Does God Threaten?

Photo by: Bernard Gagnon

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bgag

I notice when I read comments on articles about religion that many non-believers bring up the subject of threats from God. They say, "Why should I love a God who threatens people with death if they don't believe in him?"

I believe God is warning people, not threatening them. In Ezekiel chapter 33, God likens his warnings to that of a soldier guarding a city. If a soldier on the wall sees the enemy coming and does nothing then the death of the people is on his shoulders. But, if the soldier warns the people an enemy is coming he has done his duty. It is now up to the people to get ready to fight or not. What they then do will be on their shoulders.

God says, "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die..." Ezekiel 33:11

When Israel joined with the other nations, sacrificing their children to the pagan god Baal and doing many wicked deeds, God said,"Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows." God loves people and wants them to have eternal life but if they choose to stay away from God he has to let them go.

The reason God says you will die if you don't come to him for life is because it is a simple fact. Not because he wants you to die - you just will. God is the source of all life. If you don't belong to him; if you don't want him in your life, he respects your decision. Therefore, when God raises the dead he will not take you to heaven. God knows you would not be happy in heaven anyway because in order to enjoy heaven you must be born again, as Jesus said in John 3:16.

People also seem to think that if a person is a "good person" then God will take them to heaven and he should take them to heaven. Well, first of all "good" is relative.  Jesus said, "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone." Luke 18:19 You may think a person is good, and perhaps by the world's standards they are, but without God in their hearts they are not truly good. Someone I knew very well told me, "I think I'm a good person and will go to heaven." But everyone knew what kind of person he was. He had said and done some terrible things. He loved himself above all others.

Also, will people who don't know God enjoy worshiping him in heaven? Will they love to sing of his saving power? Will they love to hear his commands? No. If they think their goodness has gotten them to heaven, what is there to thank God for?

The reason true Christians love to praise God and sing about him is that they know where they have come from. They know they were definitely not good. They know they were saved from a life of giving in to their compulsions and passions. They know they were like a ship without a rudder drifting through life at the mercy of wind and wave. They know the joy living for God has given them. They know the peace God can give when a loved one dies, they become sick or don't have the rent. God is a person to go to in trouble and eventually a Christian learns that every time something bad happens; God brings good out of that something.

That's why we never tire of thinking about God, talking about God and praising God. He is our family, our Father. We will be at home with him in heaven. This earth, with all its violence, rebellion, and evil is not our home. It is not your home. We were created for a perfect home and none of us will ever feel at home here.

Jesus said about his followers, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." John 17:16

With the shape this world is in right now, I am glad I belong to a better world.