BASICS OF THE CROSS (2 OF 2)
by Eddie Snipes
Scripture: COLOSSIANS 3:13-14, GALATIANS 1:8-9, I CORINTHIANS 16:22, I PETER 3:18-19, I TIMOTHY 3:15-16, II CORINTHIANS 5:21, PHILIPPIANS 2:13, PSALMS 16:10, PSALMS 22:24, REVELATION 4:11, ROMANS 3:19-20
This content is part of a series.
Basics of the Cross (2 of 2)
Eddie Snipes
Why is the Cross Necessary?
A common question I hear is, "Why doesn't God just get rid of all sin and take us all to heaven?" Another frequent question is, "If God is so loving, why would He send someone to hell just because they don't believe in Him?"
There are hundreds of skeptical questions that I could include here, but there is one basic flaw in all of these types of questions: man is at the center of it all instead of God. What we are really asking is, "Why doesn't God conform to my ways?" We were created for the purpose of having a love relationship with God, our Creator. Revelation 4:11 says, "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created." All things exist (including man) because of the will of God. Philippians 2:13 tells us that God works in us for His will and for His good pleasure. What God wants for us is good but it usually conflicts with our human nature. It isn't God that needs to alter His will, but man who needs to yield to God. The world does not center around our will, but God's will. He has the right to decide how man is created and what man's purpose should be.
God did not create us as robots. An automatic response is not love. If we did not have any choice to love God, it would not be love at all. I can program my computer to say, 'I love you' each time is starts up, but that is meaningless to me. If we don't have a choice to not love God, then we also don't have a choice to love God. Man is the crown of all creation because we are created in God's own image and we have been given the capacity to love God and the right to choose whether or not to love Him. The purpose of the cross is not to get us into heaven. The purpose of the cross is to restore the lost fellowship with our Creator by paying the penalty of our sin that separates us from Him. Why would a loving God send anyone to hell? Why would a lo ...
Eddie Snipes
Why is the Cross Necessary?
A common question I hear is, "Why doesn't God just get rid of all sin and take us all to heaven?" Another frequent question is, "If God is so loving, why would He send someone to hell just because they don't believe in Him?"
There are hundreds of skeptical questions that I could include here, but there is one basic flaw in all of these types of questions: man is at the center of it all instead of God. What we are really asking is, "Why doesn't God conform to my ways?" We were created for the purpose of having a love relationship with God, our Creator. Revelation 4:11 says, "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created." All things exist (including man) because of the will of God. Philippians 2:13 tells us that God works in us for His will and for His good pleasure. What God wants for us is good but it usually conflicts with our human nature. It isn't God that needs to alter His will, but man who needs to yield to God. The world does not center around our will, but God's will. He has the right to decide how man is created and what man's purpose should be.
God did not create us as robots. An automatic response is not love. If we did not have any choice to love God, it would not be love at all. I can program my computer to say, 'I love you' each time is starts up, but that is meaningless to me. If we don't have a choice to not love God, then we also don't have a choice to love God. Man is the crown of all creation because we are created in God's own image and we have been given the capacity to love God and the right to choose whether or not to love Him. The purpose of the cross is not to get us into heaven. The purpose of the cross is to restore the lost fellowship with our Creator by paying the penalty of our sin that separates us from Him. Why would a loving God send anyone to hell? Why would a lo ...
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