Posted on 07/28/2020 8:56:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A question that occurs to me is, if you didn’t want him for your 70 or 80 years on this earth, you aren’t going to want him in eternity. If you want him in eternity, you want him now.
I was asked once, by a atheist friend, why everyone can’t go to Heaven. I asked her “Why do you want to go to Heaven?” She looked at me, puzzled. I added “If Heaven is a place where you are eternally in the presence of God, why would an atheist want to be there?”
Beat me to it.
ive always believed that God doesnt damn anyone eternally, but the person rejecting God, damns him or herself.
Ping for later...
When you read of Satan in a Lake of Fire for eternity it can be off putting. Today’s society tries to rehabilitate the criminal. It would want Satan on non-psychotic drugs and on Freud’s couch talking about why he hates his dad God (Oedipus Complex). It would want him to become a productive member of society again. Our society can’t understand absolute evil or absolute good. It has a bit of both in it and wants to lessen evil and heighten the good. Absolute evil has one solution, one end and only one ultimate end.
To live with absolutes is hard for us and we tend to see it’s work as cruelty. If a father took his son and put him in a Lake of Fire for Eternity, that in today’s society would be seen as a cruel and unusual punishment. He would be hauled up to Family Court for such an offence. The same would apply to the way God seems to coldly allow his children to kill themselves. What loving father would allow that for his children? Why doesn’t he step in and stop it? This is parental neglect! Bang — God is dragged back into Family Court.
God has designed and built heaven. His rules will apply. You don’t get to pick and chose what you like. Many people will not want to live there. The alternative place is hell.
God's condemnation is right and just, and we actually condemn ourselves before we are judged by Him (by our actions and omissions).
Many people confuse redemption with salvation, therefore don't live by God's Law; thus freely choosing hell over heaven.
It's really basic rifle marksmanship. You either hit the target or you don't. Fortunately, God has furnished us with:
1. The perfect training manual that tells us exactly what we need to do to hit the target. 2. While we're here on earth, He gives us as much ammo and as many opportunities as we want to try to hit the target.
Some ignore the training manual completely. Some give it a half-hearted attempt and give up entirely after a few misses. Some simply walk away seeing no point in trying to hit the target.
A few do their best and keep trying.
They ask that question because they make a fundamental mistake, thinking God’s love and His wrath are opposites.
If some do not expect God to do in the end... that which He has promised since the beginning...then why are they watching His channel?
He doesn’t send souls there ... they choose it over loving God. It’s that simple.
All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God,I believe they/we do want Him, but they/we are also caught in a trap of their/our own design ... with the help of the enemy, of course, who is totally committed to our fall.
and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is,
and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;
We love our lives and we love the world, all of which are the gifts of a loving Father/God, but we fail, for whatever reason(s), to make the connections between the gifts and the Giver.
At the end, when we are shown Truth and the connections are made, for real, for those there will be a great weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, for the now obvious reasons.
Unfortunately, those reasons are not so obvious in this now. If this is the delusion 2 Thes 2:11 talks about, then it truly is very strong and difficult to overcome.
From the beginning, dying to oneself has always been a worthy challenge in our becoming a peaceful warrior of God, but not always a popular one.
They might or I might answer in their place that the theology or myth from their point of view is that heaven is pleasant and hell unpleasant. I think we could answer that the reason heaven is pleasant is because of the presence of God. That the fruits of the holy spirit are overflowing there and that as believers we desire all that. That is our prize that we aim for.
Souls choose to reject the love of God. I think it was C. S. Lewis who wrote that in the end we either say to God, “Thy will be done” or God says to us “Thy will be done” and we are cut off from the presence of God and the Light of Christ. The complete absence of God’s influence is something no mortal has ever experienced. Even the most heinous villains in history have been constantly surrounded by reminders of God: beauty, innocence, tenderness, birth, death, bravery, kindness, loyalty. Whatsoever entices us to do good comes from God. Remove that influence and He’ll is the natural result: a place filled with desperate, hateful predators who no longer have prey except each other, who hate all, trust none and can find no rest, satisfaction, peace, hope or allies where even their memories of goodness fade or are expunged. This is what they chose. This is what they get because they create it themselves.
Good answer!
My view as well... marking for later.
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