Why would a loving God...........

Passage of interest: 2 Timothy 3

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those that creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. 

10 You however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13  while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

     So, as I go about my business of trying to get people to come to Jesus, I hear a constant stream of rejection that usually begins with the preface "why would a loving God". One of the main points it is followed by is "allow us a temporary time on earth followed by possible eternal damnation?"

     Let's remember that God is THE sovereign in the universe and that he is eternal. He sent his only son Jesus to pay for our sins for all of eternity. Since every one of our sins was paid for with the blood of Jesus, every sin is a sin against the eternal God and deserving of eternal punishment.

     It is only through grace that some will receive salvation. There is a disturbing and ever growing number of pastors out there who teach that a loving God would not create hell or offer up eternal, horrific punishment for our sins. These pastors are being deceived by the devil. For God to be sovereign in the universe, he must control everything in the universe, but while God controls hell, he is absent from it. Those in hell have rejected God. As we see in James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." There is no light in the eternal darkness and since every good thing comes from God, there are NO good things in hell. Eternal torment is eternal torment. In hell there is never relief from unimaginable pain and suffering because there is nothing good in hell. You suffer the pain of the heat from being in the center of the earth (while your flesh and bones are consumed, your soul exists as a type of energy that can withstand any degree of heat and discomfort applied to it, so, no your worm never dies.) as well as the eternal thirst, the eternal stench of death, the eternal gasping for breath as well as the constant torment of demons. This goes on for all of eternity. 

     Romans 1:19 tells us that people knowingly reject God. One of life's absolute truths is that "perceived intelligence is inversely proportional to actual intelligence." You are not smarter than the creator of the universe. Thinking you are will guarantee that you receive eternal damnation and horrible suffering. Why be stupid? Hell DOES exist. It IS a real place and if you reject God, it is where your eternity will be spent.

     Why would a loving god allow children to suffer?......allow people to suffer? Why God allows suffering can best be explained in Romans 5:3-5 "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame,because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

     If you have children, are you considered a good parent if you let them do whatever they want? It is a parent's job to tech their children and it is God's job to teach us. We learn how to be closer to God through trials and tribulations, as odd as that seems. Why are innocent children allowed to suffer horrible torment at times? God has lessons for children to learn as well as adults. We must not get angry at the evil deeds done to us, we must forgive those who do evil things to us. Admittedly, this is easier said than done, but forgiveness is a mandatory element of salvation. Also, again, we do not second guess God. It would be like someone in kindergarten trying to second guess Albert Einstein. There are things we have to accept on faith.

     May God bless and enlighten you.

                                                           ___Pastor Mike