{"id":848,"date":"2020-03-16T09:02:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T14:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=848"},"modified":"2020-03-16T09:02:49","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T14:02:49","slug":"have-you-been-a-faithful-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/16\/have-you-been-a-faithful-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"Have You Been a Faithful Witness?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cFor by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be<\/em> thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him\u201d
Colossians 1:16<\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Colossians 1:16\nwe read that God created everything, and it was created for Him. It is\nimportant to understand that God created us for a purpose. God created man to\nhave a relationship with Him. After He created Adam and Eve, God walked with\nthem in the garden until they disobeyed His Word, and sin entered into the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After understanding that God created us to have a\nrelationship with Him, we look at the Bible from beginning to end. Firstly, we\nwill take a bird\u2019s eye view over all of history to see that God dealt with man\nin different ways through the ages. The Bible is laid out in certain timeframes,\nalso called \u201cdispensations.\u201d A dispensation is basically a means by which God\ndeals with mankind throughout the ages because of sin\nand employing God\u2019s divine government. Each of the dispensations may be\nregarded as a new test of the natural man, and each ends in judgment, marking man\u2019s\nutter failure in every dispensation. God dealt with His creation in\ndifferent ways at different times. God created the world as perfect, but when\nman sinned, he brought the judgment of death into the world. Throughout the\nages, God gave individuals many opportunities to have a relationship with Him,\nbut each time they failed. They had to understand that the only way this\nrelationship could ever be restored would be by the atoning death of His Son,\nJesus. It is with this understanding that we look at the scriptures as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seven dispensations allow us to see how God worked among\nthe people throughout the years. What began as a face-to-face relationship with\nGod (remember Adam and Eve in the garden) quickly turned to a sinful people\nunable to approach God. But God, through His grace and mercy, promised to make\navailable to man the opportunity to once again have a relationship with Him. We\nlearn how man fell and was punished, and then how all of mankind was only evil\ncontinually, so that God destroyed all but one family. God then gave the\ngoverning responsibilities to mankind, and they blew it again, causing God to\nconfuse their language. When God selected a family, they ended up in bondage\nand needed God to deliver them from Pharaoh. Yet when God laid the Promised\nLand out in front of them, they were afraid to go. Once they entered the land,\nthey forsook God and needed judges to deliver them from the judgment God sent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then believed they needed a king \u201clike the nations\naround\u201d to rule them, once again rejecting God and His plan. This kingdom ended\nwith the people in captivity because they did not heed the prophets God sent to\nwarn them. When God allowed them to return to their land, there was great sadness,\nfor they were not the great nation God had intended for them to be. When God\nsent His Son, Jesus, the fulfillment of the promise was given, if only one\nwould believe. Jesus did many works to reveal God to the people and then laid\ndown His life for our sins. He restored that broken relationship that nothing\nelse through the centuries could do. When Jesus rose from the grave, He sent\nHis disciples to tell the world, allowing His apostles to do mighty works to\nhelp establish the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the time of the mighty works has passed, today God still uses His people to witness to a lost and dying world. A faithful witness will tell them that the only way to have a relationship with God is through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you been a faithful witness? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First published at: http:\/\/lighthouse.pub\/blog\/2020\/03\/06\/have-you-been-a-faithful-witness\/?src=n<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Colossians 1:16 we read that God created everything, and it was created for Him. It is important to understand that God created us for a purpose. God created man to have a relationship with Him. After He created Adam and Eve, God walked with them in the garden until they disobeyed His Word, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[390],"tags":[311,85,412,313,312,414,415,186,40,80,325,413,118,416,417],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lighthouse-publishing-blog","tag-beginning","tag-bible","tag-colossians","tag-created","tag-dispensations","tag-end","tag-failed","tag-god","tag-history","tag-jesus","tag-judgment","tag-purpose","tag-relationship","tag-restored","tag-witness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}