A great theological quandary poses itself to everyone who ponders the realities of life.
We know God is good, for Jesus Himself asserted not only that God is good, but that God alone is good. Mark 10:18
Yet, if God is good, why is there sickness and sorrow and crime and hatred and terrorism and starvation and death among us?
If God were good but powerless, understanding our miserable existence
would be easy, but HE is not powerless, HE is omnipotent! He has all
power! Would not a good God who possesses all power, use that power to
remedy the abysmal human condition?
God has never changed, Malachi 3:6. He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," Hebrews 13:8, yet He has made man with a free will. Just as Adam and Eve chose to sin by disobeying God rather than to abide in Him, so have each of their descendants chosen to pursue a path of his choosing rather than to follow the path of the Holy One.
Perhaps you and I have not delved into the muck and the mire of depravity and criminality, but we have erred from the Righteous standard of the LORD who is altogether righteous. I John 2:29
The white lies we tell, the bit of gossip we indulge, the wayward thoughts that cross our minds, the endless list of 'little' things that mean nothing to us are of paramount importance to God, for His standard is absolute.
There are no degrees of sin to God. All unrighteousness is sin to Him because HE IS PERFECT, because HE IS HOLY.
You and I have no point of reference for perfection or for holiness, for we are imperfect and we are unholy. For us to begin to understand either of those characteristics, we must draw closer to JESUS. The closer we are to Him, the better we will know Him, and the better we know Him, the more clearly we will see His perfection and holiness.
In the contrast of ourselves to JESUS, we will say as did Isaiah, "Woe is me for I am undone, for I have seen the LORD." Isaiah 6:5
And the better we will understand how His allowing us to exercise our free will has contributed to the upheaval and sorrow and loss that fills the world we inhabit.
The LORD is good, and one day, "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." I John 3:2
On that day, we will abide with Him, and the glory of His goodness will "fill the Temple." Isaiah 6:1
God has never changed, Malachi 3:6. He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," Hebrews 13:8, yet He has made man with a free will. Just as Adam and Eve chose to sin by disobeying God rather than to abide in Him, so have each of their descendants chosen to pursue a path of his choosing rather than to follow the path of the Holy One.
Perhaps you and I have not delved into the muck and the mire of depravity and criminality, but we have erred from the Righteous standard of the LORD who is altogether righteous. I John 2:29
The white lies we tell, the bit of gossip we indulge, the wayward thoughts that cross our minds, the endless list of 'little' things that mean nothing to us are of paramount importance to God, for His standard is absolute.
There are no degrees of sin to God. All unrighteousness is sin to Him because HE IS PERFECT, because HE IS HOLY.
You and I have no point of reference for perfection or for holiness, for we are imperfect and we are unholy. For us to begin to understand either of those characteristics, we must draw closer to JESUS. The closer we are to Him, the better we will know Him, and the better we know Him, the more clearly we will see His perfection and holiness.
In the contrast of ourselves to JESUS, we will say as did Isaiah, "Woe is me for I am undone, for I have seen the LORD." Isaiah 6:5
And the better we will understand how His allowing us to exercise our free will has contributed to the upheaval and sorrow and loss that fills the world we inhabit.
The LORD is good, and one day, "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." I John 3:2
On that day, we will abide with Him, and the glory of His goodness will "fill the Temple." Isaiah 6:1
No comments:
Post a Comment