He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love
First Epistle of John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament
I listened to a radio pastor the other night as he cast a warning to the wayward sinner of the retribution of the Lord. It was the same old song and dance I've heard from many a pastor, that God will not suffer the actions of the unrighteous. That those who know not the Lord will face an eternity of damnation. I thought to myself that this seemed strange for a loving and forgiving Father. For it is God Who created me in His own likeness, that I would be as He is {Genesis 1:27}. It is God who breathed into me the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. It is God who provided for the redemption of my sin condition {Johns Account 3:16-17}. Does this sound like the actions of a God who was hell bent on making me pay for each and every sin I've ever done? Now, I will admit that God definitely has within Him the hell fire nature which we read about most commonly in the days of the old testament. It was this side of the Father that condemned Sodom and Gomorrah {Genesis 19:24}. It was this nature of God that invoked the flood, destroying all which was on the earth, save for those He chose to spare {Genesis 6:17}. It is this other side of the Fathers nature that Christian pastors all too often point to when they speak of Gods retribution. More often than not, it is meant to scare the believer into submission with the Lord. But is this how God truly intended Himself to be known by His children? To live under the threat of His vengeance? How could God proclaim love and forgiveness while still submitting His creation to promises of revenge? And what of Jesus? Is the Lords vengeance even something for us to consider after Jesus took our sins upon Him at the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}? Obviously, the Father has shown us two natures, but there is one which He has chosen that He desires to be known as. That is, love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.
How that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing us in the word of the conciliation.
Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:19, Concordant New Testament
I do not believe that it is the desire of the Lord that His children live in fear of His retribution. However, this has been the mantra of the mainstream church for thousands of years. Where God looks upon the world with forgiveness, the church continues to preach the retribution of good and evil. The apostle Paul speaks to the one true nature of God when he speaks of the Father being in Christ bringing the world unto Himself. Does this sound like retribution? If God were truly interested in punishing the sinner, He would have separated the just from the unjust instead of reconciling the entire world to Himself {Johns Account 3:16-17}. Many believers struggle with the prospect of universal salvation, that all will be saved. They see the world through the lens of good versus evil and not through the Fathers eyes of love. That's a problem. For the world the Father desires to bring unto Himself continues to see Him in the wrong light. Many will argue that the old testament speaks to Gods desire that the wicked be punished. They fail to realize that this was before the redemption which we find through Christ Jesus. If God was truly intent upon punishment, then the cross of Christ would be meaningless. Jesus would have died for nothing. But it is through the Father IN Christ that the love of the Father is manifested. God has never sought to punish His creation, but to bring it unto Himself.
Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time! But he loves you. He loves you, and he needs money. He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money.
~George Carlin~
~Scott~
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