Our Lost Happiness

We look up at the stars at night and by reason our soul believes
that this is the creation of God. Our finite mind may question but our
soul believes that the heavens were made. Those of us who do not
participate in divine ideas cannot grasp the true understanding of
nature. Even though we are sinful creatures, we have our place in
God’s creation. Although most of us have lost our happiness through
sin, we have not lost our power to recover this happiness. Through
humility and repentance, we can reach back up to the stars of God.
The use of reason leads us to make judgments in one way, while
the use of common sense leads us in another direction. When we use
reason, we judge by the light of the truth where lesser things are
placed under more important ones. Common sense lends itself to the
habit of convenience while reason places spiritual understanding over
physical properties. Someone who relies on common sense would
more readily place his concern on material values. Reason praises
God in high and better things while common sense tries sometimes to
blame God for physical circumstances.

We praise God not for what we want or have but because He is
the giver of justice. No one wishes to be unhappy but many fall victim
to unhappiness because we are not under our own power. We lend
ourselves to a burdensome life through material sin whereas a person
who is not under anyone’s power cannot be controlled by the force of
others. Lust, by nature, places us under a stronger power that controls
our life, leading us to unhappiness. We give thanks to God even
though we are unhappy because there is a Spirit inside us that can
change our present condition.

Those of us who love our present existence focus primarily on
temporal things insofar as they exist. Those of us who wish to exist
forever love the things of eternity. We waste only enough time on the
temporal things so we can spend more time on the permanent. When
we change our direction, we gradually begin building toward what is
the highest degree and temporal things pass over into nonexistence, so
that a man who loves to exist more than he hates to be unhappy will
remove what he hates and add to what he loves.

Many of us base our life on a view or judgment formed about
something that is not based on fact or knowledge. A right opinion will
correct a wrong habit and a wrong opinion will destroy our right
nature, misguiding our realm of reason. So, it is a rightful deduction
to conclude that sin causes unhappiness. What we all long for is peace
and every willful desire to escape this world prematurely is for that
peace and not for nonexistence. No person at any time chooses
nonexistence over peace.

As long as we don’t sin, we gain happiness and the world is a
better place. Unfortunately, our world is defective but the person who
wishes to find happiness does so through the purification of thought.
This is the condition of our nature; however, sin is voluntary. God
uses punishment in such a way as to place nature back in its correct
order and punishment of sin corrects the disgrace of our misgivings. If
we are punished by God when we sin, we are very well off and it is a
great sign that God loves us.

If we approve the order of the law, the torments of this world are
beneath us, and through virtue we overcome sin. When we extinguish
the fires of desire from within, we become fitted for our heavenly
dwelling and we step up the ladder toward heaven. The ladder is Jesus
Christ, and as we imitate His life we are raised to the stars. The book
of the Law shall not depart from our mouth, we shall meditate on it
day and night so that we may observe to do according to all that is
written in it. For then God will make our way prosperous, and then we
will have success.1 The two sources of sin are derived from the
ongoing attacks of Satan and our free will which has been damaged
by our fall from grace. Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back
Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion
over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great
transgression.2

Sin is difficult enough without outside persuasion, yet the power
of the devil has made us subject to him through this act of
disobedience. We have sinned under Satan’s influence so for this
reason the power of salvation was given to mankind. Assuredly, I say
to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever
blasphemies they may utter.3 Prior to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
we were in bondage, even in the mortality of the flesh, to the prince of
this world who is the father of sin and the ruler of death.

The person with reason is rationally fed by the Word of God. The
desire for the Word should be greater than the desire for the food of
the body. We as creatures bound by the mortal chains of sin struggle
with this theory because we do not have enough evidence of proof to
view the invisible spiritual world around us. The information we
receive through reason is made visible through a change in its own
nature and not by a change in ours, so through our understanding of
the Word we recall the invisible things of the past. Those of us who
forsook pride and outwardly humbled ourselves will imitate His
visible humility and return to our past understanding of the invisible.
Through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Satan became subject to
man because Jesus did not take mastery of Satan by violence but
overcame him by the law of justice. The devil, through his keen wit,
used the woman, Eve, to overthrow mankind so he could claim by the
law of death all the descendants as though they were sinners. Satan’s
power lasted until he killed the One in whom he could find no sin
because He was born without the lust with which Lucifer subjugated
mankind before. He is justly forced to release all those who believe on
the name of Jesus, so when He died, He cancelled the debt of all for
all of us so we can live life eternally.

Christ paid the price for all of us, a price He did not owe. Those of
us who persist in the sin of unbelief are justly kept with Satan in
eternal damnation. The devil did not conquer man by force but by
persuasion of man’s will. Man was humbled to where he serves the
will of Satan because of his consent to believe a lie, so we were justly
set free by the condemnation of a sinless man. This is made possible
because man sinned less in consenting to the devil than Satan did in
wickedly persuading man to do evil. Therefore, Satan condemned
himself to hell for all eternity.

Spiritual creatures are joined and separated according to their
nature. Even though they may possess their own body, the souls that
are subject to sin are placed in a lower mortal body that does not rule
over itself entirely. It functions only how the laws of the universe will
let it; however, it is not inferior to celestial spirits, but is only
protected mentally from itself, whereas the angelical celestial being
can adorn an earthly body and has complete access to all its abilities.
Out of all the billions, quite possibly trillions, of spiritual entities,
there exist creatures who never sinned and by this reason we can
conclude that they abstain from sin by their own free will.
With this conclusion we can assume that every being insofar as
nature is concerned is good so that every nature is from God. Every
rational nature is given a free will to choose its course of action, and
regardless of the outcome of the decisions of every being, the Creator
should be praised. Good is its own Creator and it is impossible to
express our thoughts in the praise and honor we owe God. What can
be found in our sins where we should blame God? Absolutely
nothing!

Satan’s nature in itself was corrupted from the beginning, only
later to be exposed through his actions, and through the use of his
God-given abilities he corrupted others because an equal cannot
corrupt another equal unless they are willing. [Satan] He was a
murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his
own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.4

God does not owe anyone. He freely maintains the universe for
our use and unless you turn toward Him (repentance) and repay the
existence that He gave you, nothing will come of your wretched life.
To God give all the glory because all who suffer do so justly. By
blaming mankind for doing something we should have been doing all
along, we are praising God. He has given us a free will and taught us
how to use it and has not let us go unpunished for our unwillingness
to use it properly.

The root of all evil is extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
The love of money is the desire of all lust, and through this desire
comes the corruption of the soul. Anyone with an impulse for more
than enough is controlled by a wicked will and it will be the cause of
all one’s lust and desires. What is the root of evil: not being in
accordance to our true nature? The will is the first to cause us to sin
and whatever is the cause of the will by its nature is either just or
unjust. There is no middle ground because those that are just and obey
the laws of God do not sin. Violence is what compels us to go against
our will, and through this emotional attack on reason we sin.

Whatever is the cause of the violence inside man, it can be resisted,
and if we do not resist and yield to its influence we sin.
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man,
but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.5 For what
I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not
practice; but what I hate, that I do. For I know that in me (that is, in
my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me,
but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I
will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin
that dwells in me.6 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do
not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you
are not under the law.7

It was decided that we should be born into ignorance and be
subject to death because through our own free will we sinned and that
through Christ’s mercy we are given the opportunity to free ourselves
from the bondage of Satan’s chokehold. Through this means we are
shown how we were capable, if we so willed, to remain as we were
created, and here again we are given the opportunity to rise above our
birth and receive not only our past glory but total reconciliation with
God.

Even beyond the gratuity of good works, our mind has received
from God the power of discernment, which enables us to choose
wisdom over wrong and peace over difficulty so that we can achieve a
relationship with God now even though we are in a deprived state of
being. There is no one except God Himself who could have created us
in our present state. This creation occurred before He was loved by
us, and through this creation He perfects the love of those of us who
chose His course of nature. We love the Cause of our existence and
He blesses us with happiness.

In our journey of faith, our goal is to search out all the immutable
attributes of God so that we will think of Him as He truly is, which
will enable us to walk in the blessed hope of the future He has
reserved for us. As long as we do not mistake opinion for fact, there is
no danger of us being deceived. Our free will is moved into action by
what we can see and while we haven’t any control over what we see,
we do have the power to either refuse or accept it. When the spirit is
in opposition to God and is satisfied with itself, in a perverse way it
will delight in its own power. Pride is the root of all sin and the root
of pride is the falling away from God. Those to whom the devil
presents himself, in all imitation and arrogance, he does so with pride
and malice. In contrast, when Christ presented Himself to us in
humility through the sacrifice of His blood as a ransom for us and our
sins in unspeakable suffering, He gave to us a love so great it is
difficult to comprehend.

Through reason everyone is capable of understanding a command
whereas obedience is the first duty of faith. It is the nature of reason
to comprehend a command, so it is the nature of wisdom to obey. It is
our will that carries the command; unfortunately, this is when we
begin to sin. Many times, this happens to us prior to our
understanding of wisdom. Our world has created the perfect trap by
leaving teenagers with too much time on their hands, causing many to
make mistakes they will never overcome in their lifetime.

Our free will creates negligence by misunderstanding a command
through the desire of the flesh. Therefore, we can understand how the
first man could have been seduced even though he was one of the
wisest creatures God created. From our free will, sin flowed, and
punishment resulted as a just consequence by divine law. For since
the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they
knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful,
but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were
darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.8

1.) Joshua 1:8
2.) Psalms 19:12-13
3.) Mark 3:28
4.) John 8:44
5.) 1 Timothy 1:13
6.) Romans 7:15, 18-20
7.) Galatians 5:17-18
8.) Romans 1:20-22