I want to apologize in advance if this post comes off a tad brash, as my inspiration to write this is a bit disgruntling to me.
God, as the absolute, mighty, infinite God which He is, holds unfathomable beauty and a love so great we humans cannot comprehend. He is awesome, He is powerful, He holds the absolute authority of the enitre universe. He is God. We are humans.
We all know God is great. We all know that God is wonderful in grace, wonderful in love, wonderful in mercy, and wonderful in glory. He is changeless and unfailing, He is always with us. He offers us incredible redemption through His son, Jesus Christ, something we don't deserve, but desperately need. We as Christians know this. We know of His great love. We know of the joy we should have in Him. We know that He is worthy of our praise and obedience.
The merciful, loving, beautiful aspect of God is one we all know and relish in. We take comfort in knowing that God is good, God offers forgiveness, and God offers atonement for those who trust and love Him. We are joyed by His love for us.
While we recognize this awesome aspect of God, we often as our human selves turn a blind eye to another aspect of Him. We may do this accidentally, or we may due this intentionally. This aspect we sometimes forget about is His absolute authority and justness.
God is forgiving, and He is just. Sins must be punished. We are not to live by OUR standards of morality, but God's. God is SOVEREIGN over the universe, US included, therefore we are live our lives as intended by God, not by how we wish. God's mercy and offer of forgiveness is not a license to sin. God knows the heart and its desires. He knows our thoughts, we can hide nothing from Him. All to often we distort His word to justify how we live. We want to think of God's loving nature over His absolute authority, His judgement. This is extremely dangerous territory for us.
While it hurts to admit it, I believe this: Many who proclaim to be Christians and believe they are going to Heaven when they die, will not.
This is not judgement. I am not condemning, I am facing a reality which many (myself included) do not wish to. It isn't as much as an assertation as it is a reminder; an awakening.
It is a tough pill to swallow. I don't want to believe it. I want to believe that God's mercy, His love, and His grace will sweep everyone to salvation. But I am creation, not the Creator.
The standards are God's, not mine.
The judgement is God's, not mine.
All authority is God's, not mine.
Divine rule is God's, not mine.
Morality is defined by God, not me.
My brother and sister-in-law's pastor said a quote which I will remember for a long time, if not for a lifetime: "I would rather preach repentance and be surprised by heaven, than preach assurance and be surprised by Hell." So often, we switch this statement around. I do, anyways. God exposed this to me that Sunday, that I had far too much assurance in my salvation. Sinning while banking on God's forgiveness is a slippery slope. I pray none fall to this. And that God will awken those who have to live a life worth living.
I hate to make such a downer of a blog post, because we can take joy in God for His love and His mercy. We should be overjoyed by His forgiveness which He offers us! Rejoice! And praise God for who He is, not who we wish Him to be!
