So, riddle me this. Where did the transition of the vengeful god to the unconditionally loving god occur? And what is the purpose of killing his son to prove his love for mankind? If he has so much power, why do we start on Earth at all, why not just begin eternally happy in heaven? What about people who don't get a chance to know 'the love of God'? What if your children weren't Christian at all and burned in hell for eternity while you continued to Heaven, could you truly be happy for eternity? Why doesn't God just kill Satan?
These are all questions that don't add up for me. There is so much corruption on the Earth, I can't fathom how any God would let these things happen. They call it Free Will, but punishment for using it?
2007-04-20 04:36:52 · 17 answers · asked by Feignsleep 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Bible? Too many discrepancies with the bible being that it was translated too many times, not to mention the Apocrypha, how can I trust a book that is "The Word" yet was edited by it's own believers?
Created to serve God? That's silly, if we were created in his image, then in theory, couldn't we create our children to serve us? But no, that would break the first commandment to put no idols before God. In addition, Pride is a deadly sin, creating life just to serve you and punishing them for failure to do so seems prideful to me.
Satan will be tortured then for eternity, I guess God only loves mankind, not his Angels.
And again with this compulsory slaying of Jesus, what purpose does that serve? It's a very wicked thing, in my eyes. We're the ones who screwed up by becoming sinners so he kills his son and even averts his eyes? This religion is so cruel... it just doesn't make sense.
2007-04-20 04:53:54 · update #1
A test? But why? If God knows that there will be people who choose not to believe and shall perish, then why let them? Why not just tell them, contact them, anything at all? Why the enigma, the mystery? It's a test of faith?
And if God proved to us he exists that would mean we have no purpose in life? I thought the eternal reward for serving God in life is to serve God in heaven... that just doesn't make sense, what separates heaven from earth? Why can't our lives HERE be eternal, with God living amongst us? I can't wear a blindfold and expect to know where to step.
2007-04-20 05:01:50 · update #2
Sparkle1:
God is handling all things in a perfect and just manner. You just don't understand because you cannot see the entire big picture the way he can. Also, it seems some misled person has falsely represented God as burning children alive in fire and sadly, you believed them. Read Jeremiah 7:31 and rethink God's personality for yourself. Remember, too, that nothing has been done on earth which God cannot undo. When the governments close all the false religions, you will know that his clean up of earth has begun.
[Entire big picture? Where man has been at war with each other for centuries over holy land, hundreds of men women and children die everyday in the name of their chosen "God" and that's fair and just? Who's to say who is right and who is wrong? If we, as Christians (And I will associate us as Americans or whathaveyou) ANSWER THIS!
In a just manner is God letting his followers be slain by those who worship "Allah" A 'false' God? Is killing for God what he wants of us?]
2007-04-20 05:11:40 · update #3
That's quite the loaded question you have there. I'm sorry it's going to be so long, but you have several questions and I want to answer them completely. So here goes . . . .
Ok, there is no transition from vengeful to loving. God is unchanging and perfect, as are His decisions. I don't understand how everyone can claim the OT is soooo horrible, then conveniently leave out His mercies and loving kindness. God is just, and He hates sin and disobedience. So while he does punish those for their disobedience, He always leaves room for them to repent and turn back to Him.
God forgave the nation of Israel SO MANY TIMES I have lost count! They worshipped idols, committed adultery, turned their back on Him, etc. etc. Yet He always told them to come back. David committed murder and adultery- he had to deal with the consequences for the rest of his life, but he was repentant and God forgave him completely. We still have to deal with the consequences of our actions- God doesn't magically make them vanish if we are repentant.
Jesus Christ is God's first creation and "master worker." Through His son, God created the perfect spirit beings known as angels. The angels love God and praise Him and His glory. He could have just said 'ok, I'm done. Perfect angels is all I need.' But in His infinite wisdom and love He decided to create Adam and give him stewardship over a paradasaic Earth.
Adam was perfect in every way. The original purpose for mankind was to live forever on a perfect paradise Earth serving Him. His intent was never for us to live in heaven with Him. Why bother making the Earth in the first place if no one is going to live on it? The Bible says that the "Earth will stand to time indefinite." God's not going to destroy the Earth and send us all to heaven. The Earth was not "created for nothing, but to be INHABITED."
So Adam and Eve were supposed to have perfect children and live forever on the Earth. Why didn't that happen? Because the spirit creature now known as Satan became envious of God and the worship He received from the first human couple. So he used the serpent to lie to Eve and convince her to disobey God. He basically called God a liar and challenged His right to rule His creation.
So you're right- God could have smited Satan right then and there. But would that have proved anything? There are "myriads and myriads" of angels in heaven- all of them saw Satan do what he did. Who's to say that any one of them would have chosen to disobey God next? Obviously they can sin too, since several of them came to the Earth in the days before the flood and had relations with the daughters of men. That's how we have demons. They fell from perfection, just as Satan did.
If God just killed everything that disagreed with Him, He still wouldn't prove anything other than His power. So God decided to prove once and for all time that only He has the right to rule humankind. He let Satan exercise his influence over the Earth and stepped back to allow humans to rule themselves. That's basically what the fruit from the "tree of the knowledge of good and bad" did- the disobediance "freed" them from God's perfect rulership and placed them at the mercy of their own.
Don't get me wrong- God didn't completely wash His hands of the Earth or His creation; He just took a break and let Satan and imperfect humans prove His point. And just look: war, famine, pestilence, greed, poverty, murder, sex crimes, religious divisions, racism, hatred, etc.- all a result of Adam and Eve telling God they weren't interested in being ruled by Him any longer.
This is where Jesus Christ comes in. Remember that very first prophecy in Genesis 3:15? God told the serpent that there would be "enmity between her seed and your seed" and that "he will bruise you (Satan) in the head, and you will bruise him in the heel." That last part about the heel is the declaration that Jesus would be put to death for us at the hands of Satan (who do you think influenced those religious leaders and Judas Iscariot??)
Jesus' sacrifice is known as a ransom. What's a ransom? It basically means an even exchange. So what one perfect man, Adam, lost for us in Eden, Jesus, another perfect man, gained again after he died perfectly faithful in 33CE. An imperfect man couldn't be evenly exchanged for a perfect man, so God sent the one person He loves and trusts more than anyone else in the universe: His "only begotten" son Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine how it must have pained God to allow His most beloved of creation die a painful death? But He, and a willing Jesus (not as I will, but as you will) did so to provide a way for imperfect makind to escape the sin and death Adam and Eve gave to us through their disobedience.
To receive the benefits of that ransom, we must exercise faith in Jesus and his Father, Jehovah God. But "faith without works is dead." We must act in accord with that faith and gain Bible knowledge so we can come to know the "perfect will of Jehovah."
As for hellfire . . . the doctrine of eternal damnation in a fiery hell isn't scripturally supported. I'm all typed out, but if you visit my Y!A profile, you can see my answer to a similar question. Something about "how is hellfire fair?" I gave a full explanation there along with scriptural references.
If you want more information, please feel free to email me (on my profile) or visit www.watchtower.org.
Excellent questions! :0)
2007-04-20 05:15:00 · answer #1 · answered by danni_d21 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God is handling all things in a perfect and just manner. You just don't understand because you cannot see the entire big picture the way he can. Also, it seems some misled person has falsely represented God as burning children alive in fire and sadly, you believed them. Read Jeremiah 7:31 and rethink God's personality for yourself. Remember, too, that nothing has been done on earth which God cannot undo. When the governments close all the false religions, you will know that his clean up of earth has begun.
2007-04-20 12:00:30 · answer #2 · answered by Sparkle1 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God has never changed from a God of vengence to an unconditional loving God. Unlike humans, God never changes. The same God in the Old Testament is the same as in the New Testament. It is a matter of understanding. Most people that say God changed from this way to that way are completely misunderstanding. Did you know that Jesus Christ spoke more about hell and judgement than heaven? Do you understand the reason behind the judgement spoken of in the Old Testament? Do you understand how evil sin is?
How can there be only one God, yet exist in three distinct persons? Your question is very difficult because it is not something that can be answered with a short answer.
All of our choices lead either to life or death, which means that there is an absolute right and wrong choice for everything we do. This means that there are absolute laws and absolute truth. There must be a maker of these laws. Man is not perfect, thus they came from a pefect being, which is God. Since God exists, and is perfect, and has an absolute law, then those that brek that law are criminals. Since all people are imperfect, then they must have broken those laws, thus all people are criminals. Since all people are criminals, then all people are required to pay the price for their crimes. Since God is perfect, criminals must be punished perfectly for their crimes, thus the punishment lasts forever. Since God is perfect, all crimes must be punished, unless there is a perfect ransom. How many imperfect works from an imperfect creature can make something perfect? Since God is only perfect, only a perfect God could be the ransom. It is a historical fact that Jesus Christ lived on the earth and performed great miracles. Jesus Christ claimed to be God. It is a historical fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and that there were great numbers of people claiming to see a risen Savior. It is a historical fact that you cannot find his bones. How can an imperfect person save themselves from breaking God's law? In every world religion and philosophy in the world this is by human effort or good deeds. Again, how many imperfect works does it take an imperfect creature to please a perfect God? If imperfect creatures could make themselves perfect, then their god must not be perfect, thus it is not God. A perfect God sent a perfect ransom, which was Jesus Christ, God's Son, which was God.
As an imperfect person, how can you understand perfection? God has provided the means for forgiveness and salvation.
Eternal destiny is a choice.
Ro 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Ro 10:10
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Ro 10:13
for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
2007-04-20 12:40:27 · answer #3 · answered by PJ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People are so blind as to see that this is not God's true way--
The earth was created for man and man for the earth--this s--- about going to heaven or hell has blinders on everyone--
Satan is soooo sinister and devious so as to lead people on and keeps perpetrating the LIE.
Many want the blame to be God's when in reality it is Satan who just had to have his way--he challenged God and God has given him a limited time. Then---the end of Satan and his system. Be patient because God is.
Atonement by blood is the requirement that God sets out for us to be forgiven and accepted by Him. The old way of sacrificial bulls and lambs was temporary and could never be permanent as Christ's shed blood is through His, Yhwh God's, offering to US.
2007-04-20 11:57:14 · answer #4 · answered by avaddohn-Apollyon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A) God did not change. People's perception OF Him did. Over time, folks got better and better at figuring Him out. As they did, as they grew progressively more "civilized" themselves, it became more and more obvious that God is certainly more civilized than we.
B) We were NOT created to be mere spirits. We are the bridge between the worlds of pure spirit and the material realm. Starting us out as pure spirit therefore makes no sense. Besides, He already HAS a creation of pure spirit. They're called angels.
C) And He didn't kill Christ. We did. By abusing our free will for selfish or mean-spirited purposes we made Jesus' sacrifice necessary.
D) Get it through your head that eternity is all about NOW. No past, no future, just NOW. And Jesus went into eternity between the crucifixion and the resurrection specifically to remove all human souls who wanted to spend their eternity with Him in heaven. That means, in words of simplicity, every single human being who ever was, is or will be is in eternity and has the chance to see Him, to hear Him and to choose Him. If'n they say "no", then that's that.
E) God does NOT UNcreate! Not even Satan.
F) There is NO punishment for using free will. Misuse of it simply brings negative consequences. Who among you are so proud, so stupid that you will deliberately refuse to listen to one who knows architecture when he tells you that your house, if constructed as you want, is gonna fall down and go boom?
2007-04-20 11:54:50 · answer #5 · answered by Granny Annie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God didn't want robots walking around. Evil was here before we came into existence. Therefore he gave us a choice of free will. To chose which path we will follow.
Adam and Eve sinned which caused man to be sinners.
But we can be born again and chose to follow Jesus and have eternal life. The bible says when we get to heaven there will be no more sorrow or tears.
2007-04-20 11:46:12 · answer #6 · answered by RM 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Problem: your -- or anyone's --concept of God ...
If you see God as the only creator, it is a little mystifying
If God is a force for good, faced by a Demon, a force for bad .... and both are fighting for victory ... then it is more understandable because they are both players on a stage (the world) which was made by a third party .....
Personally, I need to buy that ... because I can't understand a God who is bad in any way .... and I also see the need in joining the fight for the victory of good over evil .... because we only have as much good (God) as we attract by our prayers ..
and, as I experience it, there are demons in this world and we need to overpower them by our devotion to God and by behaving in Godly ways ...... it is an absolutely frightening prospect, but I don't see it any other way .... They say that on another level, the fight has already been won .... but I don't know about that!!! It looks so bad some days ... but right now, it is lovely weather outside and the sun is shining and I am listening to a really good video of a terriffic singer ... and all seems possible.... so, as the saying goes, fight to the finish!!!
Peace, Joy & Love to you ...
2007-04-20 11:49:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Where did the transition of the vengeful god to the unconditionally loving god occur? Through his son Jesus Christ!
God says that his mercy is just and He sent his son to gift you salvation!
Killing his son to prove his love is the ultimate sacrafice of ones love!
Children and "fools" will recieve the gift of salvation and we are all judged accordingly.
Satan is not a person to be killed. God can and he will destroy hell however.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof... He can do what he wants, when he wants, however he wants to a rebellious and sinful world... the consequences of sin is death and you can only be saved through Jesus Christ
.
2007-04-20 11:48:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
All good questions deserving of answers. As a pastor, it's my job to help set the record straight. God is love and has no ill intention for man at all. God created evil in order to give us free will so a true love relationship is possible, for love can only exist in freedom and not bondage.
Based on the truth of free will, evil is a problem that must be settled. Since God created the problem, God took the responsiblity to remedy the problem. Hence God sacrificed Himself to atone for the original problem of sin. God provided atonement for sin through no effort of man.
Consequently, it is complete and utter folly to attempt to live a life of morality in an attempt to be pleasing to God for God has already made us pleasing to Him. The hypocrisy of modern day religion has blinded the world to the simplicity of the true Gospel which is that all sin has already been atoned and all we humans need to do is to accept this fact and let God be God (ie, let Him provide the answer and stop trying to get to Him through our own works).
2007-04-20 11:49:18 · answer #9 · answered by al 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Satan will be defeated in the end. The Bible says that he will be tortured in the lake of fire and sulfur for eternity. God does everything for the purpose of His glory. I don't think honestly not knowing anything whatsoever about Christ will make you go directly to Hell. You have to deliberately reject Christ to go to Hell.
2007-04-20 11:43:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
We were created to serve and praise God. He created us so that we simple people could enjoy heaven with Him. But he knew that we would mess up, so he sent his Son to die for us, so that we would have a way to get to Heaven. That's just how it is. When someone does a crime, someone has to pay. We should be very happy that we didn't have to die on a cross...
2007-04-20 11:42:05 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋