The stories of the Bible concern men and women whose obedience and faith were tested. Some succeeded and passed their test. Others failed. God rewarded those who succeeded and caused those who failed to suffer for their sins. But from God's point of view, the success or failure of man's faith only matters in a temporal sense. One man succeeds and God rewards him. Another fails and suffers for his sins.
But to God, the most important and overriding question is this: Can God and His creations be permanently destroyed by sin? The ultimate test is the test of God's Love. Can God continue to love a fallen race sullied by sin, an affront to God's holiness? Even when the Devil causes man to do his worst to each other, can God still love him? God cannot allow the Devil to cause a permanent destruction of any of God's goodness that He originally put into man. That effect would cause God's Love to fail, and the eventual destruction of God. I Corinthians 13:8. For this reason, God must save man by grace and recover all His goodness that He put into man and recreate the entire human race. Colossians 1:15-20.
Man suffers for his sins on a temporal basis, but man also suffers from the danger of being separated from God forever in hell under the Devil's control. This possibility means sin can cause a permanent spiritual death in mankind. Sin and death are two sides of the same coin. Sin separates a person from God, and this separation is spiritual death. Romans 6:23. In I Corinthians 15:26, God promised man that He would destroy death, the last enemy of God and man. This promise must mean that God will destroy all separation from Himself. This can only mean that God must recover and cleanse all that He originally created from its being sullied by sin and recreate it to be wholly righteous. Revelation 21:5; Revelation 22:11-12.
To a certain extent, a person can avoid a lot of his temporary suffering for his sins by yielding his life to his good nature by being moral and doing good works. But man finds it impossible to save himself from a permanent separation from God because of his sins. Luke 18:26-27. To accomplish this monumental task of saving man, God in His love and compassion for a lost humanity and to prove that His Love is all-powerful and can never be destroyed, God became a perfect man, took all the sins that cause permanent separation from God on Himself on a cruel cross, paid that permanent penalty for man's sin in his place, and rose from the dead to prove His power over sin and permanent death. Acts 26:18; II Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:20; Matthew 27:46; Romans 7:24-25; I Corinthians 15:20-27. In Luke 23:34, Jesus prayed for His Father to forgive all humanity whose sins had caused Him to be nailed to the cross. How could His Father not give Jesus that which He prayed for?
No comments:
Post a Comment