Quote:
Originally Posted by awareness
See what I mean about the book of Revelation. It makes for non-Christ-like thinking and believing. It makes for crazy.
Why do we seem to be drawn to an angry wrathful God? John, the real John, said, "God is Love," not God is wrath. Revelation must be a forgery. There's no Christ, that we see in the gospels, in it ... and the real John couldn't have written such a book.
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The earthly suffering in Revelation is bad, but nothing compared to eternal torment and damnation in hell which Jesus spent one third of his earthly ministry talking and warning about.
Many Christians struggle with reconciling a God of love with a God who is not only wrathful but is okay with eternal damnation and torment of souls. Some, such as Rob Bell and other Universalists have taken the view that an eternal hell and a God of love is incompatible and hell must only be temporary or it must not exist.
I believe it is possible to reconcile a God of love with a God of wrath who judges with eternal damnation/torment.
I've grown into a view of God as an incredibly powerful and holy misunderstood being who has trouble controlling his own holiness, though not to any fault of his own-- I like to conjure the picture of the incredible Hulk, or even the Sun which sustains life but can be indiscriminately powerful and kill.
Scripture says God is a consuming fire (Deut 4:24) and he dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:6). The OT is full of examples of God's wrath being poured out on unrepentant beings. He even almost wiped out the Israelites, the very people he chose and called out (Exodus 32:10), if not for Moses' intervention and intercession.
God's holiness even wipes out good, well intentioned people who are not aware of his power such as when Uzzah touched the ark to steady it and got zapped to death (2 Samuel 6:7). Does God delight in such wanton destruction?
Scripture says God does not delight in suffering and does not willingly bring affliction (Lamentation 3:33).
The Hebrew word picture for love is "the heart of the Father revealed". Deep inside God's being is heart of love, from which the source of all love in the universe emanates (1 John 4:7)-- and Jesus was the very expression of that love (John 14:9).
The problem of hell is really a problem of God's wrath and holiness which burns against sin, including all vessels which allow the sin to manifest and operate (1 John 3:8). God realizes this and did everything he could do to take care of the problem of his own holiness that would work in the system that he operates in.
The only thing that could appease God's wrath is something of value, no amount of silver or gold or works is enough as money has no value to God (Psalm 49:7-8), but only the sacrifice of a perfect life-- something that only God himself could accomplish by becoming a man. So God did not spare his one and only Son that he loved dearly to become the sacrifice that could appease His own wrath. This was the only solution to God's own holiness, as there was no other way. Jesus even begged the Father to find some other solution at Gethsemane, but there was none (Matthew 26:39)
So God did everything he could. The rest is up to us as God cannot violate our free will or force himself on us.
And it gets better. Not only are we saved from God's wrath, but by Jesus' blood we have access to the Holy of Holies, the Holiest place (Heb 10:19) and we will be able see God face to face (1 Cor 13:12).
We all should have been objects of God's wrath (Romans 9:22) but in his grace he considers us as his own children (Heb 12:6)!
It's impossible to fathom the depth of God's love and grace without also understanding the depths of his holiness. Rather than contradicting each other, God's holiness actually complements his love.