"I have for a long time held my peace; I have be still, and restrained myself. Now will I cry like a woman travailing in birth; I will destroy and devour at once." Isaiah 42:14
An oft cited "air-tight" attack against God (either His character or His very existence) is that if He really was there, and really was good, then He would step in and fix this mess of a world right now. That He does not proves that he is either weak, callous, or both (or simply not there at all). Perhaps the problem of evil would not be such a problem if there was a clear example of God solving it in the here and now.
People who makes such claims are nonsensical, however, and here's why: they ave no idea what it is that they are really asking for. God stepping in is not a deus ex machina, a one shot fix-all-that-ails-you; it is the end of the world (we Christians like to call it the "apocalypse"). As Lewis put it, when the director steps onto the stage, it is not the end of the play's problems; it is the end of the play. When God "steps onto the stage," it is not merely the undoing of evil; it is the undoing of everything, the complete recreation of all things by the unleashing of His presence through all things that are of Him; and anyone or anything not found in Him (through being in Christ) will wither away into outer darkness. God's literal return to earth will literally when Heaven on earth, which means that all that cannot abide in Heaven (i.e., Sin, and everything bound up in it) will not abide in the end either. Therefore, clamoring for God's return so as to fix all evils is nonsensical because His return does not mean Heaven for all; it will mean Hell for some. There will be redemption; there will also be damnation.
That God is holding His peace and restraining Himself in the face of Sin (the only true pollutant in this world) is not proof of weakness, callousness, or nonexistence; it is proof of His love and patience. He is (oh, the very thought of it!) allowing us more time, more time to become one with Him in Christ. If God wanted to (if He was the atheist's desired "practical" God), He could usher in the end right now, and have every right to do so. Instead, however, He allows days, months, and years to go by. We would be wise to realize that such a stalling is in favor of our salvation. If He did as you wished and finally returned, with you outside His fold, then it would be the end of you as well as the evil world.
"Now will I cry..." There is a "payday someday," a day of reckoning, a day when all that men have done will be answered for. The only question is, are you one of those men? Are your sins covered by the blood, or are they wide open before the eyes of God? When our Lord steps on the mountain again, will He find you innocent, or will you be one of the guilty that He claws out of the earth and holds up against a ruby sky? When He comes to "fix all," will you be something that He "fixes"? In asking God to solve all our problems, are you blissfully unaware that you may be one of the "problems" that He solves"?
"When You come
To Balance all things,
How many will be weighed
And found wanting..."
-Jon Vowell
An oft cited "air-tight" attack against God (either His character or His very existence) is that if He really was there, and really was good, then He would step in and fix this mess of a world right now. That He does not proves that he is either weak, callous, or both (or simply not there at all). Perhaps the problem of evil would not be such a problem if there was a clear example of God solving it in the here and now.
People who makes such claims are nonsensical, however, and here's why: they ave no idea what it is that they are really asking for. God stepping in is not a deus ex machina, a one shot fix-all-that-ails-you; it is the end of the world (we Christians like to call it the "apocalypse"). As Lewis put it, when the director steps onto the stage, it is not the end of the play's problems; it is the end of the play. When God "steps onto the stage," it is not merely the undoing of evil; it is the undoing of everything, the complete recreation of all things by the unleashing of His presence through all things that are of Him; and anyone or anything not found in Him (through being in Christ) will wither away into outer darkness. God's literal return to earth will literally when Heaven on earth, which means that all that cannot abide in Heaven (i.e., Sin, and everything bound up in it) will not abide in the end either. Therefore, clamoring for God's return so as to fix all evils is nonsensical because His return does not mean Heaven for all; it will mean Hell for some. There will be redemption; there will also be damnation.
That God is holding His peace and restraining Himself in the face of Sin (the only true pollutant in this world) is not proof of weakness, callousness, or nonexistence; it is proof of His love and patience. He is (oh, the very thought of it!) allowing us more time, more time to become one with Him in Christ. If God wanted to (if He was the atheist's desired "practical" God), He could usher in the end right now, and have every right to do so. Instead, however, He allows days, months, and years to go by. We would be wise to realize that such a stalling is in favor of our salvation. If He did as you wished and finally returned, with you outside His fold, then it would be the end of you as well as the evil world.
"Now will I cry..." There is a "payday someday," a day of reckoning, a day when all that men have done will be answered for. The only question is, are you one of those men? Are your sins covered by the blood, or are they wide open before the eyes of God? When our Lord steps on the mountain again, will He find you innocent, or will you be one of the guilty that He claws out of the earth and holds up against a ruby sky? When He comes to "fix all," will you be something that He "fixes"? In asking God to solve all our problems, are you blissfully unaware that you may be one of the "problems" that He solves"?
"When You come
To Balance all things,
How many will be weighed
And found wanting..."
-Jon Vowell
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