Kingdom versus Kingdom

G. Thomas Sharp • January 19, 2007

From time immemorial there has been a strategic war fought between the forces of good and the forces of evil.  It is fought over control of the minds of men and all systems of the earth are affected or involved in this process.  This perpetual battle is known by several titles: some have called it light versus darkness, or good versus evil, or heaven versus hell, or more specifically, Kingdom versus kingdom.

This battle can be traced through the Bible from the very first Book to our present day. Not to recognize the existence of this battle is to miss the true meaning and purpose of history, what I often call the God Factor!

Where do you stand in this battle? What is your concept of history? Do you believe that history is a product of evolutionary processes, and that time, even though it possesses billions of years, is ultimately terminal.  That transition is inadvertently associated with evolutionary change agents, and because they are, they are never predictable!

This view of history says that time has no overriding superintendence – that it is quite arbitrary. As a result, it has no meaning or purpose.  Thus the contents of history, while we can study it and know it, have outcomes that are purposeless and serendipitous. being only the story of man’s naturalistic origins and thus left to him to record and tell! It is fickle, fatalistic and fanciful!  The only thing for certain is change!  Reality is only found in the here and now; assigning to life some importance, but all is expendable for the greater good, and when we die — that’s it, we’re simply dead!

Left to our own ingenuity, we can never perceive the bigger picture. This view of history can never put all the dots together. or make connections of events, personalities. or movements in time.  Believing this view of history to be based in science. we often develop historical myopia, and because truth is constantly changing, we accept the revisions made in history. With no continuity or purpose, we become as dust in a fathomless cosmos. a fatalistic position epitomized by the late evolutionary scientist, Carl Sagan, who often said, “Man is lost in space without meaning or destiny.”

But if there is a God, the God of Scripture, who by definition is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, then, He is also eternal, sovereign and omnipotent! He is not bound by space and time, nor is He reactive to man. angels or demons. He is always proactive; always in plan A, He has no plan B! He was before time. He created time, and will be here when time is no more.  Therefore, He, and He alone, is the author of history! Thus He knows the end from the beginning because He is omniscient! it is as the Apostle John said of Him, “The Lord God Omnipotent reigns!”

This view of history is directional, guided and purposeful. It is seamless!  In school we study history in sections or periods, which is an accommodation to students and teachers, but real history has no seams or periods, it is continuous, connected, and consecutive. Therefore the rise and fall of Kings, Presidents, Nations and Empires are all in His hand, and history is going somewhere! It is not ambiguous, arbitrary or ambivalent, it is rather ordered, directed and purposeful.

The question has always been, “Does life have meaning?”  lf history is fortuitous, then life is meaningless. but if history is prescribed by an overriding supernatural agency it has definite meaning! But it is not without conflict, and it is this conflict, its source, its nature and its outcomes that comprise the battle for good and evil, a battle that is unavoidable.

Blessings,

G. Thomas Sharp

 

 

 

By Ryan Cox June 18, 2025
Moses & History (part 3)
lined up books
By Matt Miles June 18, 2025
Over the course of time a person can accumulate many things. Most of the stuff we collect is meaningless to most everyone else, but when a person collects books, they can be treasured for a lifetime and even beyond. In this age of digital media, physical books seem to be less important to many people. Digital books are searchable, and copy/paste functions make it easy to use those great quotes. Yet, there is still something great about a physical book, things you can’t get digitally: the turning of pages, the feel of it in your hand, and the “book” smell. For our founder Dr. Sharp, physical books could never be replaced by digital. While my collection of books is growing each year, it is dwarfed by Dr. Sharp’s collection. Over the years he collected thousands of titles for research and enjoyment. Through the course of his ministry he had to sell his book collection a couple of different times to support his family, only to start collecting again when he was able to do so. When Doc passed his office full of packed bookshelves to me and said he would clear the shelves, I laughed out loud at the prospect of having loads of empty bookshelves. So I urged him to instead leave his books for my, and anyone else’s, use. Little did I understand that the four bookcases in my office were only a fraction of his entire collection. A couple of years back when Doc moved from his house, it was decided that his book collection would be stored at the office. Our thought was to establish a library, yet none of us had time to plan, organize and catalog all 79 boxes of books. They sat piled in his office until last year when my daughter Megan joined our ministry. She has a love of books, both reading and writing. So we offered her the task of cataloging and establishing Doc’s library. Can you picture me, a bbq lover, being offered a table full of succulent smoked offerings - brisket, sausage, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey and all sides? Yep, that was Megan’s response to the library. For over four months she cataloged and organized the entire collection. The Dr. G. Thomas Sharp Library was completed earlier this year in his old office space, with overflow into my office. The entire 2700+ volume agglomeration is digitally cataloged for searching and locating. As you might expect, there is an extensive collection of creation and evolution subject matter, yet the library is full of many different categories. It very much reflects Doc’s love of gaining knowledge and research. An extensive commentary collection and multiple Biblical reference sections are invaluable to our ministry. There is even a whole bookcase housing books that are over 100 years old. Our desire was not to just house books but to also make a place of honor and inspiration. One wall exhibits Doc’s many diplomas, and throughout the library we have placed personal memorabilia of the mission trips he took over the years. Come, grab a book, relax in the sitting area and allow Doc’s handwritten notes from the margins or post-it notes bring a smile to your face. For those who may be more ambitious, Doc's office chair resides at the credenza for anyone to sit and be inspired to study. This is a place to honor Doc’s life and love for books. We at CTF have already utilized this great resource for further study, and we are so thankful to Diane and their family for donating these books for continued Kingdom growth. Blessings.
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