The Graveyard Of Christian Hope

 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.  

1 Corinthians 15: 22 NKJV 

I heard a radio pastor make a astounding claim this past week.  In his sermon, this pulpit pounder stated that "God hates anything which is against those He loves."  The first thing I thought about was, God hates His own children?  Seriously, how many of us have experienced other people, even other fellow believers, being against us at one time or another?  Does God hate them?  Does God even hate me for being against other believers when I have?  Can you see how this could play havoc with a believer who does not know any better?  A believer who does not know the true nature of God {1 John4:8}.  In my young Christian church going days I would have heard a statement such as this and felt as if all was lost.  I know that I have been against other people at times, so God must hate me.  So, this God of love must hate me, right?  Wrong.  Like many messages coming out of mainstream church theology, this one has no basis on the truth.  The truth is that God is loving and merciful.  The truth is that He desires for ALL to be saved and come to abide in Him {1 Corinthians 15:22. 2 Corinthians 5:15, Romans 5:19}.  It has never been the Lords desire that anyone be left out of His presence.  Yet, if you listen to most church messages, you will surely come across more than a few that claim that our sins prevent us from experiencing all of the fullness of the Lord.  Talk about living in the past.  For that is exactly where our old sin nature lies dead now...in the past {Romans 6:6, Romans 5:18}.  I cannot claim that church theology is designed to squash the hopes of believers, but it certainly looks that way at times.  For how can God fearing Christians hope to live in the forgiveness of God if the sin card is continually being held over our heads?  I believe that it is impossible...save for the knowledge of the truth of God and all which He has accomplished through Christ Jesus.  

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  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: 16 - 17 NKJV 

A good friend of mine commented to me after I told him of the radio preachers comments that this falls in line with contemporary church theology, to place the focus on sin and not on Christ Jesus who defeated sin and death {Romans 6:9}.  I agree.  I've lived it.  I've sat through countless sermons from pastors who, knowing that Christ provided for the forgiveness of our sins, continued to speak to my sin as a barrier to experiencing the fullness of the Lord.  In this way, I needed to continue to live on that hamster wheel of chasing Gods forgiveness yet being told that the best I could ever do is to be "like" Jesus.  Well, the apostle Paul claimed that not only are we "like" Jesus, but that we ARE Christ who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  Walk into any church on a Sunday and try to proclaim that before the congregation.  Soon, you'll be hearing words like "heresy" and "blasphemy" before they try to convince you that you need saving from these devilish thoughts.  Yet the scriptures make it clear that our sins are indeed forgiven and that Christ lives in us.  Not long ago I watched the 2018 film Come Sunday which details the situation of Bishop Carlton Pearson.  It was Pearson who shocked his congregation by mentioning the idea that all of Gods children would be saved.  Well, in the end, Pearson lost his ministry, his home and many of the things he owned.  His life in the ministry seemed all but finished simply because he spoke to the truth of God.  So yes, walk into any church this Sunday and proclaim to all in attendance that sin is dead and that all of Gods children will be saved.  Then, let me know how that works out for you.  I might not be a prophet, but I can pretty much tell the outcome of that venture already.  For is is far easier for the church to fill empty seats speaking to sin than it will ever be to speak the truth of living in the fullness of Gods love and forgiveness.  

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6: 6 - 11 

~Scott~