A Brand Spankin' New Website!

After months of hard work, days of strenuous labor, and hours of staring blankly at a glowing screen, the new Coram Deo Church website is finally up and finished!!! (well..... almost finished)

Hooray!!!!

Check it out here- http://www.coramdeogp.org


Please let me know what you think!


Take luck!
-the Geek (a.k.a. Ronnie)

Why Would A Loving God Create Hell? Pt. 2

Continued....

Now if you were talking to someone about this they would naturally continue with more questions. Questions such as- What about someone who has a lived a pretty good life but simply didn’t believe in Christ? Isn’t it unfair for God to send someone like that to hell? Or why can’t God just cause someone like that to cease existing rather than sending them to hell?

Once again we must go to scripture. In Genesis we learn that God made man in His image. That means we have an eternal soul. When we die there are only 2 options for us. Either we will be rewarded by God or punished. So what about a basically good person?

Romans 3 tells us “None is righteous, no, not one;” Notice how Paul says ‘no, not one’. It’s like he knows that you’re going to question his claim. “None is righteous” Now what a minute.... what about... “no, not one.” Paul continues- “no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

If you want conformation about the truth of this passage, all you have to do is look at yourself, look at those around you. Who hasn’t lied? Who hasn’t disrespected their parents? Who hasn’t worshipped idols? Who hasn’t been selfish and prideful?

Anyone? I can’t do good. My pride is always there wanting to get credit for my ‘supposed’ good deeds. And you know how scripture describes my good deeds? As filthy rags! That may sound harsh but in the eyes of God, my measly attempts at righteousness are nothing without Him. If you see anything good in me, it isn’t me. It’s Christ working through me.

So, is it fair for God to send to hell filthy wicked sinners like me who have blatantly rejected Him? You bet its fair! But, just as good stories have happy endings, God has offered a happy ending to all who will receive it.

Romans 3:23- “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

If we do not have faith in Christ, how can we expect to receive the reward that God offers in Heaven? But praise be to God that he has allowed us a way to Him through faith in Christ.

To wrap things up I’d like to return to the 2 conclusions that I had mentioned earlier. Either God is not loving because he created hell, or God is loving and creating hell was not an unloving thing to do. Which is the right conclusion? Thank God! He is loving and for that reason he has offered us salvation. It is than our duty to take hold of it!

Why Would A Loving God Create Hell? Pt. 1

This is a paper Dad had me write and present for Church. It was very fun. Every time I do something like that, I'm just amazed at God's goodness and greatness. Anywhoodle, here it is.

Today I would like to respond to one of the most frequently asked theological questions. Why would a loving God create Hell? Before I dive in to answer the question, I’d like to analyze the question, define hell, and look at the background of someone who might be asking this question.

Analyze

Why would a loving God create hell? Someone who asks this probably has an idea or picture as to what is loving and fair. They might be thinking that God is unfair for sending ‘basically good’ people to be punished in hell because they didn’t believe in Jesus. The question seems to imply that there is a contradiction between God’s love and hell; as in- a loving God would not create hell. So there only 2 conclusions to this seeming contradiction. 1. That God isn’t loving after all because he created hell. Or 2. That God is loving and creating hell was not an unloving thing to do. Which is the right conclusion?

Many would like it to be number 1 because if God isn’t loving than what the bible says about Him can’t be true. And that would give them an excuse to deny the existence of God and go on living as if God wouldn’t judge them for their actions. Which conclusion are you hoping for?

Finally, what is hell? Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines hell as- “The place or state of punishment for the wicked after death.”

The doctrine of hell really only comes from scripture. Hell is described as a lake of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The term gnashing of teeth reminds me of something that I had learned from history about surgery before anesthesia.

Many times, especially during the civil war, soldiers would receive surgery for their bullet wounds. The surgeon would give the man a musket ball to bite on during the surgery. Many times the ball would have the man’s teeth marks embedded in it by the time the surgery was finished. That’s how painful it was. So when the bible says gnashing of teeth it’s referring to what men do when they are in agony. Hell will not be a pleasant place.

Answer
So, why would a loving God create hell? Why? Here’s the Short answer. Because if God did not use hell to punish wickedness, than it would be contradictory His Just and holy nature.


I believe that one of the most important things we need to do in order to understand and answer this question properly, is to look at God’s character.

According to scripture God is righteous. Jesus is described as the spotless and unblemished Lamb of God. God is perfect. He is just. He is holy. This is something that I think we will never fully understand while we are here on earth; That God is absolutely, fully, utterly, and completely holy. And that’s why, when we get to heaven and see God face to face we’ll be so overwhelmed by his infinite holiness that we’ll join the seraphim in saying, on our knees, over and over- Holy, Holy, Holy.

How does God’s holiness apply to our question? Because God is so holy, He cannot allow sin and ungodliness into his presence. He cannot reward those who have rejected Him. His love for righteousness is so perfect that He can’t let unrighteousness go unpunished.

Consider this example. I love children. I was just over at my sisters’ and I got to hang out with my little nephew Boone. He is such a cute kid. I love him. And if someone was seeking to take my little nephew’s life, I would take great measures to protect Boone. And it is because I love Boone so much that I would hate anyone who sought to kill him. You see love and hate go hand-in-hand. I love human life. Therefore I hate murder. I love marriage. Therefore I hate divorce. I love ice cream. Therefore I hate warm temperatures. Hmm......I take that back. I don’t hate warm temperatures. When you love something dearly, you hate the thing that destroys what you love.

God has created everything perfect and sin has destroyed what He has made good. Because God perfectly loves what is good, He hates perfectly what is evil.

Martin Luther summarizes the reason for hell so perfectly in these 3 points.
1. God is infinitely holy
2. Any transgressions against God are transgressions against His infinite holiness
3. Any such transgressions against infinite holiness require infinite punishments.”

....to be continued.