This issue has jumped to the forefront of the church's mind recently with the publication and subsequent firestorm caused by the book written by Rob Bell, "Love Wins." This post, however, is not a refutation of that book, it is simply addressing the question raised by that book. "How could God..."
"How could God..." create a race of people with free will knowing that they would turn their back on HIM, their CREATOR? How could he stand that idea when he created us, so lovingly, to walk through this crazy world in a beautiful dependency on Him? How could he... knowing that we would mess up this world so much--create so much pain for ourselves and blame Him?!?
"How could God..." fix the problem that we created ourselves through our own foolishness and evil desires? How could he pay the price to fix that problem? How could He be willing to send a part of himself, His only son to this earth to die for us? To be tortured in the worst way four thousand years of experimentation could invent? How could he choose to let HIS SON be punished for our sin? To take our place? How could God love us so inexplicably and completely that He would rather die than live without us?!?
"How could God..." send those same people who caused Jesus to die on the cross to spend an eternity with Him? How could he reward those people? How could God send people to Heaven when it cost so much? How could God choose the world over His Son?
"How could God..." be happy about this? How could God, plan this from the before He made the world and desire it to happen? After describing in painful detail much of what Jesus would go through the prophet Isaiah says this in Isaiah 53:10-11:
"But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities"
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities"
"How could we..." ever doubt God's love?!? How could we ever think for one second that God hasn't done everything in His power to keep us out of hell? It has been said, and rightly so, that in order to go to hell we have to step over God's dead body!
We have such an arrogant, presuming attitude about this question in the Church today! How do you think God feels when we look up to Heaven and shake our fist at God for sending people to Hell? God looks down at us with tears in his eyes and reminds us of the pain he suffered, of the agony he bore so we wouldn't have to go there! Yet we rejected His sacrifice! I dare you, no double dog dare you, to ask that question on the day of judgment, because I believe that God's anger will be aroused even as his sadness fades when he turns to us and asks us how we could have so selfishly rejected the death of His only Son so we could live like animals here on earth, satisfying our own lusts like unthinking beasts. The tears will run and He will say, "HOW DARE YOU QUESTION MY LOVE!!!" Look at the scars in my hands and my wrists! Look and the blood and tears that I shed!!! Look at the torment when your sin separated what had never before been separated, the Holy Trinity! When your sin caused the Father to abandon his Son!
So this last question I pose...
"How can we..." escape if we neglect so great a salvation. -Hebrews 2:3
