▌INTRODUCTION.
Some people say there are only three kinds of people, i.e., those who
can count and those who cannot. Other variations on the theme of only ‘two
kinds’ of people:
♦ Those who have jobs and those
who do not.
♦ Those who vote during national
elections and those who do not.
♦ Those who “like Neil Diamond and those who do not” (Bob Murray) etc.
Others say there are five kinds of people:
♦ Wise
♦ Unwise
♦ Clockwise
♦ Anti-clockwise
♦ Otherwise.
▌THE
DAY JESUS CHRIST DIED. On the day Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins
of the world, there were two ‘evildoers’ crucified alongside Him; one on His
left and one on His right side. Whereas the one evildoer chose to mock and
ridicule Jesus, the other one chose to show compassion and de-fend Jesus,
eliciting the immortal words from Jesus as taken up in the New Testament: “Truly I say to you, Today you shall
be with Me in Paradise.” [Luke-23:43MKJV]. For all intents and purposes, these words, spoken in
one single sentence, instantly reduced that ‘kind’ evildoer’s death sentence to
a ‘life sen-tence’ … Eternal Life! Some theologians have said that, although
being so holy and with God being hard to satisfy, He nevertheless is easy to
please. The Bible says that mercy exults over judgment: “For he who has
shown no mercy shall have judgment without mercy, and mercy exults over
judgment.” [James2:13MKJV].
Imagine the power of a series of
intelligible words, encapsulated in a
‘sen-tence’ comprising rational thought with a specific message uttered by
authori-ty of such divine and moral gravitas, that it could change a man’s
destiny so dramatically on that level … no wonder it is called a ‘sentence’:
Words can ‘sentence’ (verb) people to either ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’ depending on
the intent, gravity and nature of the message it contains. Again, no wonder
Jesus Christ so seriously admonished His
audiences and followers always to rather bless than curse others.
▌THE
WORLD TODAY. Come to think about it, in the world today people are
polarised in numerous ways, for instance:
♦ Conservative vs. liberal.
♦ Republican vs. Democrat.
♦ Far Right vs. Extreme Left.
♦ Freemarket/Capitalist vs.
Socialist/Communist.
♦ Brexit vs. Anti-Brexit
♦ Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated/Non-vaccinated
♦ Religious vs. Irreligious
♦ Atheist vs. Theist
♦ Intelligent Design/Biblical
Creationism vs. Random/Brainless Darwinian Creationism
♦ Pro-Life vs/ Pro-Choice etc.
▌THE
FAITH COMMUNITIES. In the arena of the world religions the doctrines of
the various religions usually will be explained articulately in the tenets of
such movements and that is to respected. In the world of the Judeo-Christian
faith comprising the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament,
Christians in particular will experience society comprising those members who:
♦ accept the historicity of the
Bible as the ultimate Moral Compass given to mankind from the Higher Authority
of YHWH (the Jehovah of Moses, the Torah and the Ten Commandments) through the
Jews to the world at large vs. those who do not;
♦ fear God (the beginning of
wisdom and knowledge) [Job28:28; Proverbs-1:7] vs. those who do not.
♦ decent and kind vs. not decent and
brutal/cruel;
♦ who believe that all people are
born naked and illiterate little savages whose ‘tabula rasa’ minds have to be
nurtured, educated and disciplined for them to be raised as responsible, useful
citizens vs. those who believe that all people are born and (to begin with)
raised as basically ‘good’;
♦ who accept the Bible as the Word of
God vs. those who do not;
♦ who accept Jesus Christ as Saviour
of the world and the Messiah of the Jews vs. those who do not;
♦ who believe in and anticipate the
Second Coming of Jesus Christ vs. those who do not;
♦who eagerly look forward to the New Heaven and New Earth as promised in Chapters 21-22 of the Book of Revelation (New Testament) vs. those who do not;
♦ who believe the doctrine of the
Great White Throne Judgment (from the Book of Revelation) vs. those who do not;
♦ who believe that the blood and
vicarious sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary (Golgotha) have the
power to regenerate sinners spiritually for them to be saved vs. those who do
not;
♦ who believe in Intelligent Design
and an Intelligent Designer (the Creator) vs. those who believe in random,
accidental and brainless Darwinian Creatio-nism/Evolutionism (‘Scientific
Pantheism’);
♦ who believe in Life-after-Death vs.
those (atheists) who believe in Death-after-Death, etc.
▌THE WISDOM OF JESUS CHRIST. This ‘polarization’ between people was thoroughly understood by Jesus Christ and He even ventured into explaining why there is evil in the world:
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices truth comes to the Light so that his works may be revealed, that they exist, having been worked in God.”
[John-3:17-21MKJV].
In His remarkable ‘Sermon on the Mount’ Jesus also went on to remind His disciples that in time to come the world would yet grow increasingly more ‘polarized’ as ever before, e.g.:
“And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are they that mourn! For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers! For they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are they who have been persecuted for righteousness sake! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward in Heaven is great. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
[Matthew5:2-12MKJV].
▌THE ULTIMATE CHOICE. Even as far back as the Old Testment God has always given people a choice. He said:
“I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live … Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.”
[Deuteronomy30:19;
Isaiah1:18-20MKJV].
A wise man has once said:
"There are only two kinds of people: Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done!' and those to whom God says: 'All right then … have it your way!' "
- C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
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