DOOMED

written by Rod Spade

Question:

How can a loving God allow a person to be born into this world

knowing he is doomed to hell?

Answer:

This is a good question and one requiring an answer because it

implies a contraction or at least an inconsistency in the very nature

and character of God. However, the God of the Bible can be neither

contradictory or inconsistent, otherwise He ceases to be the perfect God

as portrayed in the Bible.

The question as stated presupposes several things about God as well

as about man:

(1) God is a loving God.

This is a true statement. God is by nature love. 1 John

4:8, 16 clearly state that "God is love." The love here spoken

of is a selfless love. It is most practically demonstrated in

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave [i.e.

sacrificed] his only begotten Son...".

(2) People born into this world are doomed to hell.

This too is a true statement. The first man Adam's

disobedience in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3) has affected the

whole of mankind, involving everyone in sin and death (Genesis

8:21; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Hebrews 9:27.) Romans 5:12

says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and

death by sin; and so death passes upon all men, for that all

have sinned...". Here we see the solidarity of mankind. When

Adam sinned, the race sinned because the race was in him. Adam

_was_ the race. What he did, we as his descendants who were in

him did also.

(3) God knows even before they were born, that some will never be

saved from the penalty of sin and therefore are doomed to hell.

This too is a correct presupposition. According to Psalm 139,

God knows everything about me, past-present-future.

However, there are several other basic character traits about God

and man which have a bearing on this question. But, the question itself

does not take into consideration these character traits:

(1) God is sovereign.

God acts on the basis of His own will and not because He is

forced to do so by any outside influence. The Bible itself

begins, "In the beginning God..." (Genesis 1:1.) It does not

begin seeking to prove or defend God's existence and

sovereignty, it simply assumes it by stating a fact. One of

the things God in His sovereignty chose to do was to create

man.

He created the first man in His own image, a perfect

spiritual being capable of having fellowship with Him (Genesis

1:26, 27.) Being a spiritual being created in God's image, man

was given eternal life to be lived in uninterrupted fellowship

with God. It was God's will that man should not know evil,

therefore He forbid man to eat of the tree of knowledge of good

and evil (Genesis 2:15-17.) God has always had man's welfare

in mind.

(2) Man himself, created as a being with a free will rather than as

a robot (for how could a robot fellowship with God or glorify

Him), chose to disobey God (Genesis 3:1-7).

Death is the result of this disobedience; both physical death

and spiritual death (i.e. separation from God.)

(3) God is not only a loving God by nature, but also a holy and

just God.

1 John 1:5 says, "... God is light and in Him is no darkness at

all." God being holy by nature cannot fellowship with those

living in the darkness of sin (1 John 1:6.) However, because

He is a loving, merciful, and kind God, He does want to have

restored fellowship with fallen humanity. This can only be

accomplished if His holiness is protected. Therefore, a way

must be provided for God and man to be restored to fellowship

while God's love is shown and His holiness protected.

(4) God is by nature a just God and His justice demands

satisfaction.

Man sinned against a holy God and God's justice and

righteousness demands that a penalty be paid. God cannot

simply allow our sins to be swept under the rug, for in doing

so He would be tolerating evil and denying His own holy nature.

God's requirement for the payment of sin is the shedding of

blood.

This was the basis of the Old Testament system of

animal sacrifice. The blood of the unblemished sacrificial

lamb of the Old Testament temporarily covered over and also

pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice, namely, Jesus

Christ, The Spotless Lamb of God. Christ's blood not only

covers over but also takes away our sin (John 1:29.) Hebrews

9:22 says, "... and without shedding of blood there is no

remission [i.e. forgiveness]."

(5) God in His mercy and love has provided a way whereby His own

holiness can be protected, His justice satisfied, and we

ourselves restored to fellowship through the substitutionary

death of His own perfect Son.

God has provided the way for our salvation, it is now up to us

individually to life up our empty hands of faith towards God

and receive His gift of salvation to us. Romans 10:9 says,

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and

shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the

dead, thou shalt be saved."

Concluding remarks:

God in His sovereignty continues to allow nature to take its

course; people are born, they live, they die. Many if not most die

under the condemnation of this unbelief, not because we have not

received the light, but because we reject the light already given.

Romans 1:20 teaches us that even the creation around us is evidence of

God's eternal power and Godhead (i.e. trinity.)

If man will respond positively by faith

to just this amount of divine light, then God will

reveal more of Himself "from faith to faith" so that ultimately He will

provide the saving gospel of Christ to the seeking individual (Romans

1:16, 17.) However, when God's revelation is rejected, our hearts

ultimately become darker and we turn to worshipping creature things

rather than the Creator (Romans 1:21-23.)

If one is still troubled by the seeming injustice of being born

with a sinful nature because of what the father of the race did; and

being held accountable for the sins that result from disability; and by

a loving God allowing man to be born into such a situation, he should

weigh carefully the significance of our reconciliation as stated by Paul

the Apostle: "... that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto

Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Corinthians 5:19.)

The sins committed, that owe their original impetus to the sin of the

first man but which we also are personally responsible for, are not

reckoned against those who have committed them provided they put their

trust in Christ crucified and risen. God takes their sins and gives

them His righteousness. Would we not agree that this is more than a

fair exchange? Must we not admit that God has done more than His part

in providing a way of salvation for rebellious man living under the

deserved condemnation of sin?

 

HELP FOR NEW CHRISTIANS


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