So this week we've had Dr. Glenn Gentry from Columbia International University teaching, and today he proposed an idea that I thought would be good to share. During class the discussion of how a loving God could tolerate evil in this world came up.
As a result of the Fall, evil is present in this world and will be present until the return of Christ and the Restoration. When the Restoration day comes, all of the non-believers will loose the opportunity to spend eternity with God in Heaven. By asking God to remove all evil from our lives and this world, we are essentially asking for Him to bring the Judgment Day, since this will be the only time in the future in which there will be no evil present.
The question we all need to ask ourselves is "Where will my friends be on that day?" If you have any friends who are non-believers (as you should), then can you really, truly, honestly ask God to take away the evil knowing that you would be ruining opportunities for your lost friends to find the Truth? We all need to have the love, patience, and perseverance to continue living in evil in order to give more time and opportunities for those who are lost to hear the Word of God. Our sufferings are opportunities for someone else to be saved because it is a reminder that the Judgment Day has not yet arrived.
If we as Christians can have this kind of view on worldly sufferings - that we are suffering to provide opportunities for others to be saved - then I believe that we can better understand James 1:2. This verse says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds," and I believe that by enduring evil in this world, we can be serving our neighbors, which we are called to do. When we as Christ-followers can respond appropriately to our calling, even if that is through suffering, it should bring us "pure joy," thus fulfilling James 1:2
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What happens to people who have never even heard of God or christianity, or who have been introduced to it in a bad light?
ReplyDeleteDo they get to go to heaven? I don't see why they should be cast aside.
I posted this as more of an encouragement to continue through suffering for Christians, not as an argument about why there is suffering. And, your question is a difficult one, no lie. In Matthew it says that no one is not exposed to God and no one is without excuse. As much as I don't like the idea of it, I don't think that they would go to heaven. For me, it's one of those things that makes sense in theory (head knowledge), but my heart doesn't agree with it. I just have to trust that God will be good as He always is.
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