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Who Created Whom? Part 3

Who Created Whom? Part 3

by Dominic Rusu

Christ Exposes the False God of Law and Order

One precursor is needed for the rule of law to exist: sin.

Without the resulting chaos, fear of death, tribal and personal conflict, and selfish human behavior that sin creates, there is no need for a codified law. Investigation, judgement (in the judicial sense), retributive justice, and punishment, have no meaning without sin.

Rule of law does not exist in sacred space (the sinless holiness of God’s presence); it would have no utility. Imposed law has utility only in a profane existence (a sinful world). In sacred space, there is no fear of non-existence because there is no sin. Without fear, there is no selfishness and no chaos. Without chaos, there is no need for God to establish a system of behavioral norms and consequences that He must inflict upon the deviant so that citizens may experience safety and stability. Without a system of imposed law and order, there is no place for the use of power and coercion to incentivize and punish people to elicit proper behavior. Without a need to punish people, there is no need for penal justice.

The rule of law is the best we have in this fallen world. But law-and-order governance is a result of sin, and it functions based on sinful principles. Instead of truth, love, and freedom, the principles of God, the rule of law is based on codes of conduct, the implied contract of group membership, and enforcement (justice).

God exists in holiness, in sinlessness; where His principles are in perfect operation, there is no sin. God and His design for life stand apart from our profane existence. How could God have the character, thought processes, principles, requirements, and behaviors that exist only because of sin and that exist only in our profane dimension? Any notion that would promote the idea that God is like us is a part of Satan’s strategy, even if those who teach this lie have good intentions.

Pagan belief systems typically are polytheistic (many “gods”). And structured law and order with a strong hierarchy of power isn’t common among them. Pagan gods tend to do what they want, when they want, without accountability—like, unsurprisingly, the sinful humans who invented them.

The three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) developed strongly around the idea of a single god of law-and-order. It shouldn’t be surprising that two of the most dominant and far-reaching cultures in pre-modern history, after the Romans, were the Holy Roman Empire (Catholic Europe) and the Umayyad Caliphate (Islam). A strict and jealous god of law and order brought great strength to these cultures, with self-serving intent.

The condition of sin, the infection of fear and selfishness in humanity, made Satan’s work easy. In fact, we did the rest for him—as he knew we would. We couldn’t help it. Fear made us do it. For earthly authorities and their peoples, the rule of law has worked brilliantly. This lie about a god of law and order was strengthened as those in power (e.g., Constantine) invoked the name of God, but not His true character, for their own purposes. Satan’s strategy for a divine god-king created in the image of man grew stronger and stronger.

By the time of the Enlightenment (1687, Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica), 1,375 years had transpired since Constantine’s victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD (an early formative event of the Catholic Church). The extensive time period and dominance of the Catholic Church since that event solidified this perverted version of God’s character—to such a degree that there was no going back. Indeed, the Reformers were so marinated in the rule-of-law god construct that they were focused on the trees (minor disagreements with Catholicism) and never saw the forest (the perverted image of God). The ideology of the separation of church and state that found its way into newly formed secular governments didn’t help to address the error either.

We have seen secular humanism push back on Christianity in particular because of the church’s legalism and portrayal of a harsh, vengeful god. This doesn’t make secular humanism right, of course, but neither does it make wrong the criticism of the Christian imperial dictator god.

Guided by the same unfolding revelation of truth that occurred during the Reformation, Seventh-day Adventist reformers, such as E.G. White, A.T. Jones, and E.J. Waggoner, were guided away from the god of law and order toward a greater light—advancing a theology organized around the Creator God, whose law is design law, and taught real righteousness (transformation of heart). However, this revolutionizing view of righteousness was rejected by the law-and-order adherents in the Adventist Church at the 1888 General Conference, and the church has never recovered from it.

But the message to worship Him who made the heavens, earth, sea, and fountains of water, which is a call to reject the rule-of-law god and embrace the Creator, is still there for those who want to see it and embrace it.

I find it telling that God’s call to come out of spiritual Babylon is a reference to the Babylon of Hammurabi, the “lawgiver.” God is calling us out of the false religion of the rule-of-law god and back to Creator worship!

The rule-of-law god of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam has existed, without serious challenge for centuries—except by the life of Christ. Jesus revealed that the character and government of God is distinctly different than the punishing god of law and order, a deity promoted and practiced by both the Jews and Romans of His day.

The world of Roman law and order in Christ’s time was brutal—and extremely effective in worldly terms of success. The Jews were subjugated harshly by the Romans. A number of secular scholars have argued that Jesus was a political activist, a member of the rebellious Zealots. While He may have had acquaintances who were Zealots, there is no biblical evidence that Jesus intended to use His influence to gain temporal justice for the Jews.

And His mission, once revealed, disappointed many Jews, including some of His disciples, who were looking for a Messiah that would be a political and military leader, righting the wrongs of the brutal Roman occupation.

While the Romans crucified Christ, Pilate’s behavior illustrates that Christ didn’t run afoul of the law and order of the Romans; rather, He ran afoul of the authority and theology of the hypocritical Jewish religious leaders. Jesus served as an antagonist for them and their version of God, not the Romans and their governance systems.

If Jesus (God) were focused on revealing to mankind that the most righteous and effective form of governance was law and order, then His mission certainly would have been as a political and military leader. On the contrary, His life revealed a humble acceptance of the law and order of the Romans as yet another tragic result of this sinful state of existence. His focus was on exposing the perversion of the character of God by the Jewish spiritual leaders, which is why they brought Him to the Romans to execute Him.

Christ often healed individuals from disease and disability, which serves as a metaphor for the healing from sin (spiritual disease and disability)—the healing of hearts, minds, and characters. People are not able to assess each other’s hearts, minds, and characters, so the outward, physical healing served as a powerful metaphor for internal, spiritual healing. Such ministry indicated that Jesus was not an activist determined to use political force to reform the Jewish rule of law. His intention was not to start a new denomination with a new-and-improved version of the rule of law, one merely concerned with outward behavior. While He certainly encouraged people to “go and sin no more,” He knew that real change would come only by forgiveness and the revealing of truth, which is the only healing that changes hearts, minds, and characters for eternity.

Human rule-of-law governance might be viewed as a necessary evil in an evil world. Indeed, the Bible seems to endorse the rule of law when such government serves to restrain evil and limit suffering in sinful societies (Romans 13). The problem, however, is that mankind has projected our need for externally enforced law and order, a product of sin, onto God Himself—and we have built our theologies around it. This was Satan’s plan all along—to confuse the sacred with the profane, a god of law and order that is feared and obeyed out of the threat of non-existence, rather than loved and worshiped as Creator and Healer of our sin condition.

The damage done has been immense: hundreds of generations of humans believing in a god that is nothing more than a superhuman version of earthly rulers, one who is little different than every pagan god invented by mankind; living and dying in fear; desperately believing that a legal transaction would ensure their place in the afterlife, rather than a relationship with a loving God who can justify (set right) their characters.

Godless evolution, atheism, the death of God movement, and secular humanism can be viewed as reactive responses to the vengeful god of law and order that sits at the head of Christianity and Islam today. These anti-religious superstitions and philosophies are the consequence of the damage done to millions of souls, who needed to find alternatives to the harsh god of law and order—again, perfectly in line with Satan’s plan to maintain the separation between God and humanity that Jesus came to bridge.

Human moral code (rule of law) has always been dependent on the relative values, assumptions, and stresses facing a given society, and the common practice in history has been to attribute those arbitrary laws to God as the religiopolitical ruling authority. Such a system called theocracy; and until the formation of the United States and the French Revolution, many of the world’s cultures had embraced theocracy of one form or another. Today, much of the world benefits from the separation of church and state, largely due to the influence of the United States Constitution and its First Amendment.

However, our current religions and theologies—Judaism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism—were formed within human-designed theocracies, serving as a coercive tool of the state in order to keep it in power. A state’s rule of law directly influences the theology of the state religion.  I believe hard times and stress have the potential to push what might be tolerant governance ideology back towards theocracy. Of course a theocracy with a false god in charge. We’ve seen this in unstable regions of the world in our lifetimes – Serbia/Croatia, Rwanda and various Muslim countries.  The culmination of this tendency could very well be a description of last day events.

The roots of mainstream Christianity’s theological foundations are still deep in the soil of the most powerful and longest-lasting theocracy in human history: the Catholic Church. Its legal transaction view of salvation was patterned directly after human law and order, and it has used this coercive power to enrich itself at the expense of its flock, a pattern widely seen in Protestant churches that have adopted the Catholic view of legal salvation.

The rule-of-law god was a useful adaptation that humanity invented to compete, dominate, and survive in this sinful state. The stresses of earthly life and our dependence on the rule of law for survival has reinforced the concept that God thinks and behaves as we do when faced with “law-breakers.” We have a hard time envisioning anything else.

However, I believe the good news (the gospel), as illustrated by Christ, is the illumination of the critical difference between the two views of God—a loving Creator whose laws are design protocols for life versus an imperial dictator god whose laws are made-up rules no different than what sinful beings enforce.

Once you start examining God through the design law lens, rather than the law-and-order lens that most people are born into, everything becomes clear. At one point, I had given up on the religion that I was born into because when I had taken it apart to see how it worked, I couldn’t put it back together in a meaningful, logical way. And I didn’t have an alternative, until I was introduced to the Creator God a second time and the design-law concept.

I challenge you to examine these things for yourself and reject this corrupt rule-of-law god and embrace fully our Creator God of love.

 

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Testimony 70

I have been watching you for many years and have learned to love God with all my heart. I was raised by a loving Christian mother that had been lied to about who God really was, so our religious upbringing was hell fire and damnation. As soon as I was old enough and moved out, I not only left the church, I ran as fast as I could to get away from it. Sad to say, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I learned and understand who my Father really is and how much He loves me. I understand God’s Design Laws (which make sense) and when I’m teaching my church Bible study class, I’m able to really put to use the things I’ve been learning and Holy Spirit is leading. Thank you for introducing me to my Father of true, pure love. Everyday with Him is new and exciting. One thing that breaks my heart is that I didn’t know Him sooner. God Bless you and your ministry!

Judy Phelps, Reno, NV, USA

Testimony 66

I am incredibly grateful for the transformative impact you’ve had on my life, and words cannot fully express my appreciation. Over the years, I have been an avid listener and follower of C&R and extend my heartfelt thanks for creating the C&R mobile app. It has allowed me to immerse myself in your lessons repeatedly, enabling me to grasp the profound significance about the Character of God, Design Law, the protocols for life, the reasons behind the current chaos, and Christ’s mission to restore everything. They have deeply touched me. Having studied with various churches, I came away with the perception that God is no different from the deities of ancient Greek or Roman mythology—demanding sacrifices and taking pleasure in bloodshed. Thanks to your transformative teachings, I have experienced a profound awakening to the true nature of God and the immense power of His love. It is truly a remarkable and liberating sensation to finally grasp the truth and embrace the empowering nature of God’s laws. My self-perception has become brighter and more infused with love. My journey of growth continues on a daily basis.

Chris P., Lake Mary, FL, USA

 

Testimony 58

I have been watching your videos in The Power of Love seminar and I must say these have liberated me and have improved my relationship with the Lord. I am no longer terrified of him as I was before following your teachings.

Thando N., South Africa

 

Testimony 32

The message [of Come And Reason Ministries is] for all Christians (and those who may become Christians) and not just Adventists or any other group. It is difficult to imagine why any [anyone] with intellectual and spiritual honesty could find fault with the way you explained the healing substitution concepts and the truth about God’s character, though I know some will reject and criticize. On behalf of those in our group near Tacoma, WA, thank you and your staff for all of the hard work and for sharing the Gospel in this manner. God’s message of healing love will be carried to the whole world and then Jesus will come – He promised it.

Terry U., Tacoma, WA, USA

 

Testimony 35

I am so pleased with the response your message is receiving at my church from the middle-aged to the young adults. I have given out 100 copies of the first two seminars and there are more request every week. One of my [class members] came to me after viewing the series, grateful and impressed with how easy the message was retained. He had been a Seventh-day Adventist in fear all his life, and felt like the scales were removed from his eyes after viewing the seminars. I am so impressed by the change I see in members who have received this message, we are in one accord. However, I am sadden by the negative response of the older people. I am verbally attacked anytime I talk about imposed laws, but I believe my mission is to enlightened everyone I can. I watch your Bible Study Class on YouTube every Friday night and I feel like I am apart of the class. All of you are in one accord and I am so blessed to have found you. I pray that all of you continue to spread this message and I am committed to doing my part.

Clara S., Westfield, MA, 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 69

After reading your book, ‘Could It Be This Simple,’ someone was explaining Christianity in a way that made sense to me for the first time in my life. One morning, I simply prayed “I’m sorry and I love you.” As soon as I silently said that, I could literally feel God’s presence and light flood down on me from above and fill me up with love and joy. I sat there crying my eyes out, because I was so overpowered with this feeling of love and joy. It was just so incredible. I hope that more people can read this book and get a blessing from it. It’s really amazing.

Rachael H.

Testimony 1

Thank you! I love listening to the Come And Reason Ministries Bible study classes and am using some of your notes to get the lessons together that I will be teaching. You always have such good quotes and Bible texts and pull things together to make good sense.

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Testimony 11

I would love to have a copy of “Healing the Mind” DVDs to have in my therapy office. I enjoy having clients check out materials to enhance their therapy experience. I have sat under Dr. Jennings’ teaching at an American Association of Christian Counselors convention and respect his work greatly.

K.B., LA, USA

 

Testimony 13

I borrowed “Healing The Mind” DVDs from a friend and showed them at my home for a small gathering of women friends. Neither of my friends are Adventist, but they both enjoyed and embraced the messages you taught. In fact, one of the ladies prayed out loud in our group and that was the first time she had ever had public prayer.

J.B. ,Dalles, OR, USA

 

Testimony 40

I was brought up in a different faith and have been petrified my whole life of God. I believed that I would burn in hell for eternity. When I was 12 I started pursuing the things of this world, but for the next 45 years the Spirit was always calling me, as I knew there was a God through nature. I could see the vast sea of stars in the universe and knew there was something bigger out there. Five years ago, through a Revelation seminar, I was blessed to learn about God’s character and government.

Then I found Come and Reason Ministries and have come under some extreme pressure when I speak about the ministry. One time a member sent me an internet article titled “Whats wrong with Tim Jennings?” I asked her what she thought of it and she said “I don’t know, I didn’t read it.”

I have always wanted to find out for myself the truth about God, so I stayed with the Design Law construct and have been liberated to understand the big picture. Once we consider Design Law, all other Bible stories and prophecies seem to fit perfectly. It is truly beautiful to see people grasping how God operates this Universe of Love and the liberation it has provided in their lives. It blows my mind to see how consistent Design law is with what our founders believed. I hear statements like “This makes so much sense.”

Tom W., Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA

 

Testimony 7

Ok, so last night I listened to “The Law of Liberty” and “How to Achieve Victory: Freedom, Truth and Spirtual Warfare.” These are both MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES so far! The logic is just soooooo beautiful. I had to re-listen to them a couple of times. I just want to EXPLODE! (<< we assume with joy and happiness)

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Testimony 34

I was introduced to Come and Reason Ministries by accident, via a passing comment made in a bible study class we were visiting. I checked this website out and my life was changed. The understanding of the truth of God’s character, and how we apply it, is so right. The tricky part is consistently applying which “lens” to look through. As I began to understand, I started sharing the basics of this understanding with a discussion group I was leading and, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense that never used to. At the same time, I enjoyed an amazing opportunity. I was able to conduct a full bible study at WORK! What an amazing experience! It is such a joy to share the truth about God and to share how it all fits in the war between God and Satan. So many people benefit when we have a correct understanding about how God works and who He really is! Thank you for this transformational understanding. Keep up the good work! God Bless you!

Tony P., CA, USA

 

Testimony 9

I really enjoy with you the view of a gracious God. Thank you for sharing the work you are allowing the Lord to do in you.

L., Queensland, Australia

 

Testimony 55

I was born [into the church], then I left it for many years. 10 years ago, I came back, but I could not take the hypocrisy and the lack of answers to the missing pieces. I struggled, but I did not abandon my commitment to know the truth. God is leading me to the simple understanding of his relevance and I am relearning what the church taught me as a youth… that he loves me, that he has led me to a knowledge of him such as I have never known. He is using Dr. Jennings to connect the dots that are now so apparent and hiding in plain sight!

Dean P., Arlington, TX, USA