Mad At God?

I used to be mad at God and I wanted nothing to do with him or his church.  I thought he was cruel, unfair and uncaring.  I wondered how people could preach of a loving God who demanded worship and tormented people for an eternity, no matter what the sin.  But that was before I learned the truth.  There are still a lot of folks out there preaching that kind of God and once you study the Word for yourself you see through the lies.

Christ died for our sins and he paid the penalty for our sins which is death, not eternal torment.  And since he died for our sins, he paid the price so that we could live because of his righteousness.  But if you are preaching that folks are tortured eternally and that they never die then you are teaching two lies.

 

1) You are teaching folks that they have eternal life no matter what they do in life, which is false because the wages of sin is DEATH (Romans 6:23) and not going to a place where the devil is in charge because the Word tells us that even the devil and his angels will be BURNED UP (Matthew 25:41, Malachi 4:1).  So the devil and his demons will not be in an eternal burning pit, tormenting forever those who decide not to follow God.

2) You make void Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins because he's not suffering eternal torment but he's acting as a high priest on our behalf (Hebrews 8:1) and so essentially, you are saying that we are all lost and God is a liar when you preach that.  God doesn't want for anyone to be lost (Ezekiel 33:11) and he wants you to worship him because you see that he is good, loving and only wants the best for you (Jeremiah 29:11).

With Christ's death at the cross came another promise for those who believed, that we would have eternal life with Christ in heaven.  We are told that he went to prepare our heavenly homes and that he would return to come and get us so that we would be with him forevermore (John 14:1-3).  There's one thing that's preached at so many funerals that simply isn't true but some may find comfort in it.  If you are preaching that folks die and go straight to heaven, that's not in the Bible either.  

The bible teaches that at the return of Christ the dead in Christ will rise first and then those who are alive and remain will be caught up in the air also.  Christ brings his reward with him when he returns, so teaching that you get your reward immediately after death is not biblical (I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 22:12).  And that was also a relief to me because I surely didn't want some of my deceased loved ones looking down on me and being disappointed when I turned my back on God and generally when the family suffered in this life.  How could anyone look down on the mess that's happening on this planet and be happy? (Revelation 21:4)  Even God isn't happy with these things.

I encourage you to read and study the Bible for yourself.  Don't just take my word or anyone else's word on it.  Pray for understanding from the Holy Spirit and let the Lord show you his truth.  Christ died for our sins so that those who believe in him should have eternal life.