upgraded September 3, 2006
1 John 4:8 (NIV) Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love is complete concern for another. God gave His best, His all, Himself completely for others with no benefit whatsoever to Himself. The opposite of love is not hatred. The opposite of love is selfishness. Selfishness is complete concern for self.
SELFLESS people place God's will above their own personal self interest. God's will is always in the best interest of everyone. God is totally selfless. When the individual members of any group place the good of the group above their own self interest, the group is first, self is second, and unity among the group is the natural result. Jesus was totally selfless, and placed the good of mankind above His own personal self interests. People who establish a life pattern of selflessness are typically Godly, as the assistance of the Spirit of God is required for the crucifixion of a person's selfish will. Fasting moves us closer to God because when we crucify our selfishness, selflessness will emerge.
A majority of the members of the United States Congress exhibited a brief selflessness following the World Trade Center Attack resulting in unity within the Congress, as all individual parts deferred to the good of Congress and the good of the nation. Because of the established life pattern of selfishness by the individual Congressional members, that unity has quickly cooled into the divisiveness existing today.
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King, Jr.
SELFISH people place their own personal interest above the will of God, or their associates. This automatically creates division, as all of the parts of the whole become independent units separated from the whole, seeking what they perceive to be in their own respective self interests. Selfish people are always wicked, and typically divisive. Satan is totally selfish. Satan wants everything for himself with no regard whatsoever for anyone else. The selfish understand and relate to the selfish because they are like them.
“Mankind is composed of two sorts of men – those who love and create, and those who hate and destroy.” – Jose Marti 1853-1895
The selfish hate the selfless because it contrasts and exposes their selfishness. The concept of the selfish hating the selfless is revealed in 1 John 3:12 referenced below.
1 John 3:12 (NIV) Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.
God is a God of perfect order. All order in this universe is found in God because selflessness produces unity. There is no order in the dominion of Satan, because selfishness produces division. The individual selfishness of the members of the kingdom of the Antichrist will result in the parts of the kingdom of darkness gathering in the Valley of Megiddo to attack the Antichrist. Parts of the kingdom of darkness attacking other parts of the kingdom of darkness is not new, as today the Hell's angels motorcycle gang is at war with the Pagan's motorcycle gang, the Mafia crime organizations are consistently at war with each other, Shia Muslims are attacking Sunni Muslims, Muslims are attacking Hindu's, and the list goes almost into infinity. There is no peace and no order in the dominion of Satan.
Three and one half years after the Antichrist invades Israel, sets himself up in the Jewish Temple as god, establishes a One World Government, and a One World Religion in which the Antichrist is god, the Antichrist's establishment will begin to fail, and result in the parts of his kingdom attacking him. The Antichrist's establishment will attack the Antichrist because the members of his establishment will desire to be god just as the Antichrist desires to be god. China (the king of the east) and Russia (the king of the north), and will attack Syria (the Antichrist, and commander of the Muslim armies) in the Valley of Jezreel at the Battle of Armageddon.
Daniel 11:44 (NIV) But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
The report from the East that will alarm the Antichrist is the report that China with an army of 200 million men is marching across the dry Euphrates River into the Valley of Megiddo to attack the Antichrist. The report from the North that will alarm the Antichrist is the report that Russia is marching through the Caucasus Pass into the Valley of Megiddo to attack the Antichrist.
At that precise point in time, Jesus Christ will return and destroy those in the Valley of Jezreel, including the Islamic forces of the Antichrist, the atheistic forces of Russia, and the atheistic forces of China.