The Great Reversal:

We have effaced God's good creation through The loving of self with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all of our mind, and we love neighbor after ourselves. This is the great commandment in reverse. Jesus told us we were to put God not self in this imminent position of love. We see the sad effect that this great reversal is having on our planet daily. Therefore because the enthroning of self has destroyed the joy intended by God for his creation, he will banish all rebels from his joyful kingdom.Through the distoring of the great commandment by enthroning of ourselves in the place of God; we look to the creature instead of the author of life for our value and our worth, this pursuit will always fail. God intended our value to be found in loving God first and then our love for one another. The good news is that God has sent his son to rescue us from this perversion and restore us to the Father.All who receive the free undeserved mercy and grace of God through faith in Jesus Life, death, and resurrection,in the place of rebels, are eternally accepted and loved by God.I once read " God does not love us because we are valuable, we are valuable because God chose to love us".Our value as human beings is derived from and totally dependent upon God.All those in Christ are eternally loved by the Father.Only by accepting this will a person find rest from the fruitless pursuit of self worth. Breath a sigh of relief!

Do people have intrinsic value #3

In my first and second article I have shown that both the religious and the ire-religious are enslaved to a list of rules and strictures that they must comply with in order for to achieve self-validation or a sense of worthiness. I have mentioned that those who do not live up to these standards are full of self-loathing, guilt, and shame some even lose the will to live. On the other hand those who feel they live up to their standards (though none do perfectly) have an inflated sense of ego and look down their noses at those who fail to meet their performance level. Both those who fail, or those who believe they succeed live lives that are less than desirable. The one group are depressed the other are full of pride. Are people truly valuable outside of achievements and personnel success? America's bill of rights seems to think so. I am not writing this to say that we should not live by standards or that we should not have goals; what I am saying though is that to base our importance as human being on these things is to base it on an unstable foundation. There are many who cannot perform any task without help and there are those who through no fault of their own have failed to be successful you could be one of them for no one knows the future. In my next post I will try to show you why humanity has dignity and value outside of our ability to perform.

Sinking sand or stable ground

People will try to achieve self-validation through being the best mom, or a superior athlete, or being at the top of their field. Some will feel valuable as a person for things as shallow as beauty or having the best stamp collection in town. People will work hard and sacrifice many things to earn a sense of value and purpose in life. What happens though to the mom's sense of value when her kids turn out badly, or the beauty queen when she loses her beauty? None of these things are wrong in themselves but if they become the basis of their self worth their identity is built on sinking sand. They may not fall apart like many do, but may rebuild their sense of value on some other unstable foundation. Why does humanity work so hard to achieve a sense of value? What has caused this sense of emptiness? Should not people work from a secure sense of value instead of working to achieve value?

Religion seen as a straightjacket

Religion is seen as a straightjacket to many and I would agree. There is a lifetime of demands and rules that religions require in order for a person to win god's favor. No one is capable of keeping all of these demands so they are full of guilt and shame. Those who are not religious also wear a similar straightjacket. The non-religious have just as many rules and demands they must satisfy to gain self-validation and a sense of purpose as the religious do. If the irreligious are to be validated as people of worth they must satisfy the demand of self as well as those socially demanded of them. These rules are set in stone and when they falter in fulfilling them they feel guilt and shame. If they completely fail even through no fault of their own they may perceive that their existence is meaningless and lose their will to live. All of us want to feel successful in life and that our life has meaning. Why are human beings so empty that they feel the only way their life matters is if they fulfill some standard of outward achievements or works? Do people have intrinsic value even when they are unable to give back to society? If so, what gives humanity value over other animals?

 

Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace (p. 19):

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace.

And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.

And from pp. 22-23:

Pharisee-type believers unconsciously think they have earned God's blessing through their behavior.

Guilt-laden believers are quite sure they have forfeited God's blessing through their lack of discipline or their disobedience.

Both have forgotten the meaning of grace because they have moved away from the gospel and have slipped into a performance relationship with God.

HT: Tullian

God the Eternal Son in His great mercy willingly came to earth on a rescue mission through the womb of a woman to seek and save that which was lost (rescue sinners) (Luke 19:10); (2 Cor 5:19). Sin could not be swept under the cosmic rug nor could it be overlooked without God appearing unrighteous, or being looked upon as being a liar. Sin will be punished, God is a loving Father, but at the same time He is a Just Judge. God’s righteousness would be called into question and rightfully so if God did not punish evil.
God refrained from destroying all of humanity on the day that Adam and Eve rebelled by allowing them to live and have children.If God had dealt with Adam and Eve as they deserved He would have destroyed them on the day of their rebellion, and banished them from His eternal kingdom.Since all of humanity came from the loins of our first parents their end would have been ours, and therefore the end of the human race.God in mercy spared our first parents and chose to demonstrate both His love for humanity and His hatred of sin by sending Christ the Eternal Son of God to rescue us. Christ the Eternal Son willingly absorbed in His own body the wrath due our sins so that we could be reconciled to God. When we look at the cross we should see how terrible our rebellion against God is, and that sin cannot go unpunished. Those who refuse God’s infinite love displayed in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection will face God’s just wrath in the future. The beauty of God’s grace shines brightly in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ for our sins. (John 3:17) For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him. (John 1:29) "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. There is only one remedy for our sins and today you can receive it through believing in the life,death, and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

God is love therefore will not punish sin:

Many people believe that all good people will go to heaven that heaven is their reward for being nice. They believe that God is to nice to banish anyone from their eternal reward. God is a God of love they explain and therefore would never punish anyone. The fact is because God is a God of love He hates all evil and all that is unloving and unkind. For God to tolerate any evil would make Him a monster not a God of love. As light invades a dark room and darkness is banished; all that is evil must be banished from God's eternal kingdom. All of humanity has contributed the evil in this world by being unloving to their neighbors as well as not honoring and loving the God who created them. The good news is that God has provided a way to forgive and remove our sins. I will continue this topic in my next blog.

Christians are no better than others

Christians are not saved because they are good; they are saved because they have been forgiven. You will notice that there are many people in the world that are far better people than many Christians. There are people who are far nicer than I am and whose list of good deeds and charity far exceed mine, and I am a Christian. Yet with all their good deeds and charity they are still under God's wrath because their sin remains. Therefore as a Christian I do not feel that I am better than others for I have been a rebel against God as all people have. The difference between a Christian and those who are not is that we have received God's only remedy for our sin. God has provided what no man could provide a way to receive forgiveness of sins. Faith in Christ sinless life, death for our sin, and Christ's resurrection is the only way to receive forgiveness of sin, and be reconciled to God. The Gospel of John says in chapter one verse 29, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Become one of the forgiven and God will adopt you into His family today!

My wife blogged this inspirational piece

clipped from stockmanbrood.blogspot.com

Have you ever tried to touch a person behind glass? That sensory experience is lacking in warmth. The gentle touch of a person holding your hand can be so comforting. One of my favorites is the great big bear hug as long as it doesn’t suffocate you. That is a tremendous affectionate gift. We humans thrive on touch. Babies who lack it can die or grow up with challenging issues. So have you ever tried to touch a person behind glass?
She was to arrive soon. The weather was windy, stormy, and wet, very wet. I’d been praying for her safety. Then the phone call came. She couldn’t come and would I go in her stead. I said yes but my heart began pounding in my throat and I felt a cold sweat go over my being.
As I drove southwest, the desert tumbleweeds raced across my vision and the road. I began to worry. Could I do this by myself? My husband was unable to go with me and I was alone, but was I really? My little compact vehicle shivered in the wind.
The large imposing buildings came into my view. The intimidating towers and fences with circular wire intertwined above them, made me feel watched and entrapped. I began to make my way through the parking lot and into the first building. Then I began to have a silly thought about my underwire bra. Earlier there’d be a two-do about the wires. Wires are unacceptable. For a previous visit with others, a sports bra was necessary. This time I was prepared with the right equipment.
As I journeyed alone through the building and into the various sections, passing more buildings along with way, I noticed the starkness and severity of the place. The grounds were tidy, almost unnaturally so.The atmosphere was filled with silence and despair. There was no trash in evidence. The next building was my destination. I entered the waiting room and preceded passed the tables filled with visitors and residents.
In my vision, two glass windows came into view. In front of one, was a chair. I sat down and waited. Would he be disappointed to see me instead of her? Yet as he came through the door, a big grin filled his face. I apologized for my appearance instead of hers and began to jabber and asked questions. Even though we couldn’t hug, I began to feel that our minds and emotions were touching. My eyes welled up tears off & on. The hour passed and then another half. A signal was given. I was thankful for the extra half and hour.
I placed my hand against the glass as he did. Only a fraction of an inch separated our hands. Then it was time to go. I did not know how many years it would be until I touched him again.
After I left, I called her or did she call her me? Whatever, that doesn’t matter. What matters is as we spoke on the phone we both choked up but also laughed as she asked questions. Again spirits & minds touched.
All of us had been touched not physically but, mental, spiritually and emotionally. There was mysterious and yet wonderful satisfaction in that. I look forward to the actual physical touch with him. A great big bear hug that I don’t even care if I am unable to breathe for a time, as long as I get to have the physical touch next year. Then I will be satisfied all over and under.
At times my feelings of Jesus are the same as I try to touch Him through the glass; which is obscured at times, even shadowy and dark. Other times, I have a wonderful satisfaction in the spiritual sense that He has touched me and I touched Him. One day, I will finally be able to see Him face to face, body to body, & finally that long satisfying bear hug with my Friend, Savior, Brother, and Lord, Christ Jesus.

I Corinthians 12:13 “…for we see now through a dim window obscurely, but then face to face;…” (1890 Darby Bible)

Is penal atonement cosmic child abuse?

Penal substitution is viewed by many today as purporting a violent view of the atonement.Therefore it is also viewed as being detrimental to our perception of the character of God. There are those who would prefer to discard the penal substitution view of atonement and exchange it with a softer more winsome view. I would like to defend the penal substitution model as being the heart and center of biblical atonement. Therefore this model of atonement is the only way that God could rescue sinners and uphold his justice simultaneously. Here is what some are saying about the penal substitution view,

Weaver says,
“To then say that God the Father killed Jesus in order to pay the debt, and that the killing of Jesus is a model of divine child abuse may be a provocative image—but it flows from the logic of satisfaction atonement itself (….) Make no mistake about it. Satisfaction atonement in any form depends on divinely sanctioned violence that follows from the assumption that doing justice means punishment” The Nonviolent Atonement(202-203).

Green and Baker declare,
“Whatever meaning atonement might have, it would be a grave error to imagine that it focused on assuaging God’s anger or winning God’s merciful attention. [….] The Scriptures as a whole provide no ground for a portrait of an angry God needing to be appeased in atoning sacrifice” Recovering The Scandal Of The Cross: Atonement in
New Testament & Contemporary Contents (51).

I found within my reading that the authors who have a distaste for penal substitution, also had a desire to protect God from the accusation that God is actively punishes sin. For God to do so would make God out, not to be holy in their view, but a perpetrator of violence. It is purported by some that for God to be actively involved in punishing people is to open God up to the accusation of not practicing what God preaches, for instance turn the other cheek, (Sermon on the Mount). I do not see God’s active judgment upon sin as condoning violence in humanity, as the authors mentioned above do. God is the only one who is given the ultimate authority to judge, or has the right to take vengeance. The scripture asserts that God does not condone humanities violent acts. When God is angry at sin it will always be righteous anger and God’s judgment will be just and perfect. This is unlike human anger that is always unholy and tainted by prejudices. God never throws cosmic temper tantrums but all his attributes are in harmony with each other (like love & purity). God’s anger and judgment is always just and holy, unlike people who lose control and respond unjustly and without good sense.
God’s laws reflect the very character of who God is, what God loves what God hates they are a reflection of the nature of God. God’s law and the consequences for breaking the law are seen by many as something outside of God control, and are viewed as just the natural consequences due sin ( like gravity for instance). The law of God and the outpouring of God’ righteous wrath upon law breakers is an outward manifestation of the inward nature of God’s love for purity and good. To do away with God’s righteous anger and punishment of sin is to do away with God’s all consuming love for purity, justice, and holiness. God is a person with likes and dislikes not an impersonal force Therefore the very opposite reaction of one who loves righteousness will be to abhor evil and to be angered by it. Packer says,

“Would a God who did not react adversely to evil in this world be morally perfect? Surly not! But it is precisely this adverse reaction to evil, which is a necessary part of moral perfection, which the Bible has in view when it speaks of God’s wrath” Knowing God (151).

God the Eternal Son in His great mercy willingly came to earth on a rescue mission through the womb of a woman to seek and save that which was lost (rescue sinners) (Luke 19:10); (2 Cor 5:19). Sin could not be swept under the cosmic rug nor could it be overlooked without God appearing unrighteous or being looked upon as being a liar, Sin will be punished, God is a loving Father, but at the same time He is a Just Judge. God’s righteousness was called into question concerning why He allowed so many sins in the past to go unpunished. Was God righteous in letting so many sins in the Old Testament go unpunished like David and Bathsheba for instance? The answer to this question is found in these verses (Rom 3: 25-26).
God refrained from fully condemning sin from Adam to this day because He would demonstrate both His love and His hatred of sin through Christ the Eternal Son of God. Christ the Eternal Son willingly absorbed in His own body the wrath due our sins so that we could be reconciled to God. When we look at the cross we should see how terrible our rebellion against God is, and that sin cannot go unpunished. Those who refuse God’s infinite love displayed in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection will face God’s wrath in the future. The beauty of God’s grace shines brightly in the substituionary life, death, and resurrection of Christ for our sins. (John 3:17) For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him.

Conception: God kicked Mary from within her womb!

clipped from www.enjoyinggodministries.com Conception: God became a fertilized egg! An embryo. A fetus. God kicked Mary from within her womb! Birth: God entered the world as a baby, amid the stench of manure and cobwebs and prickly hay in a stable. Mary cradled the Creator in her arms. "I never imagined God would look like that," she says to herself. Envision the newborn Jesus with a misshaped head, wrinkled skin, and a red face. Just think: angels watched as Mary changed God's diapers! Tiny hands that would touch and heal the sick and yet be ripped by nails. Eyes (what color were they?). Tiny feet (where would they take him?) that likewise would be pierced by nails. She tickled his side (which would one day be lanced with a spear).

The Mystery of the Incarnation and Humanity of Jesus

clipped from www.enjoyinggodministries.com The Word became flesh / God became human / the invisible became visible / the untouchable became touchable / eternal life experienced temporal death / the transcendent one descended and drew near / the unlimited became limited / the infinite became finite / the immutable became mutable / the unbreakable became fragile /spirit became matter / eternity entered time / the independent became dependent / the almighty became weak / the loved became the hated / the exalted was humbled / glory was subjected to shame / fame turned into obscurity / from inexpressible joy to tears of unimaginable grief / from a throne to a cross / from ruler to being ruled / from power to weakness.

Amazing Love

clipped from firstimportance.org And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. “The paradox is amazing. The Creator assumed the human frailty of his creatures. The Eternal One entered time. The all-powerful made himself vulnerable. The all-holy exposed himself to temptation. And in the end the immortal died.” - John Stott, The Incomparable Christ

Biblical worth of a woman; Worth Reafirmed

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Ravi Zacharias Against Atheistic Feminism

One speaker I have enjoyed much these last several months is Christian Philosopher Ravi Zacharias. Here at Penn State University in a Q&A he answers a young woman's question about the Bible's approach to women. Ravi responds with a concise picture of God's view of women in the Bible and confronts atheistic feminism.

Stop and look! There is good all around you.

We need to take some time to get away from our hectic schedules and the daily stress that fills our lives. We should take time to be aware of the gift of life and all the diverse beauty that is all around us. There are those who refuse to acknowledge the love of God because there is so much evil and pain in this life. But if God is the monster that some make him out to be why did he create a world full of color? Have you ever taken time during the fall season to thank God for the trees and their changing colors? This changing kaleidoscope of colors was created for your pleasure? God could have created us to eat only because of hunger, without the ability to enjoy the diverse tastes and numerous flavors of our foods. What about the gift of sex, have you ever thanked God for the enjoyment of sex? God could have created a world where sexual intercourse was only for procreation, and where the sexual act only caused pain and not pleasure. Think of the sense of touch and the God given ability to feel differing textures, this also is a gift. Have you ever thanked God for the ability to feel the warmth of a warm shower? Think of the many times when you came in from a very cold day and were able to sit by the fireplace and enjoy its comforting warmth. Think of the joy that comes from hearing a little child’s laughter, or your own ability to laugh. What would this world be like without the ability to cry? These are all wonderful gifts lavished on us by a God who loves all of humanity. The greatest of all gifts that God has given to us is the ability to love and to be loved, and the ability to be an instrument of comfort to those who are hurting. These are all gifts of God! Yes, in this world there is a mixture of evil and good, sorrow and joy, pain and pleasure, but as you can see even though we lack the ability to explain how God can be a God of love and yet allow evil to exist in this world; there is so much good in the midst of evil, that if we will open our eyes to it, it screams out to us every day that God loves us. Have you taken time to thank God this day for all the goodness he has abundantly bestowed upon you?

Do we work for eternal life or is it a gift?

Natural life itself is a free-gift given to us by God. We did not merit, nor earn it, nor did we deserve to be born into the natural world, but we were created by God’s choice. Spiritual life is also a gift of God's grace freely given to those who believe in Jesus. Now one of the ways we can tell the difference between a corpse and an individual that is alive is through the motion and workings of the body. Where there is human life there is movement, at the very least we will detect a heartbeat. Therefore, those who are spiritually alive (born again) have received from God a new heart with new affections whose strongest inclination is to love God and ones neighbor. This new hearts motion and bent leans towards a life of good works that desires to be pleasing to the Father who has adopted us. The Christian does not do good works to obtain eternal-life, but because we already possess eternal-life we do good works. The same principle applies to natural life, people work and move not to obtain life, but they do so because they already possess the gift of life. These distinctions are important to point out when discussing the subject of good works and how they relate to us as Christians. Bing good is not the way that a Christian obtains salvation (adoption into God's family).For a Christian Works are a sign of life a confirmation that we have already received forgiveness, and new life in Christ. The major difference between Christianity and other religions is, other religions require that you have to rescue yourself through obtaining more good works in this life than bad, and then you will receive the favor of God and paradise. But Christianity declares that you and I are totally helpless to rescue ourselves through our good deeds. therefore God sent His son from heaven to earth on a rescue mission to save those who are hopelessly lost and cannot save themselves. John 6:23 For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is not out to rain on your parade

God did not give His law to us in order to rain on our parade, or for the purpose of taking all the joy out of our lives. God’s law was given to deter us from the self-worship that results in broken relationships, shattered families, as well as dysfunctional communities. When Jesus was asked to explain what commandment was the greatest,
Jesus replied: 37" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matt 22: 37- 40).

As you can see the commandments were given for the purpose of creating healthy loving relationships first with God and then with our neighbors’. Can you imagine with me what this world would be like if everyone everywhere throughout the world kept these two commands perfectly; earth would be a utopia, love would reign supreme, and the earth would be at peace? God did not give his commands to us to take the joy out of our lives, but to show us the way to a world without evil, a world of peace and genuine love. Now none of us loves perfectly in this world therefore we will continue to live at odds with our Creator if we reject Jesus the only Saviour. Neighbors will continue to fight neighbors, and nations will continue to be at war with nations. Therefore none of us can point the finger at others as if they are the problem for we have all been unloving and have added to the sin problem. Humanity will never come to a place where we will love again perfectly in this present fallen world because our relationship with the God of love has been broken through our self-centered obsession. Therefore if God were to allow one unloving self- worshipping person into His coming Kingdom of love, that one individual would carry within them the seed of rebellion that would infect the world once again with evil, war, and fractured relationships. God would not be a God of love and righteousness if he allowed those into His kingdom who would once again pollute His perfect world. So we need to stop accusing God of being unloving for banishing all rebels to hell, for if He were to allow one rebel in heaven, heaven would no longer be heaven. None of us would like to enter a world after we die and then live again that is ruled by selfishness and greed again, such as this one! We have already infected this planet with our unloving self-centered way therefore humanity will never be able to bring about a world were peace and love reign. But one of the titles given to Jesus is the title of “prince of peace”. He will return to this earth and establish a world at peace, a world where there is nothing that ever dies or ever grows old, a world vibrant with life and no decay or rust. This is the world that all peoples have been invited to be a part of, is a community of perfect love. We have been commanded by God to reject our unloving self-centered ways and to receive the pardon for our sin’s that God through the cross of Christ has won for us. If we do so, we will be forgiven all of our selfishness and will be reconciled back into a right relationship with God. This world community of love is the heritage of all the adopted sons and daughters of God their loving Father. Believe!

It does not matter who you think God is! Does it?

Since the rebellion of Adam and Eve, humanity has belittled and demeaned our creator by worshiping and loving god’s who are not God at all but are figments of our evil imagination. We proclaim to be worshiping God when in reality we have fashioned gods that look allot like us. These are gods we can live with because they are under our control and power. This is why there are so many conflicting views about who God is. There are multitudes of peddlers on every street corner who will sell you the god who best conforms to your ideas of him or her. Humanity perceives God to be like a wet lump of clay that we can form and mold into whatever image suits our fancy. Of course it is obvious that if God is whatever you or I perceive him or her to be then there is no God, and he is just a figment of mans ingenuity and imagination. Many people speak of god as if he is a magic potion or panacea. We often here this said, if your idea of god makes you happy and a better person then your religion is good for you, or my view of god may differ from yours but they both lead to the same end by making us happier and better people.

If the above logic is true then God is not a person that has attributes of love, hate, likes and dislikes, he is just a collection of diverse ideas that supposedly makes people feel and act better. There is another possibility to consider though, and that is that God does truly exist (He is not just an idea) and demands to be loved and served as He truly is, and that He is angry every day to be misrepresented and slandered by the people He created and whose hearts He keeps beating.

• (NLT) Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Heartache of Striving for Acceptence

Bob's parents went out of town for a few days and trusted Bob to care for the house while they were away. Bob in desperation to feed his addiction broke into his fathers coin collection sold it and pocketed the money.Bob reported to the police that when he came home from a date he had found the house broken into and the coin collection gone. All the clues pointed to the fact that Bob had been the real thief. After seeing that the evidence was stacked against him, Bob confessed to the police, and to his parents what he had done. Bob's parents were unaware that he was an addict and were undone by this revelation, for they had always tried to be good parents. Bob being under age at the time underwent drug rehab and eventually overcame his addiction. Bob's parents were heartbroken not because of the loss of the coin collection, but over the loss of their son's trust and the self-destructive path he was following. The father did all he could to reconcile his lost son back to him. Bob truly broke down in repentance and sorrow for the hurt and anguish that he had caused his parents. Though Bob's father and mother had completely forgiven their son, he could not grasp the fact that they could forgive him. Bob was continually striving to win back his parents approval by becoming the best student, athlete, and obedient son that parents could ever ask for. Bob never returned to the fun outgoing happy person of his childhood but seemed always focused on excellence in every area of his life to the point of obsession. Other parents used to compliment Bob's parents on raising such an outstanding student and excellent citizen, and athlete. They would declare "if only my kid could be more like your Bob and less like the irresponsible teenager that he is". The problem was that Bob's parents would do anything to see their son a little less perfect and allot more relaxed. They new that no matter how many times they had let Bob know how much they loved him and that they had forgiven the past, Bob was incapable of receiving it. This inability to receive their forgiveness and love caused them to cry many tears together and to look for new ways that might help him to embrace from the heart their forgiveness and love. Bob put himself through needless pain in striving to win his parents love and approval because it had already been given to him, he just needed to receive it. Many believers in Jesus could spare themselves hours and days of needless pain if they would quit their endless striving to win God's forgiveness,approval, and love. A life lived in moral perfection and obedience in order to gain God's love and approval will only grieve God's heart as it did the parents of Bob. There is a wall of separation placed between you and God. This wall has been erected not by God but by your unwillingness to embrace with your heart the love and forgiveness that God already has for you. God has received, forgiven and adopted you as His children, all of you who believe in Christ's life, death, and resurrection for your sins. Relax and enjoy God and life. You are God's kids, and God takes great pleasure in seeing His kids delight in Him and the life that He has given. (Romans 8:15) "So you have not received a spirit of fear that makes you fearful slaves. Instead you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, Abba, Father."

God loves all that is good

God's laws and the just judgments decreed upon lawbreakers reflect the very character of who God is to us. God's anger against evil and love for all that is just and pure is a spotlight that reveals the very character and nature of God to humanity. The law of God and the outpouring of God' righteous wrath upon law breakers is seen by many as unloving, but can you imagine what a God would be like whose nature was not to oppose evil but to reward it. God's anger and punishment of evil is an outward manifestation of the inward nature of God's love for all that is pure, just, and good. To do away with God's righteous anger and punishment of sin would be to do away with God's all consuming love for purity, justice, and holiness. God is a person with likes and dislikes not an impersonal force. Therefore the very opposite reaction of one who loves righteousness will be to abhor evil and to be angered by it. Packer says in his book Knowing God,

"Would a God who did not react adversely to evil in this world be morally perfect? Surly not! But it is precisely this adverse reaction to evil, which is a necessary part of moral perfection, which the Bible has in view when it speaks of God's wrath" (151).

 

The bible most clearly portrays that God is actively involved in punishing sinners and that our sin is what separates us from God. Therefore everyday when we see violence, broken relationships, and death we are beholding the consequence of humanity living under the judgment of God's curse upon a self-worshiping and self-centered world. The good news though is that is not the end of our story. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 6:23).