Nothing above the Clouds

                                                    

Somewhere in our galaxy there may exist a world completely and perpetually shrouded in thick clouds. An intelligent and civilized race of people live there, but they have not advanced to the stage of having invented the airplane or a hot air balloon. They have never been able to go above the clouds.

To them, the sometimes light and sometimes dark clouds happens to be the limit of their universe. A vague light, which is their sun, shines through the clouds in the daytime and provides heat for them, but they cannot tell that it is a spherical sun. They consider the heat and light source to be but a part of the clouds. They have never seen the stars in the night sky or the definite form of their sun.

Some of them speculate as to what, if anything, exists above the clouds. Some contend that the clouds extend into infinity. Some contend that the clouds reach a limit and that that is all their universe happens to be. When asked what might be beyond that limit, they can only answer absolutely nothing.

Those who speculate that the clouds reach into infinity believe that nothing exists above them but the clouds. They know only one difference between something and nothing above them. Those who speculate that the clouds reach a limit which happens to be all there can be to their universe also know that only one difference exists between something and nothing above them. When they say that absolutely nothing can exist beyond that limit, they merely mean nonexistence. Those who contend that the clouds reach to infinity do not believe in nonexistence. To them, the shining sun and stars above the clouds equals nonexistence even though they do not believe in it.

Those who contend that the clouds reach to a limit to their universe believe in nonexistence, but they believe that nonexistence and the limit to their universe happens to be the same thing. They would never admit that no difference exists between nonexistence and absolute nothingness.

Should these people never invent an airplane or a balloon to take them above the clouds to see the stars or their sun, then to them, the stars and the sun would always equal nonexistence. This story is meant to demonstrate that to intelligent consciousness the unknown holds no difference between something and nothing. Intelligent consciousness happens to be absolutely required to tell the difference between something and nothing in a meaningful reality. Animal consciousness can tell the difference between something and nothing, but they can have no ideas about the differences between something and nothing.

Humans use observation, experimentation, and logical speculation to penetrate the unknown in order to discover the differences between something and nothing within it. One may penetrate the unknown with a false theory and find only nothing, such as the idea of ether in space. Another may penetrate the unknown with a true theory that both time and gravity are regulated by the speed of light. In both cases, the unknown has been penetrated to discover the differences between something and nothing. Should an unknown dimension exist which humans can never penetrate, then whatever something or nothing that may be in that dimension will forever be equal to nonexistence or absolute nothingness. Whether we think of our universe as being infinite or finite, the impenetrable unknown will always be equal to nonexistence or absolute nothingness.

In the absence of consciousness, absolutely no difference whatsoever can be discerned between something and nothing which would make reality impossible. Before finite intelligent consciousness existed, an Infinite Consciousness had to have always existed who can discern all of the possible differences between something and nothing in order to establish an eternal reality. Psalm 147:5.

The World and the Word

                                    Nothingness and Reality

Five times in the gospels Jesus taught about the difference between a person who has something and a person who has nothing. Jesus' teaching must be very important since He repeated it five times. Matthew 13:12; Matthew 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; Luke 19:26. Jesus did not limit His teachings to His followers saved by grace. Every human possesses a life made in God's image given to them by God. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3:20; Luke 20:38. Whatever God creates lasts forever. Ecclesiastes 3:14. This fact can only mean that God must recover all living humans from the threat of eternal spiritual death because all living humans possess useful and creative systems. Hebrews 2:9; I Timothy 6:13; I Corinthians 15:22. God must recreate all living humans, some by His grace who receive the righteousness of Christ by faith while still alive in the flesh, and all others He will raise from the dead, after they all repent and believe, to recreate to live on His recreated earth with the original righteousness that He put into the first humans. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; John 5:28-29; Revelation 21:1-5. God will reward every recreated, living human for their good works. Matthew 10:42; Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12.

But Jesus also taught in these five verses that every human also possesses nothing. Jesus said that this nothingness will be taken from every person. If even the real and useful idea of nothing can be taken from a person, then that person will be reduced to a "less than nothing" which is absolute nothingness; that is, spiritual death. Isaiah 40:17. This absolute nothingness can only be destructive and evil. Satan injected evil into all humans which causes them to sin. The evil serpent caused Adam and Eve to sin from the outside which opened a door into their inner beings so that the Devil could inject spiritual death into them which would cause them to sin from the inside. Matthew 15:16-20; Romans 5:12. Sin causes spiritual death and spiritual death, in turn, causes sin. When Jesus taught in Mark 4:25 that he who has shall be given more, He meant that He would give His grace to living souls who believe in Him while still alive in the flesh. Humans saved by grace inherit all that God possesses. Romans 8:14-17. This means living humans not saved by grace actually possess nothing. Spiritual death can annul their lives. The second part of Mark 4:25 has a double meaning. The idea of nothing can indicate absolute nothingness which is spiritual death. This means that when a living human not saved by grace and in possession of nothing physical dies, God must consign that living person to one of the regions of spiritual death subject to an eternal state of absolute nothingness. Revelation 20:13. But Jesus did not teach that that absolute nothingness would last forever. The double meaning of this verse means that Christ will take away this absolute nothingness to restore every living human to life. Praise God! Jesus came to save every living human from sin which causes spiritual death and from spiritual death itself which causes sin. John 6:51; Hebrews 2:9; I Timothy 6:13; John 5:24; John 5:28-29; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; Daniel 12:1-3; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12.

The World and the Word

                                                   Nothingness and Reality

Consciousness uses the real idea of nothing to separate basic elements and their systems from each other. The idea of nothing is something because it is useful and therefore real. For example, consciousness can separate the basic color "red" from all other colors as an abstract idea in the mind or as it may apply to any material object. This makes "red" no other color but red. This table cannot be any other table but this one. The "not" in these systems indicate the idea of nothing. The idea of nothing can be used to exclude real ideas from any system one intends to create. For example, if one intends to paint an object red, then no other color belongs in that system.

The idea of nothing can also be used to indicate nonexistence to positive consciousness, which is the same as absolute nothingness. For example, a "horn" and a "horse" are real, but in combination with each other, they do not produce a real unicorn. Unicorns do not exist. They equal nothing. Yet, the real idea of nothing is useful in that it indicates the nonexistence of the unicorn. Every idea in this system is real except the nonexistence of the unicorn. The nonexistence of the unicorn equals an absolute nothingness of which positive consciousness can get no idea whatsoever. The unicorn happens to be the same as the "less than nothing" that God wrote about in Isaiah 40:17.

If one attempts to imagine a consciousless universe by imagining a blank screen, then one cannot escape the fact that one must also be conscious of the consciousness of a blank screen. This means consciousness can be conscious of itself which is self-consciousness. Consciousness can be a something to itself. But since no one can be conscious of something that is nothing except as being equal to the idea of nothing, then this self-consciousness must be real. But then one can only be conscious of self-consciousness by the use of another consciousness which also must be real. But then this system requires another consciousness again and again which tends toward infinity.

Self-consciousness has to be real because it is the basis of intelligence which is useful and creative. If self-consciousness were but a fleeting experience from one moment to the next, then intelligence would be impossible. If self-consciousness were a false combination, like a unicorn, then humans could only be conscious of it as equal to nothing which indicates nonexistence.

The materialist philosopher contends that consciousness happens to be but a very thin substance emitted by the brain. But how can they be conscious of this system except by means of their consciousness. Then again, how can they be conscious of this expanded system without a consciousness that extends toward infinity. This system would tend to make their brain substance thin out to infinity. The materialist may counter with the argument that self-consciousness is merely circular. But how can they be aware of this circle of consciousness except by means of a consciousness outside the circle which would tend to extend to infinity.

If one reads through a dictionary, one will find that every word in it happens to be either a basic, irreducible idea, such as the word "straight," or a true or false system which always comprises real and useful ideas, such as "justice" or "ghost," or systems of which controversy exists over whether or not they are true or false systems, such as the word "heaven." There exist no false ideas except those that derive from false theories such as the word for "ether" in space.

The truth about the system of self-consciousness is that it tends to extend to infinity because it is spiritual in nature. It connects to an Infinite Consciousness who is God. Psalm 147:5; I Thessalonians 5:23; Proverbs 20:27; I Corinthians 2:10-11; Genesis 1:27.

The World and the Word

                                                           Nothingness and Reality

Only two basic elements of reality exist; that is, consciousness and the objects of consciousness, whether abstract or material. As Jean Paul Sartre so aptly wrote, "All consciousness is consciousness of something." In the absence of something of which consciousness can be conscious, then consciousness cannot exist because it has absolutely nothing of which it can be conscious. On the other hand, if something exists in the absence of consciousness, then that something cannot exist in reality because only consciousness can be aware of the difference between something and nothing. An unknown something may possess potential reality, but in the absence of consciousness, that something too remains equal to absolute nothingness.

Materialist philosophers believe that consciousness evolved within a wholly material universe. They imagine that somehow something and nothing became different from each other in the absence of consciousness. But when they use their imagination they forget that they have already used their consciousness in their imagination to differentiate between something and nothing in their imagined universe. If they truly imagined a nonconscious universe, they would have to withdraw their imagination. In such a case, if they were truly honest, they could but imagine a blank screen with no difference between something and nothing. But even if they imagined a blank screen, they must still differentiate between something, which is their consciousness, and nothing, which is the blank screen. They really must (non)imagine a universe nonconscious of absolutely nothing.

All of this put together simply means that consciousness happens to be the only power in the universe that can tell the difference between something and nothing. This means only consciousness can cause reality to exist. If consciousness of something and nothing is the basis of all reality, then absolutely everything of which consciousness happens to be conscious must be real, including the idea of nothing.

Reality can be divided into three basic categories. One, consciousness of the basic and irreducible elements of reality, similar to the periodic table. Two, consciousness of the ability to combine these always real, basic elements into true or false systems. True systems always prove to be creative and useful. False systems always equal nothing because they always prove to be empty and useless. Three, consciousness of the basic idea of nothing which is real because it proves itself to be useful to consciousness in several creative ways. The idea of nothing separates something, whether abstract or material, into its basic elements and constituent systems so that each one possesses a distinct identification. The idea of nothing can be used to exclude any ideas from any system which one may be in the process of creating. The idea of nothing can be used to identify falsity which always equals nothing which, in turn, indicates absolute nothingness.

The basic and irreducible elements of reality can be both abstract and material. For example, the basic idea and impression called "red" takes two different forms, as abstract in the mind and as it adheres to a material object. But since both forms prove to be useful to consciousness in creative ways, then both must be real. The same can be said of all basic ideas and impressions such as "hardness," "softness," "straight," or "round."

Consciousness can also combine the always real basic elements into true or false systems. True systems always prove to be useful and creative. Although false systems always comprise real, basic ideas, they also always prove to be useless in that they produce nothing. Some false systems, such as drug addiction, may produce temporary, intense pleasures, but eventually, they become destructive which tends toward nothingness. Throughout mankind's history, humans have increasingly produced ever more complex and useful systems. Humans have also invented many false systems and theories comprised of real ideas but which always prove to be useless in that they produce nothing. Humans always employ a useful system in that they always discard such false systems. For example, a false system such as a mistake in arithmetic always comprises real numbers and signs, but nevertheless, always proves to be useless and equal to nothing.

The World and the Word

                              Nothingness and Reality

In Isaiah 40:17, God informs humans that "All nations are before Him as nothing...," and even "less than nothing." God calls this "less than nothing" vanity. All through the Bible (KJB), God refers to sin and evil as being vanity; that is, absolute emptiness or excessive pride. Excessive pride was the original sin of Lucifer that caused evil to enter into him. Ezekiel 28:17. Excessive pride, which is a desire to be independent of God's Love and care, was the original sin of Adam and Eve which allowed Satan to inject spiritual death, which is totally evil, into their beings and all of their descendants. Romans 5:12. All of this means that while sin and evil can be identified by the use of the idea of nothing, it actually happens to be "less than nothing;" that is, absolute nothingness. God also gave humans negative numbers which identify absolute nothingness, but negative numbers cannot be understood by positive consciousness. II Thessalonians 2:7. One can understand that God created positive consciousness to be wholly creative, but negative consciousness is wholly destructive.

God informs all humans in Daniel 4:35 that He uses the idea of nothing to indicate the evil that He observes in all humans. Nevertheless, God's Will will be accomplished in Heaven and on earth. Matthew 6:10. God's Will in Heaven can only be absolute which means no one disobeys God in Heaven. This also means that God's Will will eventually be absolute on earth. In the end of the world, God will use His fiery wrath to purge all sin and evil from earth and all leftover vestiges of Lucifer's sin from Heaven. II Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 21:1-5. The phrase in Revelation 21:5, "Behold, I make all things new...," can only mean that God will recover and recreate absolutely everything He originally created. Many verses in the Bible (KJB) reveal that only the Devil and evil itself are the enemies of God, not living humans whom He created. I John 3:8; I Corinthians 15:26. In the end of the world, God will use His fiery wrath to purge the total evil from all humans still in their graves and cast it into the lake of fire. I Corinthians 3:11-15; Matthew 3:11-12. Revelation 21:8 describes the totally evil nature of man, not his living spirit and soul which is capable of doing good. In the end of the world, God will raise all living humans still in their graves for Him to recreate to be righteous and live on His recreated earth. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-5. God's Love and Christ's sacrifice and resurrection to save all living humans cannot fail. I Corinthians 13:8; John 6:51; John 11:25; I Corinthians 15:22; I Timothy 6:13; Revelation 21:5; Revelation 22:11-12; John 5:28-29.

The World and the Word

                                                          Freedom versus Tyranny

God gave Satan his chance to murder Him when He allowed the sins and evil of all mankind to nail His Son to a cruel cross. Satan believed that Jesus would not be able to take it. Satan thought that the overwhelming horror of all that sin and evil would crush Jesus' Spirit and cause Him to sin so that the Devil could murder Him and hold Him in Hell forever.

But the Almighty Power of man's Holy Savior, even without the Father's help, was fully able to wash away with His shed blood and water all of the sins and evil of every living human whom He would save by His grace. Matthew 27:46; Matthew 26:28; Revelation 1:5; Ephesians 5:25-27. In addition, when Jesus descended into Hell, He left behind there all of the sins and evil of the rest of humanity that He bore on the cross when He rose immaculate from the dead. Psalm 16:10.

Christ gained complete victory over sin which can cause eternal death and over eternal death itself  when He rose immaculate from the dead. Revelation 1:18; Hebrews 2:9; I Timothy 6:13; I Corinthians 15:26. He who has the power has the right to change the rules. Satan enacted a rule that he would be able to cause the eternal deaths of all living humans when he injected evil into their beings that would cause them to sin. Romans 5:12. But Christ's victory over eternal death gave Him the right to change it to a temporary death by His resurrection from the dead. Revelation 1:18. Three regions of death exist. Revelation 20:13. God created Hell and the Sea as temporary regions of death for all living humans who go there. God also changed the bottomless pit to a temporary region of death for all His living humans who go there. When all living humans confined to the regions of death see the Almighty Love and Majesty of their Savior as recorded in Revelation 5:11-14, then every one of them will not be able to refuse to choose to repent and believe in the Lamb whom they know can rescue them from those horrible places. John 11:25. Revelation 20:5 records that God will raise all of His repentant, living humans from the regions of the dead.

By God's ability to cause all living humans to return to faith in their Savior of their own free will, He will prove to all of His creations that His Almighty Love can never fail. If He forced them to return, that would prove nothing. I Corinthians 13:8. In John 20:24-29, the Apostle Thomas symbolized the doubt of all of God's creations in the power of His Love, but by his repentance and faith, he symbolized the return to repentance and faith of all humans and all of God's creations. John 5:28-29; Colossians 1:15-20; Romans 8:18-23; I Corinthians 15:22; Romans 11:29; Romans 11:36; Joel 2:28-29.

The World and the Word

                                                    Freedom versus Tyranny

All of God's attributes are Almighty. His Love is Almighty and can never fail. I Corinthians 13:8. Since God's Will is Almighty, then it can never be permanently checked by man's puny will. Because of Mark 6:5-6, many suppose that man's unbelief can thwart God's Will, but unbelief can only delay God's Will. God put the goodness of faith into His image in every human He has and will ever create. Genesis 1:31; Romans 12:3. Despite man's choices to sin or not to sin, to believe or not believe, God knows exactly how to eventually cause every human who ever lived to return to faith in Him of their own free will to a higher or lower form of salvation. Daniel 4:35 clearly teaches that God's Will can never be thwarted. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; Isaiah 45:21-25; Luke 3:6; Genesis 12:1-3.

II Peter 3:9 teaches that God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Since God's Will is Almighty and can never be thwarted, then God will definitely save every human who ever lived with either a higher or a lower form of salvation. Since I Timothy 6:13 teaches that God "quickenth all things," then God must, sooner or later, recover His good lives in all humans either to a higher or a lower form of salvation. Since I Timothy 4:10 clearly states that God "is the Savior of all men," then He must actually save all men since His Will and His Love are Almighty. The phrase "especially of those that believe" means those who receive God's special salvation by His grace. Since God's statement in Revelation 21:5, "Behold, I make all things new" must certainly be true, then God must recreate all things that He created in the first place, including all living humans. Since God created "all things" in Colossians 1:16, and He will "reconcile all things to Himself," whether they be in earth or in Heaven in Colossians 1:20, then He must recover and recreate every living human whom He ever created with a higher or a lower form of salvation. Acts 3:20-21; Romans 8:18-22; John 5:28-29; Romans 11:36; Romans 11:29; II Timothy 4:1.

God gave freedom to humans to test His Love. God knows that His Love cannot fail, but He must prove that to His creations because Lucifer's rebellion caused doubt to enter into His creations. John 20:24-29. Satan counts on causing humans to choose to do the worst evils possible to the extent that he causes the annulment and the eternal torture and death of at least one living human and thereby prove that God's Love and His Almighty Power can fail. But God knows exactly how to prove that He can turn every living human back to His Love and recreation of their own free will. Job 1:11; Job 2:5; Job 2:9-10; John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14. Satan believes that if he can cause one living human to rebel against God and refuse to repent as he did, then he can find a weakness in God's Love that he can exploit to eventually be able to murder God and take His place. Satan believes that he annulled his living system that God created when he rebelled and refused to repent, but actually God recovered all the good that He had put into Lucifer's system for Him to recreate and exiled Satan to earth as a totally empty negative consciousness like those of the demons from the bottomless pit. John 8:44; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:13-19. According to Ezekiel 28:18, God used His fiery wrath against evil to separate all the goodness He had put into Lucifer's system from all of his evil, absolute nothingness which God cast down to earth.