Here's the article in question: The Fires of Mercy
And here's the obvious problem: God
doesn't think that way. People are not perfect, nor will they ever be
perfect. We all have our individual flaws, and ultimately it is up to
us to deal with them. We all have problems with the Big Seven, as
well as any number of smaller sins. Some of us are into rebellion not
because of the good it brings society, but just to be rebellious.
Some people lie because they know no other path. Some people are into
eating not just because we all need to eat or even because they like
to cook, but just because they feel a need to eat.
We are all sinners.
But that does not mean that God rejects
us. He sent down His one and only son to act as a Judas goat to
absolve us all of our sins. A careful reading of the Four Gospels
reveals that there was no question of Jesus being sacrificed; it is
not hard to read a Passover tale in them, where the steps were being
followed for a lamb to be slaughtered and prepared for the
celebration of when the Angel of Death visited Egypt and slew the
first born sons of Egypt. A sacrifice was made then in order to
rescue the sons of Israel from death, and a sacrifice was needed
again to save everyone from a different sort of death. Jesus was that
sacrifice, the ultimate Passover lamb.
God recognized that we all have our
problems, and that if He put restrictions of any sort on those who
went to Heaven few of us would ever reach those shores. In order for
people to reach Heaven, to pass through the Pearly Gates, He would
need to forgive us all of our sins. More importantly, He would need
to make this declaration open and obvious. There was no more open and
obvious declaration than to sacrifice Jesus, so that everyone would
know that He had died for our sins, and that we merely need to ask
for forgiveness for our sins.
Thus, when people complain of being too
filled with sin for God to welcome them in, those complaints are
groundless. God recognizes that we all have our sins, hidden in our
hearts or worn on our sleeves, and He recognizes that it is just part
of being human. Just like any father, He acknowledges that we all
have some issues that need to be dealt with so that we can learn from
our mistakes and become better people. I hate making the obvious
jokes, but part of being an omniscient and omnipresent being is that
He has not only been to Vegas, but He probably knows a lot about what
goes on there. He had to either make allowances, or get rid of us
all. He decided to make allowances.
So if you are ever worried that you
will not make into Heaven, that's on you, not God. He knows what
you've been up to, and to a degree He exalts in it. He expects you to
make mistakes, just as we expect kids to make mistakes, and then to
learn from those mistakes. (I would hate to see if he records some of
the more spectacular ones for private showings, for his version of
Youtube, but you have got to seriously wonder what He records once
you realize that ALL fathers record the proudest moments and biggest
laughs.) Sure, some people are more likely than others to take a long
time learning, but He has all the time in the world. And just like
any father, He is always curious and filled with that weird mix of
dread and humor about what his children will come up with next.
So if you are worried about if God
loves you or not, don't. He really does hate the sin and love the
sinner, and is just waiting for you to figure that out.
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