Suffering and Trials

A few years ago, I was in a conversation with my dad and asked him a hard question.  “If the angels, who knew and enjoyed the wonders of Heaven and life with God, sinned and lost their place in Heaven by rebelling against God, how do we know that a few thousand years after we get to Heaven, that we won’t do the same?”

God saw what was in Lucifer's heart. He changed Lucifer's name to ...

 

 

Angels were created by God to be His messengers and ministers.  Some of them serve their purpose by praising God on His throne.  Others serve His purposes by interacting with humans – to protect, convey messages, etc.  Angels existed before God created the earth and mankind.  They have freewill.  But they were created as part of God’s plan for the creation and redemption of mankind.  God did not send Jesus to redeem angels, only mankind.

The most important reason we rest secure in our salvation for eternity is the simplest and most logical one: the work of Jesus Christ.  If Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient, there is nothing more to be done to procure salvation.  Period.  If we deny this sacrifice, refuse to accept that what he has purchased with his own blood was enough, then we have no other recourse and only fear.   The only thing left to “do” after receiving Christ’s gift of salvation is to walk in it.   If we are not walking in that gift, then perhaps we haven’t received it.  Make it right, then.   Can we un-choose Christ’s gift?  Perhaps – but there is no other way to eternal life.

I believe that one of the reasons that we can trust in our salvation for eternity is the experiences we go through in this life.  We experience the true ugliness of sin and its aftereffects.  When we place our faith in Christ, we are turning away from our own sufficiency and turning towards God’s sufficiency.  We receive what we can’t understand and what we can’t manufacture – God’s faithfulness.   Every choice we make to trust God as we see the reality of sin’s effects in this life, further seals our forever choices to continue to trust in Him.  In heaven and later on the new earth, we will be constantly grateful for the freedom from sin’s effects and burdens.  Our life’s experiences of suffering and victory will be part of the glorious story in God’s Book of Life.

I may not be doctrinally correct in what I am thinking, but it is an interesting way to look at eternal security.

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