God and Satan
GOD and SATAN
Our religious institutions teach us to do good deeds and to
reject evil thoughts and actions, yet in our approach to overcome
evil we are forced to adhere to standards that are contradictions to
the principles of Jesus Christ's teachings. In the view of human life
we make promises to God to transform ourselves, to obey His
wishes, to do good deeds, yet we are constantly doing deeds that
are not within the keeping of His wishes.
Hunger, poverty, destitution, and injustice have become an
acceptable norm within our human society. We often allude to the
fact that God will help us to overcome these problems within society when He returns to us. I have questioned, however, my knowledge about this matter. If, for example, we are commanded by
God to “do unto others what we ourselves would have done to
us,” why are we not doing as such? It is a simple command and, if
we obey this command, then are we not doing the good for others
and ourselves? Is Satan such an influence in man's life that we
must wait on God to triumphantly defeat Him for us? Is evil then
an attribute of mankind that can only be eliminated with God's
direct intervention? Are we as human beings left with the decision
to do good only if we can prove that it is within the keeping of our
own thoughts and perceptions? In other words, are we supposed to
do good by asking God to help us do as He commanded?
Doing good relates to deeds that will provide for the happiness
of all humankind.
Doing good does not simply mean that we must
pray to and worship God. It does not mean that one can go to
church each Sabbath day and confess one's sins in order to receive
redemption and salvation. It does not mean that by learning the
scriptures and verses of the Bible it will convey to God a sign of
our doing good. Doing good is an active and conscious thought
about the deeds that demonstrate our ability to overcome suffering
for the whole human race. In doing good we help God to bring our
fellow human being to a higher level of faith in goodness, eternity,
and love.
We worry about the ensuing threat of poverty and ruin. We are
attempting to gauge the world's economies in order to stay abreast
of our investments. Jesus told His disciples that one day mankind
would be able to perform miracles thousands of times greater than
what He performed for the sick, impoverish, and suffering people.
Man has now reached a stage where it can provide food for tens of
thousands at a single event, whereas Jesus fed only five thousand
who came to hear Him speak, and charged them nothing.
Humanity has the power to cure many of the illnesses, which
Christ performed as miracles, for no payment of any kind, yet
mankind allows people to suffer if they are not insured or capable
of paying for medical care. Thousand of people starve everyday
even in the so-called developed nation while food is being made a
stock commodity in the stock market throughout the world only
for profit.
Evil, then, is man's inability or unwillingness to do those deeds
which support God's wishes. When we allow people to suffer at
the expense of our own desires, then we are doing evil deeds. It is
not God's wish or will that any person suffers —he did not create
for humankind one society for the rich and one for the poor. These
conditions were conceived through man's own concept and
desires. It has come time for man to recognize that he is the perpetrator of this evil that resides within his created world.
"The Almighty's Religion for the Universe", URLinks Print and Media, 2018, Rev. Sidney R. Smith
Our religious institutions teach us to do good deeds and to
reject evil thoughts and actions, yet in our approach to overcome
evil we are forced to adhere to standards that are contradictions to
the principles of Jesus Christ's teachings. In the view of human life
we make promises to God to transform ourselves, to obey His
wishes, to do good deeds, yet we are constantly doing deeds that
are not within the keeping of His wishes.
Hunger, poverty, destitution, and injustice have become an
acceptable norm within our human society. We often allude to the
fact that God will help us to overcome these problems within society when He returns to us. I have questioned, however, my knowledge about this matter. If, for example, we are commanded by
God to “do unto others what we ourselves would have done to
us,” why are we not doing as such? It is a simple command and, if
we obey this command, then are we not doing the good for others
and ourselves? Is Satan such an influence in man's life that we
must wait on God to triumphantly defeat Him for us? Is evil then
an attribute of mankind that can only be eliminated with God's
direct intervention? Are we as human beings left with the decision
to do good only if we can prove that it is within the keeping of our
own thoughts and perceptions? In other words, are we supposed to
do good by asking God to help us do as He commanded?
Doing good relates to deeds that will provide for the happiness
of all humankind.
Doing good does not simply mean that we must
pray to and worship God. It does not mean that one can go to
church each Sabbath day and confess one's sins in order to receive
redemption and salvation. It does not mean that by learning the
scriptures and verses of the Bible it will convey to God a sign of
our doing good. Doing good is an active and conscious thought
about the deeds that demonstrate our ability to overcome suffering
for the whole human race. In doing good we help God to bring our
fellow human being to a higher level of faith in goodness, eternity,
and love.
We worry about the ensuing threat of poverty and ruin. We are
attempting to gauge the world's economies in order to stay abreast
of our investments. Jesus told His disciples that one day mankind
would be able to perform miracles thousands of times greater than
what He performed for the sick, impoverish, and suffering people.
Man has now reached a stage where it can provide food for tens of
thousands at a single event, whereas Jesus fed only five thousand
who came to hear Him speak, and charged them nothing.
Humanity has the power to cure many of the illnesses, which
Christ performed as miracles, for no payment of any kind, yet
mankind allows people to suffer if they are not insured or capable
of paying for medical care. Thousand of people starve everyday
even in the so-called developed nation while food is being made a
stock commodity in the stock market throughout the world only
for profit.
Evil, then, is man's inability or unwillingness to do those deeds
which support God's wishes. When we allow people to suffer at
the expense of our own desires, then we are doing evil deeds. It is
not God's wish or will that any person suffers —he did not create
for humankind one society for the rich and one for the poor. These
conditions were conceived through man's own concept and
desires. It has come time for man to recognize that he is the perpetrator of this evil that resides within his created world.
"The Almighty's Religion for the Universe", URLinks Print and Media, 2018, Rev. Sidney R. Smith
70-79, M
