Understanding the Kindness and the Severity of God

 

Have you ever heard someone say, "I don't understand God"? Perhaps that is a line that you have used yourself, having never been able to reconcile the things you have read or heard about God. May I offer you some food for thought?

As a disclaimer I need to say upfront, that I am not a theologian.  You will get that if you continue to read this page!  However I have been a follower of Jesus Christ, a lover of God, and a student of the Bible for over 60 years, and I continue to learn.  One of the things about the Christian life that I love, is that there is always something more to discover about God. The Apostle Paul who wrote most of our New Testament wrote this, Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! Romans 11:33.  If we could fully understand God, he wouldn't be God.  There is mystery about Him. But God made Himself more fully known through Jesus Christ, "His Son in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". Colossians 2:3

In writing to believers in Corinth Paul wrote, "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."             1 Corinthians 13:12. NLT. Paul was referring to having a full understanding when we meet Him.

Just as we cannot really know a person until we live under the same roof with them day in and day out, we can't even hope to begin to understand God unless we ask the Spirit of God to give us understanding.  Why, because as Paul writes, "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through  [or with the help of] the Spirit." 1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV.

It is not difficult, as we look around our world and as we watch the news, to see how evil our world has become, and how desperately people are trying to 'save the planet'.  In so many ways our society is becoming more and more unjust.  The rallying cry is for social justice, yet there is more inequity than ever.  Why?  Because people choose their own way and not God's way.  They  value the 'created' more than the Creator. They choose their own wisdom, rather than His. If we turn away from the all wise God, we can expect to walk in foolishness.  

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 9:10 (and many other verses), that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding...".  To fear God means to choose to believe and obey Him. Only then can we begin to understand and make sense of the principles of life, death, heaven, hell and eternity. 

God's truth, according to the Bible, is this; "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard." Romans 3:23.  Therefore if God is just, he must punish our disobedience. How does He do that?  "And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,  so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people." Hebrews 9:27-28.

So, in short, the kindness of God is that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to bear the penalty of sin for all who would believe in Him. They will receive eternal life in Heaven with God. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17

The severity (or justice) of God is that "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36.  

As I see our world "going to hell in a hand basket" as some say, and as I come nearer to the end of my life,  I feel an urgent desire for people to know and to understand,  that we get to choose our destination before we leave this earth.  We cannot just assume that our loved ones are 'up there' or that we 'hope to get there'. The good news is that we can be assured of our place in heaven if we choose to believe in and follow Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

Will you consider praying this prayer if you have never professed faith in God.  If you do, that please let me know so that I can encourage you in taking steps in your new life of hope in Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father I thank you for your kindness in sending Jesus to die for my sins. Help me to choose the wisdom of believing in and following Him in my daily life that I might be assured of a place in heaven with you forever.  Amen