"God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. Because God hates sin, He has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that's not an appealing standard. But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards." — Francis Chan
God is perfect (Psalm 18:30)! He lavishes His love on those who seek Him (1 John 3:1). He comforts us in our sorrows (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). He never forsakes His true children (Hebrews 13:5).
Few people have a problem with those attributes of God, but what about these:
- His wrath flows from his perfect purity and holiness.
- His condemnation of unbelievers flows from His perfect justice.
- His commands and conditions flow from His hatred of evil.
- His commands against popular sins (e.g., abortion, premarital sex, homosexuality, transgenderism, pornography) flow from His perfect knowledge as our Creator.
- His condemnation of all other religions flows from the fact that He is the only true God.
In all of these things, God is perfect. Do you know and love Him in His fullness or only in areas you find easy to accept?
"Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26
May we never be ashamed of anything about our God!
Bible Love Notes
To dismiss any facet of God is to totally reject Him. Jesus came to show us the fullness of God and as His ambassadors we must be aware to reflect that fullness.
ReplyDeleteActually I feel that God honors our decision to accept or reject the gift of his Son. Rather than viewing eternal damnation in the context of God 'sending" millions to hell, I view hell as the consequence of rejecting God's righteousness imputed to us through the death of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, Dana, that each man chooses whether he will go to heaven or hell. It's important that we understand that so we don't think God is arbitrary, purposeless, or unpredictable.
DeleteBut men did not plan and prepare hell. And part of the Gospel message is a stern warning about the coming Judgment and eternal punishment of hell.
Scripture unashamedly tells us that God sends people to hell and punishes them (see verses below). And if God does it, then it's a part of His character that we should never be ashamed of sharing it.
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority." 2 Peter 4:2-10
I think Christians avoid this aspect of God at times because we want to make the Gospel as attractive as possible, but we can't make it better than God has made it, and He obviously wants us to warn people of His wrath as well as share the wonders of His love. Both elements are important.
Thanks for you input.
God bless you,
Gail
Excellent article! So often we are tempted to "preach another Jesus" - because the true Jesus Christ doesn't match the idol we have carved in our hearts
ReplyDelete