More Common Misconceptions
In our last lesson we considered some of the issues men
face when they realize the demands of the Gospel of Christ.
In this lesson we are to consider some more of these common
objections to the Bible message of sin and of salvation
through Christ alone.
Could God Not Have Prevented Sin?
Why didn't God make men incapable of disobeying His will and
therefor incapable of sinning? That question is like asking
why doesn't God draw a crooked straight line or a round
square, or make an object pitch black and pure white at the
same time. Man is a creature with the power of intelligent
choice, so the question really is: Why didn't God make a
creature with the power of intelligent choice and yet
without the power of intelligent choice? For example, if I
put my two little boys into an hypnotic state, thus robbing
them of the power of intelligent choice, and then said, "Sit
on those chairs til I return," "Get up and eat," "Stop
eating, "Kiss me good night,"unfeeling arms would go around
my neck, and unresponsive lips would be pressed to mine. I
would have a prompt and perfect obedience to my every
command, but would I find satisfaction in it? No!
I want my boys to have free will, thus being capable of
disobeying me, but, who willingly obey because of our mutual
love for each other. Hopefully my instructions would always
be for their own good and not just mine. I cannot conceive
of God being satisfied with anything less.
God does not want Puppets who jump in a given direction
according to the wire that is pulled, nor does He want
robots in the form of "men" who mechanically and absolutely
obey His will as do the planets that whirl through space.
God can find satisfaction in nothing less than the
spontaneous love of our hearts, decisions to live to please
and honor Him. But it is obvious that this same power
enables us to defy and dishonor Him if we so choose.
Man And The Universe
What does God care about this little world of ours compared
with the vastness of the universe? Think of even our own
solar system, with the planet Neptune thirty times as far
away from the sun as our earth, so that it takes 164 of our
years to make one of Neptune's and beyond this, suns with
planets revolving around them as our solar system revolves
around the sun! Of what importance can our earth be to God,
and of how much less importance can man be?
The vastness of the heavens robbed a young astronomer of
faith, for how could God trouble Himself about man, who is
less than a grain of sand in comparison? But his thirst for
knowledge would not let him rest. The heavens were available
for study at night; how should the free hours of the day be
spent? Why not a microscope? New worlds were opened at his
feet - worlds as wonderful as those above, and slowly his
faith came back. Yes, the God who could attend to such
minute details as to make a drop of ditch water throb with
miniature life was sure to be interested in man, the highest
form of His creation - he found balance instead of bias, and
balance brought him back to God. John 3:16 was true after
all. Are you balanced or biased? Can you see the present in
its true relation to the future?
Balance Or Bias?
Benjamin Franklin said we are all biased. When he had an
important decision to make, he took a sheet of paper and
headed two columns, respectively, "Pro" and "Con", then
thought the matter out carefully. When he arrived at a
reason "for," he put it under "Pro"; when he discovered one
"against," it went under "Con." After his lists were as
complete as he could make them, he went through them,
saying, "This `Pro' is as strong as those two `Cons' and
this "Con' is of as much value as those three `Pros,'" until
he had "balanced" off all that he could' then he gave his
decision for, or against, according to the reasons still
left. A good pattern? Perhaps!
But are you willing to give the question of your future
destiny unbiased consideration?
The Logic Of Faith
Is faith logical? Yes, it is logical. It is a mistake to
think that faith is opposed to reason. Faith and reason go
hand in hand, but faith goes on when reason can go no
farther. Reason, to a great extent, is dependent on faith,
for without knowledge it is impossible to reason, and
knowledge is largely a matter of faith in human testimony.
For instance, I believe that strychnine administered in a
large enough dose will poison a human being, but I have
never seen the experiment performed. Yet I have such faith
in the written testimony of men that I would not take a dose
of strychnine for a million dollars.
If you check your facts carefully, you will find that most
of what you know is a matter of faith in human testimony,
written or spoken, as you have not verified them for
yourself. Then, having accepted the testimony of other men
so freely on other matters, will you not accept the
testimony of thousands of Christians when they affirm that
they have verified the things written in God's Word and
proven them to be true?
Eternal Punishment For Sin
Why should God judge my sin worthy of death? I cannot answer
that, but I would suggest that because of His infinite
holiness no sin could exist in His presence. Our problem is
that we don't understand infinite, perfect holiness.
In some primitive cultures a native chief may club his wife
to death on slight provocation without committing a crime
and without falling in the slightest degree in the
estimation of his people. The same act in another land would
result in arrest, conviction and punishment for murder. Men,
and cultures, are thus able to view the same act quite
differently. Man and God obviously views acts on earth quite
differently. Think what some sin, which appears to us as
nothing, must look like to an infinitely holy God - "For God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (I John 1;5).
The contrast is understandable. Think what would it be like
for someone, who has not believed God and accepted the only
way of salvation, to stand before God. God's absolute
holiness would show this persons sin in all its awfulness?
It becomes quite easy to understand the penalty of eternal
punishment.
In Revelation 6:16, God tells us of the feelings of those
who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and
persist in going into eternity in their sins. They call on
the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and hide them
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and yet it
is the presence of this same Christ that will make heaven so
wonderful for those who have accepted Him as Saviour and
Lord.
You can also see the absurdity of God taking all to heaven.
Heaven is a condition as well as a place. The presence of
the Lord Jesus Christ will fill heaven. That same Presence
will make a hell of remorse in the hearts of any who, still
in their sins, stand in the infinite light of His holiness
for judgment. Be quite reasonable - could you really stand
in the presence of the One whose love you had rejected, and
whose great sacrifice you had not counted worthy of your
acceptance?