The Big Questions (3): The Need for Revelation

[مشتاق لعفوه]

In the previous two parts of this series, we answered the two

"big

questions."

Who made us? God. Why are we here? To serve and worship

Him. A third question naturally arose:

"If our Creator made us to serve

and worship Him, how do we do that?"

In the previous article I suggested

that the only way we can serve our Creator is through obeying His mandates,
as conveyed through revelation.
But many people would question my assertion: Why does mankind
need revelation? Isn't it enough just to be good? Isn't it enough for each
of us to worship God in our own way?
Regarding the need for revelation, I would make the following points:
In the first article of this series I pointed out that life is full of injustices,
but our Creator is fair and just and He establishes justice not in this life,
but in the afterlife. However, justice cannot be established without four
things—a court (i.e., the Day of Judgment); a judge (i.e., the Creator);
witnesses (i.e., men and women, angels, elements of creation); and

a

book of laws upon which to judge

(i.e., revelation). Now, how can our

Creator establish justice if He did not hold humankind to certain laws
during their lives? It's not possible. In that scenario, instead of justice,
God would be dealing out

injustice, for He would be punishing people for

transgressions they had no way of knowing were crimes.
Why else do we need revelation? To begin with, without guidance
mankind cannot even agree on social and economic issues, politics, laws,
etc. So how can we ever agree on God? Secondly, nobody writes the user
manual better than the one who made the product. God is the Creator,
we are creation, and nobody knows the overall scheme of creation better
than the Creator. Are employees allowed to design their own job descriptions,
duties and compensation packages as they see fit? Are all citizens
allowed to write their own laws? No? Well then, why should we be allowed
to write our own religions? If history has taught us anything, it is
the tragedies that result when mankind follows its caprice. How many
who have claimed to banner of free thought have designed religions that
committed themselves and their followers to nightmares on Earth and
damnation in the hereafter?

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So why isn't it enough just to be good? And why isn't it enough for
each of us to worship God in our own way? To begin with, peoples' definitions
of

"good" differ. For some it is high morals and clean living, for others

it is madness and mayhem. Similarly, concepts of how to serve and
worship our Creator differ as well. More importantly and to the point,
nobody can walk into a store or a restaurant and pay with a different
currency than the merchant accepts. So it is with religion. If people want
God to accept their servitude and worship, they have to pay in the currency
God demands. And that currency is obedience to His revelation.
Imagine raising children in a home in which you have set

"house

rules."

Then, one day, one of your children tells you he or she has

changed the rules, and is going to do things differently. How would you
respond? More than likely, with the words,

"You can take your new rules

and go to Hell!"

Well, think about it. We are God's creation, living in His

universe under His rules, and

"go to Hell" is very likely what God will say

to any who presume to override His laws with their own.
Sincerity becomes an issue at this point. We should recognize that all
pleasure is a gift from our Creator, and deserving of thanks. If given a gift,
who uses the gift before giving thanks? And yet, many of us enjoy God's
gifts for a lifetime and

never give thanks. Or give it late. The English poet,

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, spoke of the irony of the distressed human
appeal in

“The Cry of the Human”:

And lips say

“God be pitiful,”

Who ne’er said,

“God be praised.”

Should we not show good manners and thank our Creator for His
gifts

now, and subsequently for the rest of our lives? Don't we owe that

to Him?
You answered

"Yes." You must have. Nobody will have read this far

without being in agreement, but here's the problem: Many of you answered

Yes

, knowing full well that your heart is not in the Bible. Or perIslamhouse.

com

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haps it is in the Bible, but not entirely. You agree we were created by a
Creator. You struggle to understand Him. And you yearn to serve and
worship Him in the manner He prescribes. But you don't know how, and
you don't know where to look for the answers. And that, unfortunately, is
not a subject that can be answered in an article. Unfortunately, that issue
has to be addressed in a book.
On the other hand, the good news is that I have written this book,
and its title is “

The First and Final Commandment” (soon to be republished

under the title, “

MisGod'ed”). So if you like what you've read here,

I invite you to read what I’ve written there.
Copyright © 2007 Laurence B. Brown.
The author can be contacted at

MODERATOR NOTE: IT IS NOT ALLOWED TO POST EMAILS]. He is the author]

of

“The First and Final Commandment” (Amana Publications) and “Bearing

True Witness”

(Dar-us-Salam). Forthcoming books are a historical

thriller, “

The Eighth Scroll”, and a second edition of “The First and Final

Commandment”

, rewritten and divided into “MisGod'ed” and its sequel,
“God'ed.”