God's Grace

Here's the typical question from many unbelievers: How can a loving God send people to hell? Or, If there is a loving God, why does He allow pain and suffering to exist?

I have written about this before but the answer bears repeating. So many potential believers get hung up on this one thing - blaming God for everything that goes wrong in their lives. It's not His fault, it's ours.

"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. There is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." - Psalm 14:2-3

In God's just world, the punishment for sin and disobedience is death. But God . . .

God provided a way out of our death sentence. His name is Jesus. It is through our belief in Him, and our submission to Him, that we are saved. Through HIS extendingly amazing grace to us, and our acceptance of it, Jesus becomes our Lord.

Then comes the challenge. We must act like He is our Lord. But let's get back to those two questions in the opening paragraph.

How can a loving God send us to hell? God is a just judge. There is a penalty for our sin and God will hand it out. WE are the ones who chose sin over obedience. WE chose to disobey.

How can God allow pain and suffering? Why doesn't He cure cancer and let us live forever?

We ALL will live forever. It's just a matter of location. Sickness and death entered the world when WE sinned in the Garden of Eden.

So the real question we should be asking becomes this: How can a loving God sacrifice His one and only Son for a bunch of sinners like us? Good question.

But He did. It's called grace - God's grace. Isn't God worthy of our praise rather than our disobedience and sin? That's another good question that we ALL must answer.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” - Isaiah 55:6-13

Go Out With Joy - Maranatha Singers