Don't kill me for suggesting this. But.
I think we often view God as Frankenstein.
Not God. |
And yeah, that's how we often view often God: as Victor Frankenstein.
Really.
Oh, I know. All Christians acknowledge that God came down as Man to save us. He didn't abandon us. That's true, and beautiful (come to think of it, can beauty and truth exist without the other? Ahem, back to the subject).
But other messages pervade:
God can't stand to be around our sin.
God hates us.
God will condemn us to hell because, due to the various effects of sin, we cannot understand or even hear the gospel.
Et cetera.
And so God becomes like Frankenstein, Someone Who repulsed by His own creation. Someone Who seeks to abandon us to sin and hell because we're hurting and too angry at the EVIL that surrounds us to understand Him. Even though He allowed this enormous, intricate, stunning, and often incredibly painful story to occur in the first place.
This is not okay.
The Gospel has to be good news. Sure, our understanding of good is dimmed, but nearly everyone has some basic understanding (slapping a person across the face is bad, embracing a hurting friend is good, for example).
God hating us? I don't think anyone thinks that's good news. Just picture yourself as the hated person. You can only surmise that God's hatred is good if you're not the hated one, which is quite selfish, frankly.
Seriously, if God hates us, why wouldn't he just say: "Oh good, you're trapped in sin! Now go fry."
As for the idea that God can't stand to be around our sin? Um, well, as a Christian, I believe Jesus was God...and He lived with us...and the Holy Spirit still lives in us...sooooo.
I do believe sin pains Him, wounds Him - because He actually cares about us, because He longs for nothing less than the restoration of all creation.
And then there's hell. I'd ask you: is eternal hell good, especially if that person has been too encumbered by circumstances beyond their control to know God?
I'm no theologian, but I have to believe something good happens in the end, despite the darkness that surrounds us. Fortunately, you're not the judge of what that good is, and neither am I.
God is not Frankenstein.
God is Good.
In fact, God's even better than chocolate cupcakes. Wow. |
Love,
Kelley
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