Interviewer: I’m back!
God: So am I.
Interviewer: Thank You for coming.
God: You’re welcome.
Interviewer: One thing I wonder is how You spare the time for these interviews. It seems that I should have to make an appointment, but I just sit down and ask and then You are here.
God: It is because I am omnipresent, so I am able to be everywhere at once.
Interviewer: So while You are talking to me, You can be attending to everything else that You need to do at the same time?
God: I can.
Interviewer: I find that I need to give my undivided attention to some project in order to do a good job at it.
God: Thank God you’re not God.
Interviewer: Ha! Isn’t that the understatement of the year!
God: Just to clarify things, though, it is not that I don’t give My full attention to things, it is that I am able to give My full attention to as many things as need it all at the same time.
Interviewer: What I would give for that ability. Tell me, do You like being God?
God: If I hadn’t wanted to, I would never have taken on the job. It can be pretty thankless at times, but the thanks that I get from those who genuinely appreciate Me makes it worth it.
Interviewer: You say You took on the job. Does that mean there is someone else up there who gave it to You?
God: By this I mean, if I hadn’t wanted to, I would never have created humanity. I would never have created a world. I would have just enjoyed being in Heaven with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the angels. But I wanted to show all creation, all in the spirit world, that We, the Trinity, are all-powerful and that right will always win over wrong, through Our help.
Interviewer: So at a certain point, You created the world and all that was and is in it. What were You doing before that?
God: That will be something for you to find out when you get Here.
Interviewer: You were doing something; You weren’t just dormant?
God: (Laughs.) “Dormant” is an interesting word. No, lots was going on.
Interviewer: So before time started here, You were busy in Your dimension doing things?
God: “Dimensions” would be more accurate.
Interviewer: I can only barely conceive of what You mean by that. As far as I understand, we have the dimensions of length, breadth, and depth, and then the more abstract one of time. I suppose in Your spiritual world there must be more dimensions that my mind can’t come to grips with. Is that right?
God: Yes. It would be a decided brain strain for you to try to grasp these realities, and from your perspective it is really impossible to begin to understand except in a vaguely conceptual way.
Interviewer: So I shouldn’t bother?
God: Why not just look forward to the fact that “all will be revealed” in due time?
Interviewer: You have me feeling like a kid the day before Christmas. Guess I’ll just try to be patient. Meanwhile, back to what we were talking about: You were doing things before the creation of the world. Were You sort of experimenting for the big enchilada here, or are we perhaps just a further experiment?
God: You are no experiment. I created you to be My companions and earth is the testing ground, as part of your preparation for this.
Interviewer: A while back You were talking about Jesus’ sacrifice and You said it was necessary because there were certain inviolable rules in the spirit realm. Why is it that You are bound to these rules? It would seem that You, being God, would not have to be bound by any rules.
God: There were certain conditions put in place at the beginning. Because I put them in place, I am not able to change them until certain conditions are met. I will use the example of a game. This is not to say that I look at the world and what is happening there as a game, but it is a useful parallel.
In a game or in sports there are rules, and no matter who you are, you cannot change those rules, at least not unilaterally. And so it is with Me. I cannot change the rules because I bound Myself to them when I started all this.
Interviewer: I almost had the impression that the rules had been dictated by an entity even higher than Yourself.
God: No, there is no higher authority.
Interviewer: You have mentioned Your opponent as being Satan. Is he bound by these rules?
God: Of course, though he tries to break them constantly and is also constantly screaming at Me that I have to keep them.
Interviewer: He is really a nasty piece of work, isn’t he?
God: Unfortunately.
Interviewer: Was he always like that?
God: He started off all right, but because he had a choice, as all the angels do, in the end he chose to be bad.
Interviewer: And he led a rebellion?
God: Yes, he was pretty persuasive, and in the end a third of the angels went into rebellion with him.
Interviewer: Keeping two out of three is not bad. Any politician on earth winning two-thirds of the vote would call it a landslide.
God: I am not a politician, and it was certainly a discouragement to lose those who fell with him.
Interviewer: Since angels have free choice, are there still some who are choosing Satan over You?
God: The event when one-third of Heaven chose to follow Satan was a one-time thing. None of those who can see the degenerate state that the fallen angels have ended up in wants that to happen to them. My angelic forces see that they are obviously on the winning side. Besides, their loyalty was tested and they passed because they chose to remain loyal. That was a watershed moment, and they are not now tempted to defect.
Mayhem and Mammon
So who came first, man or the angels?
Interviewer: So who came first, man or the angels?
God: Angels. The rebellion of Satan and his followers happened shortly after I created the physical world. That is why Satan was in the Garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve. From almost the very beginning of your time, the battle between him and Me for the souls of humanity was on.
Interviewer: Round one went to the Devil?
God: You mean with the fall of Adam and Eve?
Interviewer: Yes.
God: He never won their souls; he just led them to sin. In a way it could be looked on as a victory for him, but it was allowed by Me and all part of the master plan.
Interviewer: Satan and all of his crowd were originally created by You, then?
God: Yes.
Interviewer: So ultimately it would be said that You created evil.
God: I allowed it as an alternative to good. As the old proverb states, light can only be appreciated against a background of darkness.
Interviewer: Do any of the fallen angels want to get back on to the good side?
God: Their minds are now hardened. They want to come out on top, so they exert every effort to win.
Interviewer: But they won’t repent?
God: As of now, they have no reason to, because they believe they can still win.
Interviewer: But isn’t their outcome already decided-that they will lose? Don’t they know this?
God: They refuse to believe it. Otherwise, why would they continue to fight if they knew in the long run they would lose?
Interviewer: I figured it was just bloody-mindedness.
God: No, they are under the delusion that they will win. Because they have rejected the truth, therefore they are doomed to believe a lie.
Interviewer: Including Satan himself?
God: I have allowed him to be aware that I know he will ultimately lose, but he is so hardened through pride that he thinks he can still prevail. Even if he can’t, he has settled for second best, and that is to cause mayhem and bring as many others down with him as he can.
Interviewer: That is so bizarre!
God: Is it? Have there not been many tyrants and others throughout your history who have known that they were doomed to destruction and yet pursued their ambitions in war and other ventures, leading many others over the cliff like lemmings?
Interviewer: Why were they like that?
God: Pride! Their pride would not let them back down, and so they sacrificed themselves and as many others as they could in the fires of their own ambitions.
Interviewer: Why are others duped?
God: They basically want to be.
Interviewer: But why?
God: As I explained earlier, having rejected truth, all that is left to believe in is lies. To acknowledge that one has been wrong is one of the hardest things for any being, whether angel or man, to do. And so rather than confess mistakes, the proud go on to their own destruction. Sometimes the basic instinct for self-preservation kicks in and stops them, but not every time.
Why didn’t God throw in the towel at the very beginning?
Interviewer: Was the flood a real event and Noah a real person?
God: Definitely.
Interviewer: But a flood that covered the whole earth sounds preposterous. Where would all that water come from?
God: The conditions prevalent in the world and atmospheric heavens in those days were far different than what exists today. You can’t judge what was by what now is.
Interviewer: So the Genesis account of creation is completely factual?
God: The Genesis account is wholly factual, though it is admittedly very brief.
Interviewer: In retrospect, should You have made it longer?
God: That is an interesting thought. But no, it is enough. What more should I have said there?
Interviewer: Well, perhaps a little about the mechanisms You used. I mean, to say something like “the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters” seems to leave a fair bit of the picture out. What were You doing, what were You thinking?
God: I was doing one thing at a time. I had to create one thing at time in the right progression. As for what I was thinking, I was thinking about the beautiful place I was going to create.
Interviewer: You had foreknowledge about what was going to happen?
God: You mean the fall of Adam and Eve?
Interviewer: Yes, but not only that. I mean the wars and other things that were going to ravage the world in the centuries to come.
God: Yes, I did.
Interviewer: So why didn’t You throw in the towel at the very beginning? I mean, why bother, since it looks like things didn’t turn out as beautifully as You had planned?
God: This world can be very beautiful. And the reasons that much of it is not can usually be traced back to man. But one always has to realize that this world isn’t the final product. It is a testing ground and a giant demonstration. It is a testing ground for humankind and a demonstration to show humanity that when left to their own devices, they don’t do a terribly good job of things. Thus they will be grateful for My authority, presence, and guidance in the world to come.
Interviewer: I think we covered some of this ground before. I apologize for making You repeat Yourself.
God: Not a problem.
Interviewer: So, back to education. What would You like to see man educated in?
God: In those things that will help him live in peace and harmony with the rest of his kind.
Interviewer: Which would be…
God: The skills involved in communication, the skills involved in providing a sufficient livelihood for himself and his neighbors.
Interviewer: That’s it?
God: Basically, yes.
Interviewer: Basic is just about the right word for it.
God: There is a lot in those two categories.
Interviewer: I suppose there is, but I think You have just handed a lot of people in the field of education pink slips.
God: I don’t think that they need worry that much, because in this world they’ll keep their jobs. But in the world to come they may need to choose something along the lines I just talked about to be their field of educational expertise.
Interviewer: Surely in the next world there wouldn’t be a need for educators.
God: On the contrary, learning doesn’t cease once you cross over. In the world to come, there are limitless opportunities to learn. And those who learn will require teachers. So there is a role for educators.
Interviewer: Well, why would we bother? We’ll know everything we need to know once we get there, won’t we?
God: Goodness, no! There will be lots to learn in the world to come. This world is only a shadow of that one, so if you thought that there was a lot to learn here, then you are going to be surprised at how much there is to learn there. Man has an inquisitiveness that is part of human nature. That part of his nature will live on, and there are limitless opportunities to learn and experience new things.
Interviewer: I notice that whenever You talk about the next world You tend to wax lyrical about it.
God: It’s worth waxing lyrical about. I want to make it sound so tempting-which it is, and really I am hardly scratching the surface of all there is to tell-that everyone will want to go there.
Interviewer: It does sound inviting. Well, just a few more questions, if I may, sort of in the same vein. We discussed evolutionists trying to disprove intelligent creation, and by extension, a creator. Can science prove the reverse, that there is a creator, that You exist?
God: Scientists, if they honestly review the data, will always come back to the conclusion that there is an intelligent design behind the universe. Some who differ on this point may howl at this and say that I am accusing them of being charlatans, but sometimes it is a case of those hit that howl. I know that there are plenty of avenues that invite investigation and speculation, and I am not calling scientists dishonest if they sometimes make wrong postulations along the way. I am saying that once they review the data objectively, they will have to come to the conclusion that this all didn’t happen by accident. And so if it didn’t happen by accident, then it happened by design, so there has to be someone or ones who designed it. So although you can’t isolate Me in a test tube and say, “Aha, here He is,” one can with rational reasoning, even scientific reasoning, conclude that I exist.
The fallen angel
Interviewer: May I ask about the Devil?
God: He is not a particularly favorite topic, but if you must.
Interviewer: So who or what is he?
God: He is a fallen angel, formerly one of the top who raised a rebellion amongst the angels against Me. He and those who have followed him have been fighting against all I wish to do ever since.
Interviewer: Surely You could eliminate him if You wished?
God: I could, and it is not that I don’t want to be rid of him, but he serves a useful purpose, so I allow him to continue.
Interviewer: What use is he? Seems he is at best a nuisance and at worst a menace.
God: He indeed is the antithesis of all I stand for. He is opposite, but in no way equal. He represents the alternative. Everything I stand for he is against, and everything I am against he promotes.
Interviewer: So he is the competition.
God: That is one way to look at it, but it is really no contest between him and Me. He wages war for the souls of men. He tries by any and all means to catch as many as he can in his web of deceit and hate. I, on the other hand, offer truth and love.
Interviewer: Sounds like he is definitely hard sell compared to You.
God: His methods contrast entirely with Mine. I want people to come to Me by their own choice, while he uses every means he can to try to keep people from doing that.
Interviewer: Why do You let him get away with that?
God: I allow him to in order to test humanity. The Devil’s way or My way-which will they choose as individuals and collectively?
Interviewer: You say “collectively.” So far You have talked about individuals. Where does the collective aspect come in?
God: I control the universe, but for now I have let the Devil have his way somewhat on earth. Remember the account in the Bible where the Devil showed Jesus all the nations of the world and said he would give them to Jesus-for they were the Devil’s to give-if Jesus would bow down and worship him?5 Well, the Devil was right, in that the driving force behind most nations of the world is him, and not Me. If it were Me, you would be seeing Heaven on earth, but instead you can see there is only increased suffering. The time will come when I will change all that and set up Heaven on earth. But for now, because of man’s selfishness, the Devil is having a heyday on earth, and it will get worse before it gets better.
Interviewer: This brings up a lot of other subjects, such as Heaven on earth and things getting worse before they get better, but I would like to finish off the Devil first.
God: Be My guest.
Interviewer: I beg Your pardon?
God: Finish off the Devil.
Interviewer: Oh, I see.
God: Well, you won’t be able to, but I will at the right time.
Interviewer: I was meaning finish off the subject of the Devil.
God: I know. I was just using the pun to make a point. I do have a sense of humor, you know. Some people think I am stiff and formal. A stuffed shirt. But they will certainly find out differently when they finally get to see Me.
Interviewer: Yes, I am sure they will.
God: So you want to know more about the Devil?
Interviewer: Yes. I think most people have the impression that he sits on some sort of throne in the middle of Hell, similar, I imagine, to how You must have some sort of throne in Heaven.
God: Well, he fancies himself a king, but he is not reigning in Hell. Even Hell is controlled and organized by Me, and one day soon Satan will find himself the chief inmate.
Interviewer: Satan being another name for the Devil?
God: Right!
Interviewer: This is a very different concept than that which we are used to. The Devil does not reign in Hell?
God: No, definitely not. He and his dwell in the nether regions of the spirit world.
Interviewer: And that is an entirely different place?
God: Yes. He and his minions also wander the earth, doing what they can to cause mischief, mayhem, destruction, and death.
Interviewer: So do You run Hell then, as a sort of spiritual penitentiary?
God: Some think of it that way. That is in reality only one function of a part of it. Hell has many different functions-and institutions-for want of a better word. The word Hell is used, somewhat erroneously, as a catchall for these different locations or spiritual states we’ve just been talking about. The concept of “Hell” most people are familiar with is that of a realm of fire, sulfurous fumes, hideous creatures, and endless torment. That’s just a small part of Hell, reserved for the very worst. The main purpose of Hell is to get the inmates repentant and on the road to rehabilitation. It goes along with My overall purpose of helping all My creation become reconciled with Me so they can have the very best of all I have to give them.
Interviewer: So is this concept of the fire and brimstone correct?
God: In part, but that is certainly not the full picture. However, let it be said that people really don’t want to go to Hell when the alternative of Heaven is so much more appealing. Let’s leave it at that, as those going there will most assuredly regret it when they realize how easy it was to choose the alternative.
Social and ethical issues
Interviewer: I would like to focus on social and ethical issues today. The world has reached a few milestones in the last year. We have passed the year-2001 mark and are now in a new millennium. The world population is now in excess of 6 billion. It seems we are barreling into the future without much foresight as to what the outcome will be. Did You ever intend this planet to be so crowded?
God: It was not My intention that some parts of it would be so crowded, but as far as the overall numbers, I did, of course, realize that this would happen.
Interviewer: So You are not concerned with overpopulation, that we would become so numerous that earth’s resources would not be able to stretch to accommodate the demand?
God: I am concerned with the unfair distribution of the earth’s resources-that some hoard and consume well above what they should, and others are dying of hunger and thirst because of it.
Interviewer: But why design the world so that some areas have abundance and others suffer scarcity?
God: The world was not designed that way. Man has run the world for millennia, and the inequality of distribution is a result of what he has done, not Me.
Interviewer: The greatest need of all is water. In some areas it is abundant; in others it is almost absent altogether. It seems that at least for that, You have to take responsibility.
God: There are lots of reasons for the lack of water in some areas, and nearly all of them are the result of man’s poor stewardship. Even today man is destroying the rain forest and sowing the seeds for more disasters. The world’s ecology has been pretty hardy up till this time, but man’s continued, unabated assault on it is the reason for disaster.
Interviewer: Sounds like God is “green.”
God: In a way I suppose I am. But there is a limit. The most precious assets in the world are human lives. They must come first. Man should make the most of My creation, the world I made, in order to sustain humanity. The greedy exploitation that is so prevalent is indeed wrong, but to put the survival of animals and woodlands before that of mankind is also wrong. The truth lies in the middle. If earth’s resources are reasonably utilized to the equitable benefit of all, so that both mankind and the environment are sustained, then that is right.
Interviewer: My goodness! You are not only green, but You sound like a socialist with all this equal benefit talk.
God: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need, is My own slogan.
Interviewer: Whoa! You’re quoting Marx!
God: Marx was stealing ideas from Me-from the Bible.
Interviewer: The Bible promotes socialism?
God: The Bible promotes love of Me and mankind. The ideal istic society set up by Jesus’ disciples-after His ascension-was a society where His followers contributed their goods to common use, and then those who had needs had these supplied by those who had excess.
Interviewer: Obviously this way of life didn’t last long .
God: Many religious communities still practice this lifestyle today and it works as well for them as it did for those early disciples.
Interviewer: However, communism is a failed system.
God: I am not talking about the godless communist political system. That was doomed to failure because it left Me out of the picture. It was based on enforced sharing where the powerful, pretending to be the protectors of the common man, enriched and empowered themselves at the common man’s expense. No, I hold no truck with communism. What I am talking about is a society based on love and consideration of others. If everyone were concerned about making sure the needs of others were met, then in turn his or her needs would also be met.
Interviewer: Sounds like a utopian pipe dream. People just don’t live and function like that. Maybe there are some saints that could, but for most of us, any sort of consideration for others doesn’t go much further than our own immediate families-and sometimes not even that far, sad to say.
God: It is only possible to have this kind of love if you have My love as the motivator.
Interviewer: But there are millions of people who claim to have Your love motivating them, and it doesn’t seem to make much difference in their lifestyles. True, they may act a little more religious, but it seems their religion doesn’t reach down to their wallets.
God: If your religion doesn’t reach down into your heart and cause you to be compassionately motivated to help others, then it is not much of a religion.
Interviewer: Communism’s currently victorious competitor is capitalism. What are Your thoughts on capitalism?
God: Capitalism certainly seems more attractive than communism because most see it as an opportunity to get rich. It holds that “carrot” in front of people’s noses, and so they labor their whole lives within a system that exploits the many for the benefit of a few. Because there is the possibility that one day they might strike gold, people continue on this treadmill. No, the political-economic systems of the world are not ordained by Me.
Interviewer: What system is ordained by You?
God: The Garden of Eden was the ideal. With few exceptions, everything from then on was a poor substitute.
Interviewer: So Your original plan was for us humans to be in an idyllic world where all was love and beauty. Wouldn’t we all grow rather lazy in that type of environment?
God: I can hear most of your readers saying, “Speak for yourself.” It was idyllic, but Adam and Eve were far from lazy.
Interviewer: You are saying that they were busy doing something?
God: Goodness gracious, yes! They had the whole of the Garden to tend to.
Interviewer: Oh? I thought they would have just lain around in that paradise, sipping the Eden equivalent of piña coladas and soaking up the sunshine.
God: No, no! They were busy looking after the whole place and raising a family. Anyone who has raised kids knows that’s quite a task.
Interviewer: What? Cain, Abel, et al., were born in the Garden of Eden?
God: Cain and Abel, yes, but not all the “et al.”
Interviewer: Funny! One sort of has the impression that the kids came afterwards, when Adam was out there toiling and sweating away in the field to produce his food. Like having kids was part of the Curse for eating the forbidden fruit.
God: The Curse? You think having kids is a curse?
Interviewer: Well, no, but…
God: Oh, you think that sex was part of the Curse?
Interviewer: Well, that is the impression one has-that sex and sinlessness are not really that compatible.
God: Oh dear, you are mixed up. No, sex was around from the beginning. Adam and Eve had plenty of it and had children long before they had to leave the Garden of Eden.
Interviewer: So sex is okay with You?
God: Do you think that an act of love which can result in the birth of a whole new being would not be okay with Me?
Interviewer: Some might have that impression.
God: Well, let’s lay that impression to rest right now. Sex is the ultimate in expressing physically the love that a man and a woman have for each other. I made it fun, pleasurable, and just about downright irresistible. I love for people to express their love for each other by making love. Why else would it be called “making love”? No, there is nothing unhealthy or wrong about it, and neither is it the result of sin or the Curse.
Interviewer: Nevertheless, it is exclusively for marriage.
God: Who said exclusively for marriage?
Interviewer: I assumed that is what You want.
God: It does not have to be exclusively for marriage. If two people are of age and want to have sex, it has to be decided along the lines of whether it is good for them and does not harm others.
Interviewer: Those are the only rules?
God: There are a lot of things to consider before having sex, so it is not something to rush into without much forethought. But this is a huge subject that we could perhaps cover more in a later interview.
Is God conservative?
Interviewer: All right. I asked about what You look like. Perhaps I can ask what You like?
God: If you want to know what I like, just check and see what I made.
Interviewer: One must conclude that You like a lot of different things if we look at the variety of creation. But not all of it is beautiful.
God: In its original state, it is.
Interviewer: That would be wilderness?
God: No, I didn’t originally create it wilderness, but if it is not tended, it turns into wilderness.
Interviewer: So You intended humanity to tend the earth?
God: Yes. Looking after the earth was one of the original tasks for humanity.
Interviewer: You say “one of.” Are there others?
God: Living in harmony with his fellows and helping each other are also the duties of man.
Interviewer: I assume, from what I have heard, that interacting with You is another?
God: Yes, most definitely.
Interviewer: You said You gave us the job of tending the earth. Did You then intend for man to leave it pretty much as is? Or was it in Your plan for us to improve things?
God: Oh yes! Of course I wanted humanity to improve on what I gave, to make advancements, to learn and to progress.
Interviewer: But aren’t You conservative by nature?
God: Explain what you mean by conservative.
Interviewer: One has the opinion that those who are religious tend to be conservative in their views, liking things the way they are and preferring not to change. If You are the main influence in their lives, it would seem by association that You must also be conservative.
God: If by that you mean someone who is resistant to change, then I would have to say that I am anything but conservative. But if you mean someone who holds traditional views, then depending on what the tradition is, I could be regarded as conservative.
Interviewer: So You are and You aren’t.
God: I am not someone or something that you can neatly define. I am God and so I do not fit into any of your pigeonholes.
Is He there for real?
Interviewer: How can we establish the fact that You are real?
God: The testament to a creator is his creation. Look at what I made. That is the main way you can establish that I am real.
Interviewer: But couldn’t the world have created itself?
God: Does that make sense to you?
Interviewer: Well, no. But a lot of intelligent people seem to think it does.
God: Look around you at all the things in your room. Everything that is manufactured has a maker, doesn’t it?
Interviewer: Yes, but there are some things that weren’t manufactured-like the plant in the corner.
God: But it came from a parent plant, right? It had a maker, so to speak.
Interviewer: Yes, but maybe the ancestor just popped out of the primordial soup at some distant point in time and…
God: Why don’t you just relax and have faith?
Interviewer: Is it back to that?
Simple belief
Interviewer: It is our human nature to be somewhat on the skeptical, analytical side. We like to understand who we are dealing with. Surely You must understand this, since You created humanity?
God: Yes, I do understand, but the reason I created you like this was to see who would rise above the level of skepticism to an attitude of simple belief.
Interviewer: You are talking about faith.
God: Yes, exactly.
Interviewer: But, is faith in fact a good thing? Faith is often manipulated by the unscrupulous. Isn’t it better for one to be less gullible and more cautious?
God: I am not talking about being gullible. That is not what faith in Me is supposed to be. Faith is not being duped. Faith is confidence. Faith is knowing.