God is love! This attribute of God is probably preached more today than any other. When you ask someone if their pastor preaches on the wrath of God or the holiness of God, their response may be "no, it's too offensive" or "yeah, but he doesn't harp on it". In other words, he may mention it once every couple of years. A friend of mine, Josh, was witnessing to a couple in the park one day and found out they were Christians, so they started talking about their church and one of their church's ministries they were getting ready to help with. This was an "automotive" type ministry where they serviced cars for single mothers, low income families needing a hand, and so on. The ministry is operated right there in their own church parking lot! Great ministry right? Not if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not preached.
Apparently the church's pastor would not allow anyone to share the Gospel because he didn't want to "run anyone off". The Gospel is offensive to wicked, God-hating men and women, but we must not be ashamed! We must preach the Truth because the Gospel is "the power of God for salvation"!
From amongst all of the preaching about God's love arises the inevitable questions that we've all heard time and time again.
The list of these types of questions could go on and on. The reason any of this happens is because of sin. The God of the Bible proclaimed the death sentence on mankind because of the sin of one man, Adam. This is what is referred to as "original sin". Because of original sin, we are born sinners, enemies of God, children of wrath. This doesn't mean we're paying for Adam's sin, but it does mean we are living under the repercussions or the effects of Adam's sin.
What is lacking in a staggering number of pulpits today is the recognition of other attributes of God. Attributes such as His holiness, wrath, justice, grace, mercy and so on. The darkened mind of fallen man lacks the ability to see God's holiness, His goodness and therefore does not understand His hatred and wrath toward sin. To believe solely in a god of love who would never punish sin, is to violate the 2nd of the Ten Commandments and create an idol; a god in your mind who does not exist. The truth is, the God of the Bible is holy and righteous and He hates sin. If He didn't hate He couldn't love for love could not exist without hate. If you love children then you hate child abuse and the greater your love for children, the greater your hatred and outrage toward child abuse.
God is love, therefore He is also wrath, holiness and righteousness. He is a God who hates sin so much He kills because of it. In the Old Testament, Genesis 38, God killed a man because the man was wicked in His sight and then killed his brother because He didn't like what he did sexually. In the New Testament book of Acts, He killed a man and his wife for lying. Wrath is a holy, white-hot hatred of evil, of sin, of all that is unholy... it's God's violent passion for justice and by His very nature must punish sin where ever it's found.
So, having a clearer understanding of the nature of God revealed to us in Scripture, the question, "How could a God of love let bad things happen?" becomes the wrong question to ask. The question you should be asking is, "How can a perfectly just, holy and righteous God, a God who is omnipresent, omniscient, one who commands utter perfection in thought, word and deed. How could a God like that know the words that came out of my mouth, the thoughts that raced across my mind and the things that I did yesterday... and not kill me in my sleep last night?"
In comes another gracious attribute of God, His patience. God is long suffering and does not will for anyone to perish, but commands all men everywhere to repent, for He has appointed a day in which He'll judge the world in righteousness!
The greatest display of love in all of time and eternity was the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the justification of the elect of God. God sent His Son to suffer and die so that those who hated Him and rebelled against Him, could be reconciled to Himself and be set free from the wages of sin; the eternal wrath of God in the lake of fire.
God truly is Love... and to Him alone be the Glory.Acts 6:2 - And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
Apparently the church's pastor would not allow anyone to share the Gospel because he didn't want to "run anyone off". The Gospel is offensive to wicked, God-hating men and women, but we must not be ashamed! We must preach the Truth because the Gospel is "the power of God for salvation"!
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
From amongst all of the preaching about God's love arises the inevitable questions that we've all heard time and time again.
- How could a God of love let bad things happen?
- How could a God of love let a cataclysmic event, like 911, happen?
- How could a God of love allow babies to be born with deformities?
- How could a God of love allow children to starve to death in Ethiopia?
What is lacking in a staggering number of pulpits today is the recognition of other attributes of God. Attributes such as His holiness, wrath, justice, grace, mercy and so on. The darkened mind of fallen man lacks the ability to see God's holiness, His goodness and therefore does not understand His hatred and wrath toward sin. To believe solely in a god of love who would never punish sin, is to violate the 2nd of the Ten Commandments and create an idol; a god in your mind who does not exist. The truth is, the God of the Bible is holy and righteous and He hates sin. If He didn't hate He couldn't love for love could not exist without hate. If you love children then you hate child abuse and the greater your love for children, the greater your hatred and outrage toward child abuse.
God is love, therefore He is also wrath, holiness and righteousness. He is a God who hates sin so much He kills because of it. In the Old Testament, Genesis 38, God killed a man because the man was wicked in His sight and then killed his brother because He didn't like what he did sexually. In the New Testament book of Acts, He killed a man and his wife for lying. Wrath is a holy, white-hot hatred of evil, of sin, of all that is unholy... it's God's violent passion for justice and by His very nature must punish sin where ever it's found.
So, having a clearer understanding of the nature of God revealed to us in Scripture, the question, "How could a God of love let bad things happen?" becomes the wrong question to ask. The question you should be asking is, "How can a perfectly just, holy and righteous God, a God who is omnipresent, omniscient, one who commands utter perfection in thought, word and deed. How could a God like that know the words that came out of my mouth, the thoughts that raced across my mind and the things that I did yesterday... and not kill me in my sleep last night?"
In comes another gracious attribute of God, His patience. God is long suffering and does not will for anyone to perish, but commands all men everywhere to repent, for He has appointed a day in which He'll judge the world in righteousness!
Acts 17:30-31 - The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
Hebrews 9:27 - And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment
The greatest display of love in all of time and eternity was the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the justification of the elect of God. God sent His Son to suffer and die so that those who hated Him and rebelled against Him, could be reconciled to Himself and be set free from the wages of sin; the eternal wrath of God in the lake of fire.
Soli Deo Gloria
