We are in the throes of mankind's third revolt against God, in which we are trying to disrupt God's order of creation. We are not trying to be like God in His righteousness and holiness, but we are trying to imitate God's power as a creator. Our doing so will bring about His chastisement. Can we imagine what a dreadful situation we will be faced with in this world, when another human race, made by humans, appears on earth?

Can we imagine what the world will be like, if mankind keeps pursuing a life in which we try to avoid labor and the sweat of our brow, contrary to God's command? It was God's intention that we should work, not that we should allow robots and clones to take over and do our work for us so that we can maximize our leisure time and pleasure.

Our sinful nature manifests in two opposite characteristics: necessity and evil. Our sinful nature is necessary to our existence, but when we are tempted and fall, our human nature becomes evil and destructive. Our subconscious arrogance and impudence even lead us to believe that God came to earth and was crucified at the hands of His own creatures.

No one and nothing in the universe can kill both the body and the soul (the Spirit) except God alone. Satan and his creatures may kill the physical body, but they cannot kill the Spirit.

In His grace, God gave His Word and His Holy Spirit to control our sinful nature, which has its metaphor in Scripture as the "fat portion." Just as the fat portion must not be eaten, but must be burnt away, so the sinful nature must not be accepted by man, but must be burnt away into ash by the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit.

The silver cord is the connection to God placed in each one of us before we are born. It is often lost or covered over by life in this sinful world. We must nurture it and our relationship with God. Every morning, most of us drink a cup of coffee to inspire us and get us going . . . and it lasts only briefly. We should instead nourish and inspire ourselves with Scripture, which lasts eternally.

Have we ever imagined that the COVID-19 pandemic may be God's preliminary warning, coming to us from His compassion?

Inspired by Scripture, I have written this book with the belief that there is someone out there who needs it, and I humbly offer it to anyone who wants to be closer to God.