This is what I believe, when God created mankind, He gave us authority and dominion over the earth and everything in the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). Even tho Adam handed rule of the earth over to satan, mankind still holds the lease of the earth (Psalms 115:16) and can still take control back. But there are very, very few Christians who believe this, that's why there are natural disasters.
I believe you are mistaken. It wasn't Adam who handed rule of the world over to satan...it was God. (Luke 4:5-7) The devil can appoint whomever he pleases to take the reins at any time. The dominion man was given over the earth was as its caretaker.
Natural disasters cannot be prevented by man, but they can be created by him. There is a difference.... e.g. great earthquakes were foretold for these "last days". There have always been earthquakes, but nothing like the frequency we have experienced in the last century. Has human activity created the propensity for an increase in these events....I believe so. Weather events too can be compounded by man's mismanagement of the earth. If only we were as competent in preventing these things as we are in adding to the magnitude of them, then I guess we could boast about something.
Humans continue to destroy their environment for purely selfish, short term gains.
As for the evil that people do, I believe it is because mankind deals with it on a human level, not the core problem (Eph. 6:10-20) People can't wrap their minds around things Jesus said we will or can do in His name in the Bible, so they write it off as not valid for today.
Man has to deal with evil on a human level...he has no choice at this juncture. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) The Bible says it is the coming of God's Kingdom that will put the devil out of action and not before. In the first century, Christ's disciples were given a foretaste of things to come under Christ's rulership.....healing of the sick...raising of the dead....feeding of the multitudes....Christ even controlled the elements. All of those things ceased when the apostles died. They will not be restored until all corrupt human rulership under influence of the devil, is removed. (Daniel 2:44)
Jesus said,
Mark 16:15-18 (ESV Strong's) 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Does Mark 16:15-18 show that ability to cast out demons, healing the sick, drinking poison, speaking in tongues or the handling of serpents would be a sign identifying believers?
These verses appear in certain Bible manuscripts and versions of the fifth and sixth centuries C.E. But they do not appear in the older Greek manuscripts, the Sinaiticus and Vatican MS. 1209 of the fourth century.
Dr. B. F. Westcott, an authority on Bible manuscripts, said that “the verses . . . are no part of the original narrative but an appendage.” (An Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, London, 1881, p. 338)
Bible translator Jerome, in the fifth century, said that “almost all the Greek codices [are] without this passage.” (The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark, London, 1871, J. W. Burgon, p. 53)
The New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) says: “Its vocabulary and style differ so radically from the rest of the Gospel that it hardly seems possible Mark himself composed it [that is, verses 9-20].” (Vol. IX, p. 240) There is no record that early Christians either drank poison or handled serpents to prove they were believers.
If you accept that these are the necessary identifying marks of true Christians, then I believe that you have been sadly misled.
The identifying mark of true Christians is their obedience to Christ's command to preach in all the world, one message of salvation (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20)....their love for their brothers and even their enemies (John 13:34-35; Matthew 5:43-44)....being "no part of this world" and being hated because of it. (John 15:18-21)
most people who believe in God and the Bible, write those verse off as Jesus meaning just the select few He appointed, and when the last Apostle died, the signs died also. Jesus said. "go into ALL the world, preach to the WHOLE creation" and these signs will accompany those who BELIEVE what is preached to them. 'Christians' don't believe it because they don't have faith, so they write it off.
People don't believe that, because of a direct warning from the apostle Paul that satan would be active with
"with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders" at this time....there is a con artist at work catching the gullible in their own trap. Those visible miracles appealed to immature people in the first century....they were replaced by something that more mature believers would embrace...the pure truth from the complete word of God.
1 Corinthians 13:8-11
"But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we have partial knowledge and we prophesy partially, 10 but when what is complete comes, what is partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, to think as a child, to reason as a child; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a child."
The things that identify true Christianity Paul concluded....
"Now, however, these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love."... in a world devoid of all these things, true Christianity shines like a beacon.
Some people believe the first part, we are to preach to the whole world, but they don't believe the part about the signs following. Pretty sad really, Christians picking and choosing what to believe on the grounds of what makes sense to them. If it doesn't make sense, or they have never witnessed it, they won't believe it. Most Christians have Thomas', mentality, "unless I see...I won't believe".
Some OTOH see what is faked by the devil and are taken in because of being a spiritual child. I believe that is what is sad.
It's time for us all to grow up and see things as they truly are.
