycle end?
I'm thinking, when the cycle is completed... when all that needs to be done to allow its accomplished end, however long that takes? The wait is only long for those who grow tired, dear one. And it's easy to grow tired when you want your own suffering to end. One can gain a bit more energy, however, when one considers that... if things are allowed a little more time... perhaps not only one's children and grandchildren... but great granchildren... and great-great granchildren, who have not yet come into existence... might benefit from the blessing, as well.
Personally, I'm really in no hurry. And I don't see how my life will change in the meantime. I have the freedom to live as I choose, love who I choose, and do what I choose as a livelihood. The Most Holy One of Israel is nowhere near as exacting as the religious... who place heavy burdens on people that they themselves cannot even carry... make Him out to be. He gave His Son so that I could BE free. What, then, is the big rush?
If Jesus' blood has saved us all why are we not in the Merger currently?
Not sure what you mean by "Merger", dear one...
Couldn't God take us all there right now? What are the obstacles?
Oh! Now, I understand! I asked that question, dear one... and the answer sobered me so that I never needed to ask it again: because all of the seed have not been born (into earthen vessels)... nor fertilized with holy spirit. You must remember: my Lord said he did not lose ONE. Not ONE... except the son of Destruction. If we were to be taken now... some seed would be lost. That cannot happen. And since such ones are our brothers, even if they are millenia younger than we... we shouldn't want it to.
I hope this helps, dear Sab, truly.
Again, peace to you!
YOUR servant and a slave of Christ,
SA
