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The
religions caste and region are the foolish brainchildren
of man. The Holy Bible tells us that the religion and
its rituals are the first and foremost cause of hatred,
strife and murder on the earth. With wisdom what I
understand is that the so called 'religious
Christianity' is the creation of the world but the true
Christianity is an explicit personal experience with
Christ which the world can hardly understand.
In today's world these
three things, the religion, caste and region play a
great role in destruction and co-existance. God created
the earth for habitation of man, not for strife or
murder. Such heinous crimes never occurred in the mind
of God during creation. God looked at all His creations,
and behold it was very good. The Bible teaches us that
God is Spirit and therefore those who worship Him must
do so in Spirit and in truth.
And what is Spirit and
what is truth? Spirit is the "promise" of Christ which
He promptly sent on the day of Pentecost, and Jesus
said: I am the way, the truth and the life. Thus Jesus
is the truth; so the way to the Father (Heaven) for life
eternal is possible only through Jesus. Jesus exhorted
His disciples saying: "You shall know the truth, and the
truth shall set you free" from the snares of the world
and also from the bondage of Satan.
Many people think what
they got or acquired from their forefathers and from
tradition are the truth. They thus hold on to traditions
without further question. No one bothers to think for
the salvation of their souls. Many take it for granted
that heaven and hell are here in this life, according to
the works of everyone - for good works good reward and
for bad works bad reward!
Moreover, most people have no time to spare for
spiritual activities, but busy in their own business to
accumulate riches and finally fade away to their own
doom. Many who acquire riches by hook or crook do not
realise that their accumulated riches would be
squandered by their own future generations. They do not
know that wealth have wings that it flies away. Many
hang on to their own convictions in their traditions.
However, the Bible tells
us about a person named Cornelius who was one of the
captains of the Italian army. The gentleman was a
gentile and an earnest seeker of truth. He lived among
the Jews and was aware of their laws and way of worship.
That knowledge did not make any difference with his own
traditional rituals and worship. Although he was in a
responsible position and had tight duty schedules, he
remained a god-fearing man. The New Testament records
that "he was a devout man and one that feared God with
all his house, which gave much alms to the people and
prayed to God alway. (Acts 10:2).
For Cornelius, his duty
and responsibilities never deterred him from personal
relationship with God. He always prayed to God - a point
to ponder for us. Being a gentile what or who he prayed
is not what matters, but his personal relationship with
God that matters. Being a gentile he must have been a
traditional idol worshipper. His earnest desire coupled
with innocence for the 'supernatural' paved the way for
the supernatural to intervene for the salvation of
Cornelius and his god-fearing family.
God is one and is
universal. He has created man and woman with the
intention that they multiply and increase and remain
ever with God in eternity. It is sin that separated man
from God. A holy God can't be expected to move or mingle
with sinful man. Thus the gulf between man and God. The
Creator has the authority over His creations and
therefore set certain conditions for man to observe.
Disobedience (sin) had brought curse upon the earth. A
product of the curse could not remove the sin of man.
Therefore, it was necessitated that God Himself take the
form of man through a virgin who had 'not known' a man.
The birth of Jesus was announced to virgin Mary by a
holy angel saying: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you,
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
you shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
Any
and every human being born on earth is a sinner, for he
is born on to the cursed earth. Therefore a sinful man/
woman or any image of anything of the earth or beneath
the earth cannot remit the sins of the human race. A
sinless and holy product of heaven only could save a
sinner and that is why Jesus was to become a ransom for
the sinful human race. So what was required to be done
for the remission of sins has already been 'done' by
Christ on the cross. Still hanging on the cross between
heaven and the earth, Jesus declared: "It is finished."
It means that the very purpose for which Christ came to
the earth has been accomplished and therefore there is
no need for any more sacrifices for remission of sins of
the people.
The
Bible declares: "For God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him
should not perish but have everlasting life." (John
2:16). It further states in the Book of Acts: "Neither
is there salvation in any other for there is none other
name (other than the name of Jesus Christ) under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved." (John 4:12).
Unfortunately poor Cornelius was unaware of this
scripture portion - the truth - and therefore he
continued to worship the traditional way. The merciful
God who discerns everything had discerned the mind of
Cornelius., the devout man, and decided to intervene so
as to save him and his household.
You
may ask, why not others also? It is God's discretion and
we have no right to question. However, he had saved me,
a great sinner and may like to save you too, for who
knows the heart of God! It tells us that God has no
religious favouritism or nepotism in choosing people for
Himself. God's promise to every truth seeker is that "I
will never leave you nor forsake you." It is worth
believing. And it may also be noted that being devout,
pious or dutiful to religion will not save the soul of a
person. Even so God fearing, giving much alms, praying
always being just in the eyes of men or having good
reputations in society and much fasting etc. will also
not save one's soul.
If
these above mentioned works were sufficient for
salvation of soul, then even demons and sinners who fear
God would also be saved. In such an event God's
intervention in the case of Cornelius and millions of
others and the sufferings of Jesus on the cross would be
in vain or would have been unnecessary! God is always
merciful and compassionate and do not wish any soul to
be lost; for He says "I have no pleasure in death of
sinners." Every soul is precious in God's sight. |
