God's Expectation of Mankind

Will

.

God’s Expectation

Of Mankind

By

Kenneth E Dobbin

Copyright 2011Kenneth Dobbin

All rights reserved

No part of this may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from the NIV & KJV versions of the bible. Copyright © NIV 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society, Zondervan Bible Publishers. Copyright© KJV.

Chapter 1

Why create mankind

If you can comprehend the reason why men create things you will understand the reason why God created man. The need for something is the mother of invention and for this reason God created mankind as a means of achieving his objectives. If the creation of man doesn’t function as designed he makes several attempts to repair it and if his creation continues to malfunction within a certain time frame his creation will go into the trash.

At times you can become furious with all the forms you have to fill out or the extremes you have to go to, to get the services you want. Don’t you have to have a passport to go to Paris, buy the tickets, go to the airport and board the plane? It seems as if everyone wants something before you obtain the thing you want. God also expects something from you before He will allow you to go Heaven. At the same time everyone should understand God has a mind and has warned the world that knows exactly what he wants. Job said something everyone should pay attention to: Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? Job 34:33

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God he likened his creation to the harvest of the earth. When the harvested wheat was put in the barn the weeds were burnt. When Jesus returns for his chosen ones he will summon every person to his throne where he will judge them according to what they have done. Accordingly Jesus also said that those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned John 5:29. As your creator he is saying every person was made the same way, grew under the same conditions and was given the same knowledge and opportunities to choose life, but some neglected God’s objectives while others did not.

Life was meant to be enjoyed but there are times when you did things you regretted doing. And there are other times when you wish you had done something better. The Bible tells us that a simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps Proverbs 14:11 and again there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death Proverbs 14:12. While the simple person is gullible the prudent man listens to both sides of the story to make an informed decision. By using his mind the prudent man knows what to expect and for this reason he seeks God to know what God expects of him.

However there is another side to life that most men fail to consider. What is the opinion of our creator towards life and what does he consider the most important aspect of life that makes life worth living? Man is self-centered and looks at life as to what he can do to achieve the wealth that will make his life more comfortable in his allotted time. God does not seek his own good, but the good of mankind. For that reason he provided a plan of Salvation by sending his son to atone for the sins of mankind. To God life is not what the selfish person does to make their life comfortable but to God life is sacred, therefore seeks the good of one another. God uses the principle of sowing and reaping to achieve a better life that is more abundant. God has no plans to harm those who seek his wisdom rather he wants to see them prosper and give hope and a future (see Jeremiah 29:11).

Consider that God knows how to create life and preserve life forever. It may be for this reason that God has given man foresight into his plan for mankind and it involves the right to choose life over death. At the same time God has order in his life and doesn’t want his creation to live haphazardly. He gave man the ability to understand how they can expect life to treat them and other people. However, all one has to do is look at the society of men to know that men don’t treat one another right and are not functioning as God designed them to work. In other words he is willing to give life to man but with the condition of obeying his laws.

For the most part man wants to live as he sees fit and unfortunately men desire the things that will eventually corrupt the spirit of man and lead them to the condemnation of their soul. The two main causes for the malfunction of God’s creation are the stubbornness of heart and the thoughts of man. To begin with the thoughts of man are incompatible with the overall plan that God has. He also knows that God exists but refuses to listen to what God expects of them. God knows that the sin men indulge in creates the trials and tribulations, unrest and waging factions between each other and they will not achieve the peace he wants to establish in his eternal home.

Man may be malfunctioning but God is working with those who have chosen life to change their attitude and character so that they may become agreeable with his principles. Being an almighty God he is an outstanding communicator but he expresses his principles and needs in spiritual terms. The spiritual terms of God are like to a foreign language to men that knows and understands the ways of the world. To fully understand the expressions of God you must spend time in his presence to know where he is coming from. He wants you to take his word to heart and consider his ideals and in doing so he has the opportunity to reason with you.

Spending time in God’s presence will teach his royal law to love one another with a positive attitude using methods that promote stronger relationships. God wants to form a relationship with his creation. However, sin is a method that divides the means to connect to one another because sin produces emotions between persons that range from unrest to outright war.

Look at God’s creation a different way to understand that God is able to make decisions before mankind was shaped from the dust of the earth. To create a world that functions as well as it does take an enormous amount of intelligence. Outwitting God is impossible, the people of the world who ignore God most of their life and hope that they meet God’s requirements will be surprised about the opinion that God has of your character. God is going to judge the world by what they have done during their lifetime. Their deeds will reveal the quality of their character whether good and bad and shows if you knew what God expected of you. It’s a good idea to know the kind of character God expects and work to obtain them.

God has given man insight to reveal what he expects from his creation and has warned man what will be done to the person who ignores his way of life. The Bible reveals that the reverence of God is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise the wisdom of God Proverbs 1:7. And again that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord Deuteronomy 8:3. Let’s also consider that God would be unjust if he didn’t teach what you should do to attain the desired character for each of his children.

God is a dynamic being with a plan for you to obtain the abundant life in Jesus Christ. You probably have heard the saying like father, because the son reflects the wisdom of his father. We learn that the fear or the reverence of Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The son who pays attention will gain wisdom and find the father’s knowledge pleasing to the soul for it will protect and guard your life. Your father is an all-knowing God that is more than willing to share his wisdom with you without finding fault. When you spend time with your father, he will show you how to excel in every area of your life and shape the image of Christ in you. God has given you a command to be strong but you may not know how to be strong in the Lord. In the chapters ahead you will learn how to be strong in the Lord and be victorious.

Every word is expressed to develop the Idea being communicated. Since God is known as Almighty God he is strong in every area of his life and wants his children to be strong by adopting his graces and holiness into our daily lives. These graces are not necessarily found physical strength but for the spiritual man to learn and induct moral fiber into your character. Most dictionaries found on the internet for the word Strong had between twenty and thirty definitions and a number of them linked to a previous definition. However the definitions were physical in nature but agreeable when applied to the spiritual nature of this book. The hope is that these definitions as the chapter titles indicate may help you to better understand God’s expectations of mankind. God commanded his people to be strong because it was essential to make the men who went into battle against the Lord’s enemies victorious.

Not every one of these qualities speak of physical strength rather most speak of the moral fortitude God desires from man. God is the origin all strength and he is the one person we must look to and lean on for strength. These definitions also describe the character God and develop the quality of life expected from you as the child of God. It also means that if God commanded you to be strong he will make you capable of developing the qualities of strength depicted in God’s word. You are expected to walk as Jesus did but to do that we must learn the same qualities that were used by Christ used during his ministry aided by his father in heaven.

What does it mean to go in the power of God and what does it mean to lean upon the Lord? The following chapters depict the strengths of the Almighty God that is worshipped by the body of Christ. Some of the chapters that follow tell you how to please the Lord while the remaining chapters may help you to cultivate the strengths of God so you may mature in the image of Christ.

Paul wrote in the letter to the Ephesians, if you want to know what God expects of mankind find out what pleases the Lord Ephesians 5:10. But to know what pleases the Lord you personally have to spend time in his inspired word. Even then must be sincere to know what pleases him and he will speak to you.

Chapter 2

Fear Of The Lord

The reverence of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and as God’s children you will only begin to understand God’s character when you spend time with him. Knowing God may be the only solution to know the life and death question that God has posed to mankind before you die. God has told mankind plainly that he exists and in spite what you think or boast of who you are, you can feel the heat of the sun, gaze at the beauty of a rainbow, and hear God's name spoken in vain.

It’s not that you believe in God it’s the way everything works together makes you wonder who made all of this and how did the earth come into being? One thing is certain the earth didn’t just happen and living things didn’t evolve by chance, the earth was created by an intelligent being. Just thinking about things like this make it clear, God made all that you can see, hear, smell, and touch.

Man knows that God exists by the things he made and men still fail to see him as the one who rules the universe. It seems to be irresponsible not to rule over the things you made or not use them. However, with the help of God’s opponent man has been influenced to oppose God on the issue of authority more than all the other reason. Though man is of the world, he or she tells their creator that they want a life of their own and they want to run their life as they see fit. Yet they use the things God has made without giving God the respect due to him.

Think for a moment, would you allow anyone in your home that has no respect for you or the things you own? There is also a fallacy in man's beliefs when they ignore God's authority in this life but believe they will go to heaven when they die. Yet they have no respect for God and abuse the things God created for them to enjoy. However, they are in charge of their life more than they think but with that attitude they are a threat to God's authority. Still, man needs to understand that God is an eternal being and he will be in charge well after this age is over. The person, who wants nothing to do with God, is guaranteed to get his wish.

Some people think that all they have to do is to live a good moral life to go to heaven. Some know that God lives in heaven but they don't have any time for him. The rest shut their eyes and ears to the matter and assume they don’t have to know God. However, for the Christian, it is plain to see that the world doesn’t see a need to know God. Take a look at your life from God's perspective. God wants to know you but on the other hand Christ will meet you at the pearly gate and he just might say. I don't know you Matthew 25:12. Those shocking words would be totally devastating to you as he turns and closes the gates of heaven on you.

Will God reward you on your terms? You may want to examine your life to determine if you know God. Are you aware that God can say I don’t know you or ask you the question why do you call me Lord when you don’t do what I command? Are you led by his voice and do you listen to his word? Can you predict what God will do when confronted by your presence? Does Christ have a role in your life and how do you fit into God's plan? If God is real where will you go after God reviews your life? There is no end to the questions you can ask so take some time to think about what you would require if you were in God’s shoes.

Let’s remember that the wrong information or ignoring God will be the main reason men and women will forfeit their right to go to heaven. The right information will ensure that you to make the choice to live in such a way that allows God to open his arms and welcome you to his home. For this reason a prudent person would learn what God expects of you.

How Do I Know God?

You may ask, is there a way to know God? The way to know God is simple as friends who know each other spend time with each other. The way to know God is to spend time with him and share your life with him. Once you know God, you will not only know where he lives but what he expects from his friends. In the same way when you spend time with friends you will know the plans they have and what they desire from life. Your will see that your friends have a life similar to yours, cluttered with pictures on the wall and memories that go back to their youth. As a friend, you may be a part of those memories.

Relationships are two sided. To know any person, you must use your time to be with them and be willing to share your life with them. When alone with your friends, you will see the way they think and live which has an influence that may change the way you live. On the other hand, some of your ways may be offensive to your friends and the desire to keep them as a friend means that you may have to change your habits. Whatever you do for each other builds a relationship that will last the rest of your life.

Money does not enter your mind when it comes to things of people you love. In most cases, what you have is theirs to use. To be a friend, you share your time and belongings with them and you make a strong effort to serve your friend's need. Being there for them any time of the day shows how you feel about them. Doing favors for them builds a relationship that money cannot buy and those favors make your friends feel important enough to keep you as a friend.

Christian's who want to please God do as Paul wrote. Find out what pleases the Lord Ephesians 5:10. God will talk to you when you read the Bible and you speak to God when you pray to let God know what you need. Doing the will of God is the same as following your friend’s advice and it shows that you rely on his word and are willing to use your skills to help out. On the other hand you understand that no harm will come to you as a result of your trust. Thus, when you know how to please God, you can do what he expects of you.

The Christian is God’s son or daughter. Anyone who knows God will live by faith in God. They gave their life to God when asking God to save them with an oath to obey him as long as they live. That oath assured God with the hope that you will be his son forever. For this reason, God adopts you as his child and regenerates your spirit so you may be born again. This born again term speaks of when you are born in the Spirit realm through a decision made by God. It's then that your eyes and ears to the Spirit realm making everything new with a new way to understand life. Every Christian lives in the present world on the other hand the Spirit of God guides him into the next age.

God's Objective

God is building a kingdom of kings and priests out of men like you from the present world. To meet that objective, God has a plan to teach mankind the way to create the decisions that will allow you to rule properly. It all began when God gave every man the right to rule their life on earth. However sin will rule your life without your approval because will cause the birth of another sin to hide the original sin. God says, Sin desires to have you, but you must master it Genesis 4:7. Therefore, sin makes you a slave of bad choices. God needs leaders for his kingdom that meets his objectives with the freedom to rule without harming one another.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Josh 1:8-9

Above is a step by step method from God to show you how to have success in life. God has an abundant life everyone wants and is revealing how he lives so you can live that same kind of life. He reveals his ideals and purposes then discloses how to approach life by his plan. God expects you to be a son that looks and acts like him because he expects you to use the principles he himself uses and teaches. However, your desire to be like him requires an determined effort on your part to obey your heavenly father.

Fitting Into God's Plan?

You may think that your fate was set before you were born, but God does not want anyone to perish including you. On the other hand, he said repent or you too will perish. With that in mind he gave you sovereignty with the right to choose your destiny in life and then God offered a plan for you that you can accept or reject. You have a choice and the truth is you can say no to God as easy as you can to Satan. You can live in sin and let sin control your life, but you should consider that your sin will determine your destiny. God said that his truth would set you free to serve him if you so choose. In other words God has set before you, the choice of life and of death and begs you to choose life so that you and your Children will live.

Your relation with God changed when you heard the truth. You made a choice to serve God when you gave your life to God. However, a choice is never complete when it is not acted on. Your choice to obey God changed the direction of your life, but it is a choice that you need to act upon. To this end, God relies on the hope that you become teachable and learn how to make good decisions.

God's word gives the proof that his methods work but to test his word you must try it out to see if it improves your life. You will have all the proof needed after you have tried God's word. God lets you be the judge of his word and the outcome will demonstrate why you need to live his way. When life's trials come on you God wants you learn how to deal with life using his word as a guide. In addition God will help you make the right decisions that will reshape your life with dignity. God revealed his life principles as the foundation to make decisions from and you can rely on him for principles that work.

The choice is now in your hands. Whenever you make a choice, you prefer what seems best for you at that moment. The trouble is that you can know how to make a good choice but make bad decisions when you live as you see fit. Most men and women on earth do not know that God has a desire for you to prosper. He wants to show what your future can be like and in spite of this God is told that he can rule the world, but not my life.

The Christian is expected to let the world to know that Jesus is Lord because Christ gave his Life to set you free from the grip of sin. He made you an heir to his kingdom by giving you the rank of a son. Then this gift of life was sealed by God's Spirit to help you live an acceptable life for God. Jesus has done all of that so you can shout, Jesus is Lord. However the world needs to hear the truth so they may have a motive to know God.

Incentive To Know God

Make a mistake and everyone knows it but who gets the credit when you do the job right? Bad news travels faster than light so that everyone knows who messed up at work. Life is such that every human being is subject