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Who Created Whom? Part 1

Who Created Whom? Part 1

Over the next three weeks, you are in for a real treat—a three-part series exploring the origins of the most common view of God taught within Christianity and the world. And I am particularly excited, because I love to learn new things, gain new insights, and put more puzzle pieces together; and this series, written by a guest blogger, Dominic Rusu, does just that. I hope you also enjoy it. — Tim Jennings

An Exploration of the Origin of Our Favorite God

Part 1 of 3: Introduction

by Dominic Rusu

Did God Create Humanity—or Did We Create God?

Silly question, right? But in all seriousness, the answer depends on your view of God. And my answer to this question is yes. Both happened.

I certainly believe that God the Creator, Designer of our material existence, created humanity. But I also propose that the god of law and order—which is now firmly established in the mainstream theologies of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—was created by humanity and evolved as a result of the pressures of this sinful state of existence. This overpowering collective human desire for a divine lawgiver and arbiter of final justice came about as the direct result of the fall of man and the resulting state of sin.

There are two conflicting versions of divinity:

  1. The God of design law—the Creator of the cosmos
  2. The god of imposed law—a cosmic version of a Roman emperor

Design law is how reality works. We face natural consequences for not being in a state of at-one-ment with God. In this reality, justification and righteousness are both words describing our alignment with God’s design for humanity.

Design law is concerned with the internal condition of the heart—as Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21)—the moral condition of the character, the only thing we’ll take with us into the next world. This is why in the New Covenant, God writes His law upon our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10). In the debate about whether morality is absolute or relative, design law reveals that morality is absolute and unchanging, because the Creator God does not change, is always consistent, and it is His nature that serves as the very basis upon which life is built to operate.

Imposed law is entirely different. Structured entirely on the shifting nature of human desire and need, and wrongfully attributed to the Creator, imposed law is not concerned with the condition of our character. It is concerned only with controlling behavior. It is believed widely that externally enforced imposed law evolved for the common good, for the wellbeing of the collective in this broken world. As such, imposed law is all about the morality of deeds, our behavior, and not about individual wellbeing or character.

Morality of deeds is concerned with how our actions impact society as a whole, regardless of whether a crime targets an individual or the collective. The driving force of imposed law is to increase cooperation and decrease the chaos that inherently comes from being in a sinful state. Consequences for violating human imposed law are equally chaotic because humans and their laws are arbitrary; therefore, the punishments imposed by society are nothing like the natural consequences of violating design law, nor are such punishments about restoring an individual’s character to at-one-ment with the state.

Moreover, the morality of deeds in human law is constantly changing, subject to the biases, stresses, and challenges of a particular human culture. What is immoral and criminal in one society or period of history can become moral and legal in another place and time, regardless of its impact on the character. For example, consider how alcohol, tobacco, “illicit” drugs, euthanasia, and abortion are moral and legal in one society or period of history but immoral and illegal in another place or time.

How and Why?

In this three-part series, I will build the case that the greatest deception achieved by Satan has been convincing humanity to rely on their imposed laws to achieve their ends. He has done this by getting humanity to embrace a god-archetype based on the human desire to escape its fears and to survive: a divine king, lord, ruler, sovereign, monarch, and lawgiver—a cosmic imperial dictator who can bring order out of chaos through the rule of law. After the fall, our sinful state of existence made the emergence of the divine god-king inevitable.

In part 2, Sin “Creates” the Rule of Law, I’ll describe the adulteration of man’s view of God as Satan’s endgame. Manipulating humans through their misery, fear, and selfishness is merely a means to this end; it is not Satan’s ultimate objective. We think too highly of ourselves when we believe that Satan’s goal is to make us miserable. The ultimate attack is on the true God. His enemy uses our fear of non-existence and the chaos sin causes to drive our creation of the false god of law and order that replaces the Creator God in our hearts and minds.

I’ll also demonstrate how the state of sin, ushered into our world by Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve, became the most powerful creative force on this earth after the fall. Mankind has been so immersed in this creative force that, without a living connection to God, we had no choice but to create a god in our image.

We will trace the origins and refinement of law and order in human societies. To the worldly mind, the rule of law appears to have worked brilliantly for human survival and progress in this sinful existence. This is the reason many have a difficult time even seeing the deception of the counterfeit god of law and order. We are born into law and order just as we are born into sin. Thus, this critical cultural construct for survival is at the core of almost all human interaction.

In part 3, Christ Exposes the False God of Law and Order, I’ll describe how fallen humans have taken what works on this sinful earth (rule of law) and projected it onto God, replacing the Creator’s design-law kingdom with a divine dictatorship. I’ll make the case that this was not a human conspiracy but the inevitable result of fear and selfishness replacing love in the heart. This was precisely Satan’s plan from before the fall of man. And the “progress” that the Christian church has been made through the Reformation has completely ignored this corruption to the image of God.

We’ll also examine the significance of Christ’s life and demonstrate how this revelation was intended to shine a bright light on the corruption that had occurred within Jewish theology and warn about what was to come with the formation of the Roman church.

The Good News of the life of Christ is the clearest view of the true character of God and His use of power—how He governs. But even the revelation of His life was adulterated within a few hundred years by the church. Thus, the truth was covered up again with the god-king imagery. So while Christ’s life is indeed the good news, it is for very different reasons than what mainstream Christian theology teaches. The legal transaction view of salvation fits the god-king motif, but it is wrong, resulting in devastating eternal consequences.

The good news that Christ brought is the correct view about God, the Creator who is less concerned about the common good of our broken societies and the competition between cultures, tribes, and nations, and is primarily concerned with healing each of our individual characters.

This truth isn’t useful to earthly authority and power. Thus, the true character of God was conveniently cast aside and replaced with a god-king image—a cosmic warlord, a divine tribal leader, a “benevolent but just” ruler. This god, in its many forms across cultures, would be used to control human behavior for the purpose of survival in a broken world and to ensure that “justice” would be served—here on earth and eternally. Given our sin-addled intellects and emotions, this is exactly what we think we need, what we want, and what we have created.

Since my time as a member of the Come and Reason Ministries class, I’ve come to understand clearly the contrast between the two versions of God. But I have been continually dogged by the question of how it all came to pass. 

I now have my answer and in this three-part series I will share my conclusions with you, with the objective of exposing just how we created the rule-of-law god in our image.

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My husband is a pastor and I listen to your lesson almost every week. Thank you for helping me in my study life and to help me love the “real” God more.

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Thank you for the ministry you are sharing with us, it is a real blessing to us and especially to my husband and myself! You are encouraging us to think for ourselves and not just to except everything, without thinking it through, with God’s word!

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Testimony 68

Your message of design law vs imperial law is so uplifting and makes so much sense- it is a game changer for me. The fact that Jesus’s death is not a big payment by an angry God is , quite frankly, a relief.

Laura G., London, Ontario, Canada

 

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I am just writing to say that I have been so blessed by the teachings of Come And Reason Minitries recently. I watched last week’s bible study lesson on Youtube and am thankful that the error in the printed lesson guide you use was pointed out and this week’s study was of equal benefit, if not more so. My understanding of God’s nature has been very confused of late and I am so grateful for clarity in this matter. I have never really fully understood previously how a good God can cause bad things to happen and now I realise that He doesn’t, it’s a natural consequence of sin. May the almighty Father and His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, continue to bless your ministry.

Laura P., United Kingdom

 

Testimony 54

I had a lot of pressure, as a pastor’s kid, to conform and be “good.” I was good at being “good.” I thought my life was going along well until it all started falling apart and I could not figure out why! In my search for “why is this happening to me, God?” I came across your book, “Could it be this Simple,” and God started revealing to me the many distortions I held about His character, His principles, and how He has designed His universe to operate. I remember thinking, “Wow, I have had this all backwards.” I was happy and angry all at the same time. Happy to have the light of truth break through the darkness, revealing a wonderful, beautiful way of understanding God and His plan for His children, and angry, because I felt deceived and cheated by the church, my family, and myself!

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Karen S., Portal, AZ, USA

 

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I’m a native Ghanan, but am currently in France for my master’s degree. Prior to this, during my final years at undergraduate studies in Ghana, I was introduced to your ministry and I’ve been immensely blessed by what you share, especially about the Design and Imposed Laws. God richly bless you for that.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in France was to buy all four of your books. They not only helped me, but those I shared them with. I shared the message with an atheist student and I marveled at how God worked mightily in his life. Today this person shares the Love of God with others and debunks theories of who God is not. I want to share what you present in your “Heavenly Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment” pamphlet, because the message brought rest to my soul and I live today as a healthy person.

God bless you so much and your ministry.

Michael A., Ghana

 

Testimony 67

I was introduced to Come And Reason by a friend of my mother-in-law, who gave me several CD’s of Dr. Jennings. The clarity of the message and recognition that God’s is a God of love was so clear, advancing beyond Dr. Maxwell’s message. However, grappled with Maxwell saying God used emergency measures for the fallen world. Now after several years of being a regular listener of the Come And Reasoning bible study class and attending Jennings’ meetings in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, things are becoming clearer for me. Design law versus imposed law has added so much to my personal understanding of theology. This message has really impacted my work in counseling so many people miserable because they are searching for and trusting human governments to create order and peace or believing in a God who says love Me or I will kill you. I am grateful that I have an alternative view to offer my clients that makes sense. I teach a bible study class on a semi-regular basis and I value the materials that Come And Reason so freely offers to aid me in presenting this vital message. Thank you for continuing to provide advancement in our very limited understanding of a Infinite God that is rational and believable.

Dr. Roger D, Arlington, TX, USA

 

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I grew up in a prominent protestant church and had what I like to call religious anxiety. I’ve always had questions about God and Salvation that no one could seem to answer.  I didn’t know how to find resolution. During 2020, at the height of my anxiety, I fell to my knees and begged God to show me truth and light and to give me the hope that I’ve been longing for. Days later, I stumbled upon your online videos and it was like a veil was lifted and EVERYTHING made sense! For the first time in my almost 39 years of life, my religious/spiritual anxiety has lessened. I feel a sense of freedom and peace I’ve NEVER had before… and it’s all because my view of God has changed. Thank you!

Ashleighn C.

 

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Since November 2015, when I started studying Gods word from this God Is Love point of view, my life has been transformed. My troubled marriage of 15 years has been healed and my husband and I are truly happy for the first time in 15 years. Now When I read the word of God I understand it so much better and I can’t help but see Gods love radiating through the pages to humanity. Gods word is living and active and I am blessed beyond measure to be having this amazing experience. God has given me a beautiful understanding of Jn 3:16 that amazes me more and more each day. Thank you again for your ministry.

Helen D., London, England

 

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Eric S., Sanford, FL, USA

 

Testimony 64

I’ve been reading the bible and walking with Jesus since I was around 16. I’m 42 now. I’ve mostly been alone in my walk although I went to several churches in different denominations. For the past 3 years God has been showing me His character of agape. It’s been a blessing and changed how I view God and my walk with Jesus. About a year ago I came across the power of love and the principles of design law. These teachings changed how I read scripture and have been such a beautiful blessing. I’m very excited and grateful for these truths. We share these truths of agape, design law and the reality of the principles of the two trees in the garden of Eden with people on Facebook and YouTube. People all over are learning to trust God and His agape design law which makes life possible. Thank you for everything you shared with me. May God continue to bless your ministry and lives.

Bradley M., Hinsdale, NY, USA

 

Testimony 41

I have been blessed by your ministry. I have experienced personally, and deeply resonate with, the God of love and the beautiful picture of God’s character that you present. I have seen your seminar series on YouTube, read ‘The Journal of the Watcher’ book, used your mobile app, and also listen/study the bible study lesson with you each week. I concur with many of the thoughts and perspectives that you share. I understand your conclusions on natural laws vs imposed law and the legal/penal substitution (incorrect diagnosis). This makes perfect sense to me.

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Melissa L.

 

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