Ask Pastor Jack
What Is The Will Of God?
The word most commonly used in the New Testament for “will,” referring to God’s will, is “thelema.” This Greek word means a determination, a choice, a desire, a pleasure. By “God’s will,” Pastor Jack refers to that which God would desire for us—which is the very best (Psalm 84:11; Luke 12:32; II Peter 3:9). It is not talking about God having His hand on our lives, and that He will always be with us (Hebrews 13:5)—which He does, and He will. But there are times things will happen to us, that even though they are difficult, help to shape and direct us in the right way. We are not floundering around without a “future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11)
Why Is It So Important To Forgive When We’ve Been Wronged?
Many times in scripture it talks of the importance of being able to forgive others (Matthew 6:14, 15; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25, 26; Ephesians 4:35; Colossians 3:12, 13). This is vital for your Christian life, but also for your physical body. Bitterness and unforgiveness can make room for physical disease to develop. Being our Creator, God knows this, and because His desire is for our good, that is why He emphasizes forgiveness as being such an important way for us to live our lives.
Why Doesn’t God Just Make The World Right, Safe, and Why Is There Suffering?
God created man with choices and consequences (the Bible calls it “sowing and reaping”). The worldly mindset would want to say people “can’t help it; they simply responded the way they did because of their background or upbringing; it’s not their fault.” These, of course, are not correct. We are responsible for the choices we make. It is possible that difficult circumstances in our lives make it easier for us to make a wrong choice, but there is still that decision that we make, and we are held responsible for it (as was Adam and Eve).
God has given man a free will to choose whether to follow Him or not. God did not make us robots and will not ever force anyone to follow Him (see Genesis 3). God desires for us to make the choice (John 3:16).
The “god” of this world is not our Father God. God had given this beautiful world to man, then Adam and Eve forfeited it to the enemy of our souls, the devil. He is the “god” of this world; and he will wreak as much havoc, death, destruction, strife, etc., as he possibly can. He hates us—God’s creation. But “greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). God has chosen to work through man; so as we take our place as “joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), and pray as we should for our land, our leaders, and our world, this opens up an avenue through which God can work.
Will We Know Our Loved Ones In Heaven?
Regarding knowing our loved ones in Heaven; see I Corinthians 13:12 where it talks about now (here on earth) “we see through a glass darkly,” but then (once we are in Heaven) we will see “face to face;” and I shall know as I also am known. This seems to indicate that we will be recognizable and recognize people when we are in Heaven.
