So Many People?
“Why does God create so many people if only a select few will ultimately be granted admission into heaven, it’s kind of cruel for all the rest”? Despite it’s 900 plus pages, this query is not directly addressed in the bible. So let’s think about it a bit. God isn’t cruel and doesn’t make mistakes, we just have difficulty understanding His purpose and ways. The bible does tell us this about ourselves, after we ate the fruit of the forbidden tree,”And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” (Genesis 3:22 NIV). The “us” is the Holy Trinity, the tree of life represents God’s pledge of immortality for our obedience. Our fall from grace resulted directly from our disobedience. In the beginning the pledge was for immortality (eternal life) for everyone in God’s creation. We only altered the positive outcome (eternal life), not the 7,000 year plan for humanity. Evil is the one variable which was never intended to be allowed into heaven. The number of people who will one day be directed through the narrow gate isn’t the complicating factor at all, the number of those who remain disobedient to God’s will is. The problems encountered during this life are of our (humanity’s) making. “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3 ESV). God didn’t open the door to aging, disease and death, we did, for even God’s most obedient servants. “Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” (Deuteronomy 34:7 ESV). The element of cruelty here, is the cruelty which we inflict on each other, whether blindly or intentionally. God just closed the door on “flesh”, not on the spirit of humanity!
God’s grace is available to all. It’s become readily apparent however, that all of us will not choose to abandon the “pleasures” and acts of disobedience which have become so commonplace in our societies, families and lives. The book of Revelation repeatedly mentions the Book of Life, written even before the creation, which includes the names of those granted adoption into God’s Kingdom. What is perfectly clear is that due to our history, the only way through the gate now, comes with Jesus and our choice to believe in, follow and obey God. This includes saying goodbye to our selfish, sinful, disobedient practices. So many people to choose from. Our way or God’s way?
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE (share)
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