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WHY WOULD A LOVING GOD ALLOW
INNOCENT CHILDREN TO SUFFER AND DIE?
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WHY WOULD A LOVING GOD LET PEOPLE
DIE? WHY WOULD GOD LET PEOPLE GO TO HELL?
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HOW CAN HE BE A LOVING GOD? WHY
DID GOD ALLOW MILLIONS TO BE KILLED IN WAR?
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IF PEOPLE HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT
JESUS, WILL THEY GO TO HELL WHEN THEY DIE?
*READ TO FIND THE ANSWERS*
Although I can understand
how you feel, I will give you a couple of things to consider that may or may
not change your point of view. I will make it clear right off that I don’t
have all the answers or know Gods reasons for doing everything he does.
(Just your luck, you picked the one preacher that doesn’t know everything!
Yep, I’m that guy you’ve heard about)
Ask yourself, what can we
(his creation) possibly give to God that would be of value? What can we give
God that he can’t just snap his fingers and make appear? Believe it or not,
there "is" something we can give to God that he can not create for himself.
Something of great value. You’ve heard the old saying: "what gift do you
give to the guy who has everything?" (Be patient and I will tell you)
Try for a moment to put
yourself in Gods place. What separates God from us, the angels or even
Satan? It is his ability to create. Not even Satan can create, only the
creator can do that. Thus it makes him unique, one of a kind and awesome.
Let's say your name is
"John Doe". If you built a robot and programmed it to say: "John is the
greatest! I Love John, John I dedicate my life to you . . etc.." Hearing
this praise come from the robot that you created would be meaningless. Why?
Because "free will" was not involved. However, if your spouse or any other
earthly person with free will said the same thing to you, it would touch
your heart deeply. Why? Because they don’t have to feel that way, but chose
too.
Evil is a necessary part
of free will. Without the evil, there is no choice. If good is the only
choice, then there is no choice at all. It would mean that God simply
programmed us to be a certain way that is pleasing to him. If that were the
case, even our praise and obedience to him would be meaningless. In which
case there would be absolutely nothing we could give to God. "Nothing".
You have heard thousands
of times preachers from every denomination quote Acts 10:34, that "God is no
respecter of persons".
Acts 10:34
- Then Peter opened
his
mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Preachers commonly throw
this scripture out there whenever it suits their immediate purpose and more
times than not, it’s out of context. This scripture simply means that
salvation is for "everyone", not just the Jews. (No more, no less)
Forgive me, but I’ll be
bold enough to say that: God "is" definitely a respecter of persons! He
favors those that love, worship and fear him. I have heard preachers say
that God has never intervened in our affairs here on earth unless someone
prayed about it first. Truthfully, I have not researched this but assume it
to be true. This means that God gives us free will and does not intrude
unless we specifically ask him to.
So, why did God allow
David the "apple of his eye" to kill tens of thousands of people, even
children? The answer is because Israel and David as a people called out to
God and asked for protection and victory. God did just that! Offered them
protection and victory. The other people did not. (God does not interfere
unless we ask him! ("Free will")
If your family (children
and all) were at war with another family (children and all) who would you
choose to be the victor if it were within your power?) Why did Gideon defeat
the Medians with only 300 soldiers. God "is" a respecter of persons and he
does help those who call out to him.
Can we truly blame God
when people die? Even little children? God gives us free will yet he stands
by ready to protect us, yet "We don’t ask him!" We as a people don’t call
out to him! Do you pray for your spouse or family every time they get in the
car and leave for work or other places? I do, every day! Do you pray for
your children while they are at school? I do! Every day.
Call me a fanatic, but I
even go out and anoint my wife’s car with oil and pray protection over it. I
do the same over my house, the children’s bedrooms and every other room. I
pray for protection against spiritual forces concerning my family and
myself. It seems like allot of trouble I know, but when disaster strikes,
you’ll wish you had. (Better to start now)
If we were given the gift
of free will and God respects that enough to "not" interfere in our lives
unless we ask him, isn’t it "our" duty to protect the children and pray Gods
protection on them? God made this so easy for us, that a chimpanzee could do
it, yet we don’t, and still blame God.
Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I say to you, all
things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and
they will be granted you.
Matthew 21:22 - "And all things you ask in
prayer, believing, you will receive."
Matthew 7:7 - "Ask, and it will be given to
you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Psalms 37:4 - Delight yourself in the LORD; And
He will give you the desires of your heart.
James 4:2 - You lust and do not have; so
you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight
and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
James 4:3 - You ask and do not receive, because
you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your
pleasures.
There are many more verses concerning this, these were only a few.
WILL PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF
JESUS CHRIST GO TO HELL?
As far as the people who
have not yet heard the good news, who is to say? You and I both have run
across people in our lifetimes that we are quick to say: "She is going to
Heaven" or "He is going to Hell". Like creation, that is reserved for the
Father only. We can not say who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Only
God can!
I would think only the
people who have heard, but rejected the good news have to worry, not those
who are ignorant of it.
Here are some scriptures
that you might find interesting. One refers to the good news of Jesus being
given to the dead, the other refers to Jesus himself preaching to the dead.
1 Peter 4:6
- For this was the reason why
the good news of Jesus was given
even to the dead,
so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before
God in the spirit.
Many scholars have many different points of view
concerning these scriptures. One point of view was that it refers to the
sinners of the old world, expressing a hope that some of them might be
saved;
1Peter 3:18
- Because Christ
once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of
sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death
in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;
1Peter 3:19 -
By whom he went to the spirits in
prison, preaching to those
1Peter 3:20 -
Who, in the days of Noah,
went against God's orders;
but God in his mercy kept
back the punishment,
while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight
persons, got salvation through water:
I have underlined the key words above.
"Christ" - (the one who went to the spirits in
prison)
"Spirits" - (not flesh, but dead)
"in the days of Noah" - (meaning hundreds or
thousands of years before Christ - they were dead and had not heard of Jesus
Christ)
"but God in his mercy kept back the punishment" -
(God can be merciful to who he wills as he wishes)
The point is, "we don’t
know". The scriptures are not crystal clear on this particular issue. God
"is" a loving God, so why not trust him on this and give him the benefit of
the doubt.
However, for God to be
God, there is only one requirement, that he has the power that he has!
That’s it! He is under no obligation to fit into our neat little box just
the way we want him to fit. The fact that he is a good and loving God is
simply a bonus for us. (How blessed we are)
If this particular topic
disturbs you, the question you should be asking yourself is: "What are you
going to do about it?" Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and
preach the gospel.
Mark 16:15
- And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
all creation.
Mark 16:16
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"He
who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has
disbelieved shall be condemned.
I will point out that,
people who have never heard of Jesus neither believe "or" disbelieve. As for
myself, I am just trusting God, that he has everything under control.
God is like this: A man
has two sons. One is rebellious and disrespectful, the other is obedient and
striving to be just like the father. It is clear which one will receive the
fathers inheritance.
Loving God? YES! He loved
you so much that he made it incredibly easy for you to enter the kingdom of
heaven. So easy, that all you have to do is accept his son who died on the
cross for you. Your entry to heaven is guaranteed. However, while you are
here on earth, if you want things to go better for you, it will require a
little action and faith on your part.
Just go pick someone at
random on the street and expect them to love and protect you. It won’t work.
However, pick the same person, prove and show love, loyalty and respect to
them, and you will get quite a different reaction from them. God is no
different in that respect.
So, the long awaited
answer to the question: "What can I give to God that he can not create for
himself?" The answer is: "You!" It is a gift he treasures and protects more
than gold and diamonds. Give God a gift today!
Did this help? Let me know
God Bless You
Dan Douglass
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POWER OF FAITH MINISTRIES
