Why not just make only people that God knows will be 'saved' and refrain from creating the rest? That way, there's no Hell and everybody goes to Heaven! (I assume God would have had the good sense not to create Satan...) Why create people that are just gonna wind up in Hell anyway? It seems awfully pointless and wasteful!
2006-12-18 13:20:55 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Please, ask him when you meet him. I would like to know myself.
We are not supposed to know the ways of God. He knows everything, but he still gives us free choice. Isn't that insane?! It seems impossible! But just because it seems impossible to us doesn't mean it isn't possible to God.
Think of it as a pet owner taking in it's puppy for a painful surgery to save its life. The puppy is injected with a needle -- something that its very instincts tell him is bad. Needles = pain = something threatening survival. But us humans know that all of this pain in necessary to take away the pain...
God created us to give us all a chance with him. We are either for him, or we are against him. We all have free choice, and not even God is going to interfere with our sole decisions. He wants US to chose instead of dictating for himself who will exist with him happily forever in the very End.
He seeks companionship, and we are his finest creations. We are even more awe-inspiring than all of the heavenly bodies in the universe. He loves us more than anything, but he's not going to chose for us. WE make that decision. Most people, however, make the wrong decision. But at least they had the chance.
That is why God doesn't just make people who will go to Heaven. It wouldn't be fair.
2006-12-18 13:30:02 · answer #1 · answered by cve5190 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are mistaking the ability to foresee the future with the act of doing so. Just because he has the ability to foresee doesn't mean he will always exercise it. For example, if you were a muscle-bound guy you'd have the ability to go around beating up anybody you wanted to, right? But you wouldn't, would you? Partly because of society's mores, and partly--or mostly--because of fear of the law. And maybe also because you know you would quickly lose what friends you had. Well, his reasons are different, but the fact is he uses restraint in that area.
As far as who goes where, as one of the persons already answered, we are not puppets, but free moral agents. One of the reasons the world has continued for so long on a downward spiral is because he is allowing time for people to decide whether they are on Satan's side or God's. And one of the main reasons the Bible was written was to show anyone interested the way to be on God's side. So, being saved or not is up to each one of us, as free moral agents, to decide.
2006-12-18 21:42:50 · answer #2 · answered by Charles d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although He knows the future, He still was fair enough to create them and give them a chance at Eternal life in Heaven. I'm glad He created me and has given me a chance/choice to experience Heaven. I find it a great honor.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2006-12-18 21:28:52 · answer #3 · answered by Selena Jade's Mommy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is some truth in what you are saying- yes, God did create everyone and everything. but you're forgetting that He created human beings with something called Free Will.
Jesus Christ died to take away the sins of this world. yes, He did die to save everyone.
because God is a perfect gentleman, He wont force Himself or His salvation on anyone. the Bible says that "those who confess with their mouths and believe in their hearts that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, they will be saved."
-Romans 10:9
this way, the person who is receiving salvation makes a conscious effort to become saved. God is not a used car salesman-with Him, there are no tricks, gimmicks, or fine print.
yes, God is the Almighty and the All-Powerful, but the free-will He instills in humans usurps His intentions. He wants everyone to be saved, and He creates people so that one day they'd make the decicion to become saved.
the best example I have for this scenario would be Satan. before he made the conscious effort to become Satan, he was Lucifer. (Lucifer means morning star) God loved Lucifer so much, that He made Lucifer the head of worship in heaven. lucifer was second in command. next to God, lucifer was the
Top Dogg. anyways, he decided that being second wasnt good enough. he, along with some other angels, started to worship Lucifer as god.
well, the Big G-O-D wasnt havin that up in heaven. He tossed Lucifer, along with the disobedient angels, out of heaven, but not before stripping them of their status. (fyi, this is why satan is synonymous with darkness. he is no longer light)
does this answer your question? God does have sense and knowlege to know ahed of time what's going to happen. the ething is, He loves us so much that He has the faith that we will one day accept Him into our hearts and be saved.
2006-12-18 22:00:53 · answer #4 · answered by Mrs. Ben Dover 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe god likes to see men suffer.
as for the one above who thinks god is somehow locked into our temporal universe and is stuck in linear time let me remind you that he somehow gave john a revelation of the end times and tells the future all the time. he also knows when you'll be born, when you'll die etc. so either he can see our future or he can't, but if he can't then a lot of the bible would be lies. every prophet that predicted jesus would either be lying, or be more powerful than even god at that point. so yes, god creating people whom he knows will be sent to hell is really just mean.
2006-12-18 21:35:30 · answer #5 · answered by Shawn M 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I set before you life and death, choose life. God has given us all a free will. Weather or not a person goes to hell is up to the individual, not God.
2006-12-18 21:26:03 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The act of creation is kenosis, self-emptying. God sets aside his omnipotence and opens himself to suffer from the actions of finite beings. God sets aside his eternity and enters history, which becomes real for him. He veils his face, so that the freedom of his creatures will be real. In short, freedom is real, history is real, self-determination is real, and in some sense, God does not know whether free beings will choose to reciprocate his love or not.
2006-12-18 21:23:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think that Gos knows for sure where we are going to end up. It just doesn't make sense. I think that He knows what trials and tribulations He gives us, and He knoes our strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately we are the ones who decide where we are going by the choices we make.
2006-12-18 21:25:53 · answer #8 · answered by cclleeoo 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The bible tells us that God loves the smell of burning flesh.
2006-12-18 21:33:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
You mean puppets?
2006-12-18 21:23:20 · answer #10 · answered by nancy jo 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋