(For a ‘PDF file’ or ‘Microsoft WORD file’ of this poem, see the very end)

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If I was God, a perfect world[i]

Is what I would create,[ii]

Filled with life and light and love;

With no darkness, death or hate.[iii]

The environment would be flawless,

So clean and pure and bright,

And ever there the light would shine,

For, there would be no night.[iv]

Nor would it ever get too hot,

Or cold or wet or dry.

Nor would destruction ever come

From water, land or sky.

Nor would the things there, see decay,

Or break or rust or mold.[v]

Everything would stay as new,

This world would have no old.

And there would be provision

For every single need,

All plants as food for animals,

For birds, abundant seed.[vi]

And there the animals would live

In safety and in peace,

For fighting, hunting, killing,

Would all completely cease.[vii]

And for people, it’d be the same,

There’d be no suffering.

For sickness, sadness, sorrow, death,

This world would never bring.[viii]

And in this world, all work would be

Fruitful and a pleasure,

Healthy, safe and meaningful,

Fulfilling beyond measure.[ix]

And I’d make the people perfect

In thought and word and deed,[x]

So, in this world there’d be no laws,

For, love would quench the need.[xi]

And as their God, they’d love me so

Each and every day,

For I would love them first and most,

Yes, I would lead the way.[xii]

But sadly this would only work

If love could be a choice,

For, by pulling strings on puppets,

My heart could not rejoice.

So they would have to have ‘free will,’[xiii]

The ability to choose,

To accept or to reject me,[xiv]

My love to gain or lose.

But, oh, this could not happen

In a world where all is right.

There’d have to be another place

Where each, I could invite.

So first I’d make a step-up world,

A temporary place,[xv]

Where the people first would dwell

And this offer, I could place:

“Will you love and follow me,

Accept me as your Lord,[xvi]

To live with me in paradise[xvii]

And forever be adored?”[xviii]

But, oh, I know that with ‘free will’

Each person would do wrong,

Some a little, some a lot,

Guilt would infect the throng.[xix]

And justice, oh, it would require,

When right was not obeyed,

That for each and every wrong,

A penalty, be paid.[xx]

But, as their God, my love so strong,

I would provide the way

For each of them to be forgiven.

Yes, I, their debt, would pay.

Into their midst, I would appear[xxi]

To teach and show them love,

And take their punishment myself,[xxii]

Their rescue from above.

But any who would not accept

My death upon the cross,[xxiii]

Who’d pay in hell for their own sins,[xxiv]

My heart, would crush with loss.[xxv]

I AM

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[i] Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

[ii] Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17

[iii] He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

[iv] The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Revelation 21:23

[v] But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:20

[vi] Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.  Revelation 7:16

[vii] The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  Isaiah 11:7

[viii] He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

[ix] “His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21

[x]  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, Hebrews 12:22-23

[xi]  Jesus replied: ” `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

[xii] We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

[xiii] Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

[xiv] “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7

[xv] Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17

[xvi] Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—John 1:12

[xvii] Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

[xviii] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

[xix] For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . Romans 3:23

[xx] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23

[xxi] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. / The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. John 1:1 & 14

[xxii] For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,  1 Peter 3:18

[xxiii] Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”  John 3:36

[xxiv] Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  Matthew 25:41

[xxv] As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it Luke 19:41

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