- Nov 21, 2008
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Welcome to the discussion area of the board -- and welcome to Christianity -Good evening,
I am a baby Christian and since my family is Atheist and I do not feel comfortable discussing this with my friends, I struggle to answer my most burning question.
In my heart I feel this religion is right, I know it. I got my first Bible a few years ago and I am in my early 20's. But there is this burning question I have. And because of it my faith is not that strong.
May you be blessed.
As you say -- it is true.So the question is:
I had this thought. God is mercy, God is powerful and God is all-knowing, right? And we all agree on the fact that there is evil on this Earth. God is all-knowing, He must know that, we know that. God created Earth, He is powerful. So He can make the evil go away, He has all the power. But there is evil still, so He did not make it go away.
1. God is all powerful and knows everything.
2. God is Love and mercy
So then "He KNEW" that if He allowed Lucifer to sin, and 1/3 of the Angels in heaven to fall, and Adam and Eve to fall, and then to live on and have children ---- THEN HE -- would have to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of every human in all of time - to offer mankind the gospel of salvation.
1 John 2:2 "He is the atoning sacrifice for OUR sins and not for our sins only but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD"
This tells us
1. God has a LOT of skin in this game.
2. He did not allow Lucifer to fall and Adam to fall -- on a mere whim
3. Sin in this world does not continue because God is not noticing or uncarhing - SINCE He experiences the fact that EVERY sin committed is one He would then pay for on the cross
What you are seeing is the 3rd attribute of God
-- God values FREE WILL --
God guides by providing compelling evidence for right vs wrong - not by the use of arbitrary force. He is not of the sort "cross me and I will kill you" - but Satan is of that very sort.
So then God offers salvation and forgiveness to "whosoever will".
God has eternity to take into consideration. For all eternity after the lake of fire event in Rev 20 (still in the future for us) - there will be no rebellion -- not one person in all of the universe will ever sin again. How does God insure such an outcome in a universe that is based on Love and free will -- by providing compelling evidence that sin does not work.That brings me to my third point that God is mercy.
I believe if any of us had the power to make all the hurting and suffering of children, women, animals, any being go away, we would. We would make the people that strayed from the path towards evil pure again, so that they do not hurt anybody.
So why didn't God?
Very good topic.
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