On thinking on this topic this scripture passage came to mind today:
Romans 9:21-24 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-- even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (ESV)
Contrasts are everywhere. When I see someone who is very sick I am more thankful of my health. When I see someone living in squalor I am grateful for my home with all of it's conveniences. The fact of the one highlights the blessing of the other. The fact that there are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (which we all are prior to conversion) accentuates the blessedness of being saved from it. If there wasn't the one (hell), there is no need for the other (salvation).
Prior to being saved I had asked a pastor why God would even create a hell, a devil, and people who will be destined to go to hell. He was unable to answer this to my satisfaction. When God confronted me on my relationship to Him, my rebellion, the truth about me, the me I kept stashed away in the deepest darkest recesses of my being, that is when I recognized the truth of what the Bible was saying about my fallen condition. At that time,
seeing the truth about myself scared me nearly to death. I begged God for mercy, and He heard my cry. I was truly at the end of myself. I knew that if He didn't intervene, hell was my final destination, and I knew this with every fiber of my being.
Why did God create Adam and Eve with a potential to make themselves unfitting for heaven? Why did God create an angel that was so prideful that he wanted to elevate himself above God (satan)? I can speculate with others on the reasons for it and probably will be wrong, because only the mind of God can know the mind of God. He has given us His Spirit to grow us and teach us, but that doesn't mean that all mysteries will be revealed at this time... however He does supply us with enough; enough strength; enough courage; enough wisdom; enough food and clothing. He supplies us with enough to help us through each day. (Matthew 6:32-34) We do not need to worry about these things; the Lord will reveal everything in HIS time.
When God created everything, He saw that it was good. What He created was good, but it wasn't perfect. Only God is perfect. In that fact, I believe, is the seed for understanding why what God created could have become junk. When I buy groceries I don't buy rotten fruits and vegetables, but they do decay over time, and if I don't use them they will go out with the trash. God promised to us that those whom He transforms, those whom He has chosen, will be forever with Him, and like Him will live forever and then never see corruption. This mortal body will decay and die because it is part of the garbage and decay of this world, but the change that He performs in His elect will remain with Him forever.
Romans 9:21-24 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-- even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (ESV)
Contrasts are everywhere. When I see someone who is very sick I am more thankful of my health. When I see someone living in squalor I am grateful for my home with all of it's conveniences. The fact of the one highlights the blessing of the other. The fact that there are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (which we all are prior to conversion) accentuates the blessedness of being saved from it. If there wasn't the one (hell), there is no need for the other (salvation).
Prior to being saved I had asked a pastor why God would even create a hell, a devil, and people who will be destined to go to hell. He was unable to answer this to my satisfaction. When God confronted me on my relationship to Him, my rebellion, the truth about me, the me I kept stashed away in the deepest darkest recesses of my being, that is when I recognized the truth of what the Bible was saying about my fallen condition. At that time,
seeing the truth about myself scared me nearly to death. I begged God for mercy, and He heard my cry. I was truly at the end of myself. I knew that if He didn't intervene, hell was my final destination, and I knew this with every fiber of my being.
Why did God create Adam and Eve with a potential to make themselves unfitting for heaven? Why did God create an angel that was so prideful that he wanted to elevate himself above God (satan)? I can speculate with others on the reasons for it and probably will be wrong, because only the mind of God can know the mind of God. He has given us His Spirit to grow us and teach us, but that doesn't mean that all mysteries will be revealed at this time... however He does supply us with enough; enough strength; enough courage; enough wisdom; enough food and clothing. He supplies us with enough to help us through each day. (Matthew 6:32-34) We do not need to worry about these things; the Lord will reveal everything in HIS time.
When God created everything, He saw that it was good. What He created was good, but it wasn't perfect. Only God is perfect. In that fact, I believe, is the seed for understanding why what God created could have become junk. When I buy groceries I don't buy rotten fruits and vegetables, but they do decay over time, and if I don't use them they will go out with the trash. God promised to us that those whom He transforms, those whom He has chosen, will be forever with Him, and like Him will live forever and then never see corruption. This mortal body will decay and die because it is part of the garbage and decay of this world, but the change that He performs in His elect will remain with Him forever.
Hi Susan, thanks for the comments on my blog a while back! I could have sworn I had joined your blog, but I get bogged down in so many things I forget!!!
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