Any thinking person can clearly observe that there are very much more non-Christians than Christians in our world today. Where is God in all these?
Is there really such a good, loving, wise, and powerful God which Christians claim to believe in? If so, why is He not doing anything to correct this bad and unfavorable situation? Does He even care at all? Or is He dead as others believe?
These are all fair, honest, and intelligent questions. We must face them squarely and rationally. We cannot just ignore them, or turn a blind eye. We cannot just sweep them under the rug of apathy, emotionalism, or “blind faith.” We need clear, biblical answers.
Consider These Glaring Solid Facts:
- Out of the 7.5 billion people living on the earth today, there are about 1.3 billion Catholics. Another one billion, more or less, are non-Catholic Christians. That would give us a very generous estimate of 2.42 billion Christians — still only about one third of this world’s present population.
- That leaves over 5 billion people (the great majority) who are not Christians. Translated into simpler proportion, that is roughly two non-Christians for every Christian in our world today!
- Yet — among those who “profess” the Christian religion today — we all know that the vast majority are in it just for the affiliation, rather than being faithful and sincere in obeying all its teachings.
- We are not even talking about all the humans who have ever lived for the past 6,000 years of recorded human history — since the creation of Adam and Eve. Those people did not have the advantage of having several copies of the Bible in their own language, plus access to radio broadcasts, TV programs, and websites proclaiming the words of God.
- Obviously, the proportion of those who never heard or knew about the Christian message of salvation then is very much less than it is today.
The Seemingly Unanswerable Dilemma
If there is such a good, loving, great, powerful, and intelligent Creator God described by theologians as omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere simultaneously), and omnipotent (all-powerful), how can His presence be demonstrated in this world today?
With all the uncontrollable calamities, wild chaos, massive tragedies, bitter hate, ugly wars, ravaging diseases, and unending deaths happening all over the world for thousands of years now, is there really a God after all? Or is He retired? Dead?
The Rise of Agnosticism and Atheism
Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the existence of God or the supernatural are unknown and perhaps unknowable.
~Wikipedia
Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.
~Wikipedia
Quotes from Notable (Dead) Philosophers on This Dilemma:
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
~Karl Marx (1818-1883), German philosopher
All thinking men are atheists.
~Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American novelist
I don’t know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn’t.
~Jules Renard (1864-1910), French author
I had to set limits to reason, in order to make room for faith.
~Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), German philosopher
What Is the Answer to This Great Dilemma?
1. The Creator God is not the god of this present world.
- Christ said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
- Satan is the present “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
- Satan has deceived the whole world to confuse true identities (Revelation 12:9).
- Unlike Christ, Satan [the thief] seeks to kill and destroy (John 10:10).
- “By their fruits [the bad world conditions now] you will know them” (Matthew 7:16,20).
- Mankind has partaken of the forbidden fruit — the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17; 3:1-19).
- Christ did not dispute Satan’s claim to ownership of this present world (Matthew 4:8-9).
2. God is not trying to save all of humanity now. Why?
A. Notice Christ’s own example when He was on earth:
When Christ was here on earth, surprisingly, He did not go on a “soul-saving crusade.” He never did an “altar call.” Instead, when other people were around (those outside of His chosen disciples), He began to change the style or language of His message by speaking to them in the coded language of parables.
Most preachers and Sunday school teachers erroneously tell us that Christ spoke in parables to make His meaning clearer. But the Bible tells us the exact opposite!
Let us hear from Christ Himself on why He spoke in parables:
The Purpose of Parables
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries [secret or hidden truths] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given… Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn [the Greek word here is Strong’s number G1994 (epistrepho), meaning “be converted,” KJV], So that I should heal them…”
~Matthew 13:10-17
A second witness to this fact was narrated in the Gospel of Mark:
But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn [KJV: “be converted,” from G1994 (epistrepho)] And [lest] their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
~Mark 4:10-12[NOTE: Christ was surprisingly and actually preventing their conversion at that particular time!]
B. Under Satan’s hostile world today, most will not survive their spiritual calling.
Let’s face reality. For many religions in this world, persecution awaits any member of the family who ever converts to Christianity. They are ostracized, and some are even killed! This is common knowledge. Now why does this happen? Because of spiritual blindness, narrow-mindedness, and religious intolerance.
- The “powers that be” will persecute the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:25).
- If Christ was persecuted, they will also persecute His followers (John 15:20; 2 Timothy 3:12).
- Christ knew that many will not be able to endure persecutions (Matthew 13:20-21; Acts 8:1).
3. God is only calling “the elect” (or “firstfruits”) to salvation now.
- This is not the only day of salvation — except for the “chosen ones.”
- Christ said, “no one can come to [Him] unless called by the Father” (John 6:44,65). This shows a very selective and limited calling from God at this present time!
- At Christ’s second coming, only the “elect” [the chosen ones] will be gathered to Him (Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:33; Romans 11:7; Colossians 3:12; 2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Peter 1:2). They are also called the “firstfruits” [the first — not the only fruits] to salvation (James 1:18; Revelation 14:4).
4. God’s ultimate plan in saving the rest of humanity will be realized when Satan the Devil will be bound and imprisoned in the “bottomless pit” (Revelation 20:1-3).
- Spiritual blindness imposed by Satan upon the whole world (Revelation 12:9) will be removed (Isaiah 25:7) when Christ comes back to rule.
- As prophesied in the Old Testament, all the long-dead people and armies of Israel will be brought back to life and brought to their own land [not heaven]. They will be taught the message of salvation for the very first time. They failed to understand it earlier because the Holy Spirit was not yet offered or given to them during their lifetime (Ezekiel 37:1-14).
- Even in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul confirms that Israel as a nation has also been spiritually blinded (like the Gentiles) from the message of salvation (Romans 11:8,25,32). Yet, it is prophesied that they will also be saved in the end (Romans 11:26).
NOTE: Salvation cannot be obtained from any other religion, or given by any human founder of any religion, regardless of popularity — even if its adherents number into the millions. The Bible clearly says, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) — except in the Name of the Son of God whose real name in Hebrew means “God saves.” (Details of that Name will be written in a future article on BiblicalTruths.com.)
Process of Salvation for Those Being Called Now:
Christ said, it is God the Father who determines whom to call (John 6:44,65). For those predestined (Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:5,11) or called to be part of the “elect” (Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 1:2) or “firstfruits” (James 1:18; Revelation 14:4) of God’s offer to salvation, the Holy Spirit is graciously granted to each of them by the Father (Romans 5:5), and it continues to dwell in them as they consistently remain obedient (Acts 5:32). God helps those being called in cooperation with their own free will (Philippians 2:13), while each of them seriously works out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
Process of Salvation for Those Not Being Called Now:
For those not included among the “elect” or “firstfruits,” they will have to wait for the time when Christ returns to rule this earth. The Messiah will banish Satan’s influence in deceiving mankind (Revelation 12:9) when the Devil will be cast into the “bottomless pit” (Revelation 20:1-3). With Satan’s worldwide deception gone (Isaiah 25:7), the Holy Spirit will then be poured out upon all flesh [all of humanity] (Joel 2:28-29). For the first time, they will be given a true understanding of God’s plan and purpose to also be part of God’s Family. God will then offer salvation to everyone (Joel 2:32), and those who turn to Him in true repentance and faith will be saved!
Summary and Conclusion
God is not losing the battle to save humanity! This present world under the influence of that great evil deceiver Satan is not the proper “fertile ground” for the mass salvation of human beings now. The only ones being called and chosen by God the Father to salvation now are those who are called the “elect” or “firstfruits,” which will be relatively few in number, compared to the billions of people on this earth today. The greater harvest of humans to salvation will occur when Christ comes back to rule this earth.
God’s Master Plan of Salvation for mankind is revealed in the symbolism of the Seven Annual Holy Days of God. Please watch out for more upcoming eye-opening articles on this website, BiblicalTruths.com.
It is indeed wonderful and refreshing to know the plan of our Creator…and that of creating a family of his own…the coming Kingdom of God…
Thanks for your gracious comments. Yes, most of this world is blinded from the real Truths of God by Satan’s deceptions. And we need to explain to the rest, God’s plan and purpose, plus His timetable in saving humanity.