Archive for July, 2011
Self inflicted misery #6 Paying by death
Self inflicted misery to bear
6. Paying by death
The people Jesus brought to live had to die again. As long as the world did not come to face the End of the Times, the world had to pay for her sins by death. You could say that is the penalty God has given us and the rest of the world. He is a loving and righteous God who does not give further punishments. The punishment of having to dieis already bad enough, and is the worst of all punishments.
An imagination by people how Jesus Christ died on a cross (instead on the stake) - Image via Wikipedia
Christ after death. - Central part of a mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
But God out of His love has foreseen that those who really want to go for Him can find comfort in the hope for better tidings. For us death has not to be the tragedy as it is for lots of men. It may be a solace that we may find consolation in the work of Christ Jesus the Saviour, who was willing to give his body for us all. Thanks to the offer of this man any man or woman, accepting him, may aspire to a live in God’s future Kingdom forever.
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Continuous: Self inflicted misery #7 Good news to our suffering
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 8 so far )Self inflicted misery #5 A prophet without a hedge around him
Self inflicted misery to bear
5. A prophet without a hedge around him
Though God loved Jesus He did not put hedge about him. Perhaps we can say God had blessed the work of his hands but God had not put a wall round him and no protection when Jesus was in need not to be taken to be killed.
Jesus also thought it proper to be cleansed and being baptised by his nephew, so that also there God could let everybody know that he was the beloved son, sent to save this world.
Eustache Le Sueur, Christ Healing the Blind Man, 1652-55
It was not because Jesus had no respect for Gods Sabbath law that he put earth mixed with water on the blind one’s eyes. Some of the Pharisees said, “That man has not come from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How is it possible for a sinner to do such signs?” So there was a division among them as we shall find division among men all the time.
But on such occasions people got the change to tell the world what was important about this man: “He is a prophet.”
“Now it was the Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened the man’s eyes. So then again the Pharisees also asked the former blind man how he came to see. The former blind man said to them: “He put clay upon my eyes, and I bathed, and then I began to see!” Therefore, some from the Pharisees said: “This is not a person who came from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath!” But, other people said: “How is a person who is a sinner able to perform such signs?” So, there was a schism among them. As a result, the Pharisees said again to the blind man: “Because he opened your eyes, what are you saying about him?” The man answered: “He is a prophet!”” (John 9:14-17 MHM)
“From ancient times it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this person was not from God’s side, he would not be able to do anything.”” (John 9:32-33 MHM)
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Continues: Self inflicted misery #6 Paying by death
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Self inflicted misery #4 To whom to listen
Self inflicted misery to bear
4. To whom to listen
As Christians we better listen to the one whose title we use in our name: Christians. The Christ, Jesus or Yeshua, the Nazarene often talked about his Father who showed His love to the world. The master teacher knew that many people accused his loving Father of bringing on the disasters on to their world. But he found it worse that they also accused people of having done something wrong or something against God, because they had an illness or because they were handicapped. Those who listened to Jesus and saw him at work could hear how it was not according Gods will but because of accidents, disease or natural phenomena that suffering came onto men not as a form of retribution from God.
Resurrection: Son of God Jesus triumphs over death - Der Auferstandene 1558
One day when Jesus went on his way, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples put a question to him, saying, “Master, was it because of this man’s sin, or the sin of his father and mother, that he has been blind from birth?” Jesus said in answer, “It was not because of his sin, or because of his father’s or mother’s; it was so that the works of God might be seen openly in him.”
“Jesus answered: “Neither this person or his parents sinned, but rather so that the works of The God might become manifest by means of this blind man.” (John 9:3 MHM)
Here we hear the same as on another occasion when he mentioned that the end of this disease shall not death, but the glory of God, so that the Son of God may have glory because of it
“Having heard this, Jesus said: “This sickness does not have death as its purpose, but rather it is because of the glory of The God, so that the Son of The God might be glorified because of it.”” (John 11:4 MHM)
At that time it was naturally important that people could see the signs to recognize the Messiah. People had to get to know the Christos or Christ. There were also other people in Jesus time who could heal others, but that never happened in the way Jesus did. When Jesus was telling other s their sins were forgiven, everybody could think everybody could tell that and nobody could verify if that would really happen. But having people who were handicapped from their childhood and were nothing had helped to get them better, or even having had people who had been declared death and even were already buried, to have them talking and walking around again was something nobody else could do. By doing such miracles, then people could have belief in the works Jesus did. Even if they had no belief in this person, who was a son of a poor craftsman, they could become convinced that there was something special happening. And Jesus never claimed he was it that was doing those things. He never took it on him, being the healer or the miracle worker. He always made it clear that it was his Father, and not him. So that the people at that time, but also we today, could see clearly and be certain that the Father is with and in him.
“But if I am doing them, and if you do not believe me, you Jews believe the works. Believe so that you may realize, and continue to realize, that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”” (John 10:38 MHM)
“Jesus answered them: “I told you Jews and yet you do not believe. The works I do in the name of my Father, these testify about me.” (John 10:25 MHM)
We should be able to recognize the union, which is not the same as equality, with the Father, so that the world may be convinced that Jehovah God had sent this man Jesus. (John 17:21) For Jesus it was important that people got to know that God had sent him. But they also had to know that the Creator of this earth loved His creation like He loved Jesus. (John 17:23)
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Continues: Self inflicted misery #5 A prophet without a hedge around him
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- When jesus died did he die a jew (wiki.answers.com)
Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us
Self inflicted misery to bear
3. A man given to suffer for us
About 2000 years ago a man named Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the land of Israel. His birth, mission, death and resurrection were foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament of the Bible and revealed to us by the writers of the New Testament.
Jesus lived among his fellow Jews during a time when the boundaries of the Roman Empire included the land of Israel. He preached and performed miracles for three-and-a-half years until he was crucified by the Romans. He died on a wooden stake and was buried in a tomb.
Did Jesus die in vain?
The Father said: “Not so!”
He found the work to be complete
Which was performed upon the tree;
And gave a royal seat.
StJohns Ashfield StainedGlass Jesus as the Shepherd or Lamb of God
In accepting suffering in obedience to the will of God Jesus raised it to a new plane, and showed it no longer as the greatest evil but as a means to an end: for through suffering, in his perfect obedience to God, the son of God, Jesus Christ overcame the power of sin in human nature, and so made possible resurrection from the dead to eternal life with the Father. In this the promised Messiah obtained perfection, a tried and tested faith, completeness in obedience, wholeness in the love of God and the service of man—an example to all his followers.
Now Jesus was made perfect and has become the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.
“And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey Him,” (Hebrews 5:9 KJ21)
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Continues: Self inflicted misery #4 To whom to listen
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Mission Son of God perceived as failure
Who is Jesus Christ? #1 What does the Bible say
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Who is Jesus #8 Father greater than Jesus
Clean Flesh #2 Purity of Jesus
Scriptures That Show That Jesus (Yahshua) Is Not Yahweh (Jehovah)
Who is Jesus #2 Jesus Christ, man who died
One Mediator between God and man
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )Self inflicted misery #2 Weakness of human race
Self inflicted misery to bear
2. Weakness of human race
Man’s neglect and misuse of his own life has corrupted the stream of human life itself, and left evils which fall on succeeding generations. These, again as part of natural law, may manifest themselves as hereditary weaknesses and tendencies to disease. The very stuff of life may be affected as it is passed on from generation to generation.
The weakness of the human race is that it has become A risk taking society and that it loves to walk on the edge of the impossibility. As effective risk management is central to economic efficiency so taking the right decisions for all the people would get a most efficient environment to live in. But major players in this world would not find that it is right that they should be held accountable for risks they underestimated. As usual man would prefer to blame someone else. It seems to be an ingrained habit.
Ikata Nuclear Power Plant - Image via Wikipedia
You would think Japan’s nuclear disaster reason to think twice but humans are so much more interested by their own gain that they often overlook the problems it can cause to others. Most of the Japanese scientists at the mid-1950s, considered that the technology of nuclear energy was under development or not established enough, and that it was too early to be put to practical use. The Japan Scientists Council recommended the Japanese government not to use this technology yet, but the government accepted to use enriched uranium to fuel nuclear power stations, and was thus subjected to US government policy. According to the builders everything was save and could stand the worst earthquake, but history showed differently. After Chernobyl not much changed and you can wonder which lessons people are going to take from this eastern “thriller”. “So ten to 15 years from now maybe we can say the reactors have been dismantled, and in the meantime you wind up contaminating the water,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, says. “We are already seeing Strontium [at] 250 times the allowable limits in the water table at Fukushima. Contaminated water tables are incredibly difficult to clean. So I think we will have a contaminated aquifer in the area of the Fukushima site for a long, long time to come.”
Unfortunately, the history of nuclear disasters appears to back Gundersen’s assessment.[1]
All those things can continually happen because men can always find someone interested in his projects. Customers are always lurking around the corner.
Klant zijn met propere handen (Being a Customer with clean hands) warns us also how people can use other people just as trading objects. Humans are often used just to produce things for others, at the lowest possible cost. Slavery has existed for centuries and has still not come to an end. One even would be able to say that it is coming on again. Once more this way of using men brings a lot of misery into this world.
We may not become the slaves of this world. And we should take care that others do not become slaves of those around us or them.
God had liberated His People Israel from Egypt. He also gave all those who want to know the possibility to escape any slavery of this world. It is namely by being a slave of this world that we bring a lot of suffering onto ourselves.
[1] Fukushima: It’s much worse than you think. Scientific experts believe Japan’s nuclear disaster to be far worse than governments are revealing to the public. Dahr Jamail for Aljazeera. > http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/201161664828302638.html
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Continues: Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us
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- Is it possible to connect human race (wiki.answers.com)
There are more similarities and synchronization to behave each other like brothers than there are differences. - You: Drawing lessons from Japan’s nuclear disaster (search.japantimes.co.jp)
In 1945 the catastrophe was inflicted by the enemy. In what remains to date the most horrendous attack on human beings, more than 300,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and many more went on to suffer because of radioactivity-related ailments. But today Japan’s catastrophe is self-inflicted.
One compelling reason for phasing out nuclear-power programs is that scientists have not been able to figure out how to safely dispose of the radioactive waste created by the plants. The spent fuel is cooled in pools and continues to pile up.The most common hazards faces by human beings due to exposure to radiation are cancer or leukemia and genetic mutations that can affect future generations. The high doses of radiation at the Fukushima nuclear plant may not prove to be immediately fatal to workers involved in the cleanup, but it is likely to manifest itself in the form of cancers later in life and could even impact the workers’ future offspring. In short, such people will suffer through no fault of their own. - Nuclear Contamination 101 (tipggita32.wordpress.com)
Already we have a huge problem our grandchildren are going to have to deal with—the radioactivity from Fukushima! - Japan bans beef from Fukushima (edition.cnn.com)
Four months after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11, operators at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are still grappling with the crisis the disaster unleashed but say they are making slow progress. - Fukushima: It’s much worse than you think (english.aljazeera.net)
“Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera.
Self inflicted misery #1 The root by man
Self inflicted misery to bear
1. The root by man
For some the Book of Job offers no simple answer to the problem of suffering. But it should shed a light on how nobody can escape the problems of this world and shall be able to find himself confronted with misery at one or another time.
Suffering and loss are common to man, and often he is at the root of it himself.
As we have seen from the Study about Job is that man lives in a universe of cause and effect and the consequences of certain causes are inescapable and have nothing to do with what God brings unto earth but more with what God allows happening on this earth.
God has given men a freedom to act. He has given them the responsibility over Gods Creation. But there is a burden of ‘natural law’ which straightens out the wrongdoings of certain people. Humankind is not inescapable to what men do. In this universe we do have to bear the consequences of what we or others do.
As you can come to the conclusion from the series on the Poverty in Flanders lots of handling by people and situations interfere with each other and can bring people in serious problems. They do not have to be the cause of it. It can be brought over them by the stupidity of others or by uncontrollable health situations.
In Eigendomsrecht, welvaarttaks en waardigheidsrecht is written that each cultured society must have a certain form of solidarity its members or inhabitants. No community can stand on its own. Everybody living in the close environment has to take his or her responsibility. Each worthy society must work there at it to form a social acceptable and fully social life and to offer a safety net for all those who fall from the boat. The law of the strongest is the strongest injustice. It is the duty of the strongest to see for the weakest to.
Every worthy community should take care of a good education for everybody, which can directly provide the skills, knowledge and qualifications that are important in social and labour market participation, so that nobody should have to become a burden on another. As Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #7 Education shows it is everybody’s responsibility when a community gets impoverished because the people cannot cope to do the proper work to keep that community going. Also by not knowing what to do right, people are going to make faults, interfering the wrong way with nature or with nature elements and so causing problems in God’s creation and bringing natural disasters over them.
Image via Wikipedia
We can also determine that often it are the lower educated people who are not really taking care of their environment. Rotzooi van de mens & zwerfprobleem shows what a mess man creates with its litter. Lots of people suffer because they live in dirty neighbourhoods but they forget how often many people around them are the cause of it. They should be more aware of the impact that litter has on our communities and local areas and what it costs to the community or every taxpayer. Litter and clean and green spaces are important to people and their everyday lives. Areas blighted by litter, dog fouling, fly-tipping, graffiti and fly-posting can make residents ashamed of where they live and stop people from going to visit a place. Therefore those who would like to have everything clean should let hear their voice more and react more to others who show an anti-social behaviour.
Educated people can also look for new materials, handy tools and for renewable ways to produce our energy and many of these resources we need; wind, water, sunshine, agricultural waste. But they have to find also ways to get rid of all the waste they create and have to keep living in respect for the countryside. As Royals, mini busses and environment shows that there are high placed persons on this earth, who are aware of our role in the whole universe. We all should be aware of the rural areas which should be set to contribute considerably to renewable energy targets and the fight against climate change. Industries should be willing to invest and to produce possible assets to reach the right goals. Industry may not have the idea it can do everything to achieve her goals to make gains as much as possible. The inconsideration about how to handle the products nature gives us brings often so many people in danger. We should be aware that there is a big difference between inability to know and unwillingness to know as well as unwillingness to change or to do something. We also should shame ourselves when we do not want to learn from history and cases as Chernobyl, Fukushima and so many others.
People just cannot muddle with mother nature. They have to conserve the delicate natural ecology. When they do master it wrongly and go about it brashly they shall have to bear the consequences of their deeds. Every action a person does shall bring something forth. A heedless action shall have its outcome probably not to the good. Than it shall not God to blame for giving a persecution. No it is the fault of the perhaps thoughtless step, but in any case of the wrong step that brings forth a counter reaction.
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Continues: Self inflicted misery #2 Weakness of human race
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Perhaps interesting to read to have more insight in suffering brought to people in this modern civilised world:
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- Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #2 First two decennia of 21st century (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
- Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #3 Right to Human dignity (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
- Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #4 The Family pact (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
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- Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #7 Education (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
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- Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #9 Consumption (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
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Facing disaster fatigue shows how now we are becoming closer to the Endtimes the problems are going to expand. One natural disaster after another coming over the people of this world who seem to have lost control of a lot of things, living more and more without any ethics.
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Please do find also the following articles on our main website:
Related please do read:
- About suffering
- Disappointed with God
- Gods design in the creation of the world
- Gods instruction about joy and suffering
- Gods promises
- Gods measure not our measure
- Gods non answer
- Gods promises to us in our suffering
- Gods hope and our hope
- Gods salvation
- Hope for the future
- Importuning for suffering hearts
- Looking for blessed hope
- Miracles in our time of suffering
- Our relationship with God, Jesus and each other
- Promise of comforter
- Seems no future in suffering
- Suffering
- Suffering – through the apparent silence of God
- Suffering continues
- Suffering leading to joy
- Surprised by time in joys & sufferings
- Words from God about suffering
- Working of the hope
