Is God really love, or has He unrighteously misrepresented Himself? How could He be love if He condemns those who reject Him to eternal torment. As stated in the previous chapter, there are many uncertainties regarding this subject:
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Is hell self-chosen?
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What form does it take?
·
Who does the punishing?
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Are there degrees of punishment?
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Will God provide an option of pulling-the-plug
to those who suffer?
What is the earthly fate of those who refuse God and
His promise of eternal bliss in this life? The Bible teaches that God loves all
His creation. This is good news:
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The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over
all that he has made. (Psalm 145:9)
This is true even though there are many other factors at
play. For example, He will also allow the unrepentant to reap the consequences
of their evil deeds:
·
Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy
will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake
the LORD your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of
hosts. (Jeremiah 2:19)
We should fear God and the consequences of our evil. Even though
they are blessed, they will also reap the consequences of their own actions.
Nevertheless, Jesus taught that His love extends to all humanity. Therefore, we
too must love all as He does:
·
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in
heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44–45)
It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.
Although the vast numbers refuse to confess their sins to God, it seems that He
still blesses His enemies materially:
·
Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver
my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men
of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure;
they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their
infants. (Psalm 17:13–14)
As hard as it might be for us to believe, the Lord loves
those who hate Him, at least for a while until He allows them to go their own
way (Romans 1:24-28):
·
“And when you pray, you must not be like the
hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have
received their reward. (Matthew 6:5)
They desire the acclaim of men rather than that of God.
Jesus affirmed that they have received the very things they had desired. This
cannot be construed as unjust.
Seeing their blessings, many of God’s children were tempted
to envy the unrepentant. We tend to have it harder than others (1 Peter 4:17). The
psalmist wrote about his own jealousy:
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Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease,
they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my
hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:12–13)
Evidently, the blessings enjoyed by the wicked were quite obvious.
The psalmist continued to struggle with jealousy and resentment until God gave
him a glimpse of the big picture, the end of the wicked:
·
Truly you set them in slippery places; you make
them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept
away utterly by terrors…When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in
heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless,
I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your
counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. (Psalm 73:18–19, 21-24)
God loves even those who hate Him. Does God cause or allow
His enemies to be “swept away utterly by terrors?” Does this happen in concert
with their own choices? I think so! They freely flee of the Light of God into
the comfort of their own darkness and self-deceit (John 3:19-20).
Can we blame God? He claims that He wants all to come to
salvation (2 Peter 3:19). I feel that I know Him well enough to trust that this
is true. Nevertheless, He will not commandeer their obedience.
None of us can possibly understand God entirely. Perhaps we
cannot benefit from certain knowledge. For instance, if God revealed that
aborted and stillborn babies would go to heaven, concerned mothers might be
tempted to kill their babies to insure their salvation. I think that this
principle pertains to many other things.
Nor can we entirely understand our wives and husbands or
even ourselves. Some things we just must accept. This is even more true of the
Creator of this universe.
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