Who can begin to plumb the depths of the mind of God? Think on this: Jesus, the perfect, sinless, Son of Man, was delivered up to be crucified and was slain by godless, wicked, deplorable and abominable men. But, we do not thank them or thank God for them. No! God gets all of the glory and praise for Christ’s atoning work. Judas gets no admiration for betraying Jesus and setting the plan in motion. The Pharisees deserve no gratitude. These evil men did what the Lord had ordained, yet their wills, motives, actions, hearts, desires, minds, and decisions were only sinful and self-serving. They executed their judgments and actions willingly. God is good, holy, and just and permits evil to be done because being also sovereign, all-wise, and all-mighty, he can make good come from evil. That’s amazing!
How amazing is God? When God has completed all of his redemptive work and ushered in the kingdom then believers will be in his presence forever. This will be after the final judgment and the great separation. Heaven will be a place of unceasing praise and adoration of our great God and Savior. Joy unspeakable and eternal bliss will supersede all of the pain, sorrow, and suffering that has defined the Christian life on a fallen earth. There can be no heart ache or unsanctified grief in glory. All of this is exceptional, but what of the people that are not in heaven with us? What about relatives and friends that at the moment of our joy are experiencing excruciating torment in hell? How can we worship knowing that hell is occupied?
This is a difficult truth, but truth none-the-less. I will begin by stating that God is holy and just. He cannot tolerate or allow sin in his presence. Being holy and just also means that he has to punish sin. It cannot go unpunished or he then becomes unholy and unjust. Since God would never deny himself or perform any actions that are unworthy of deity, he wills the eternal punishment of unrepentant sinners. They deserve what they receive from God’s hands. Let it be known too that they remain unconverted so they will continually sin against God even while in hell thus resulting in continued agony.
Next, believers will be completely transformed. Christians will be glorified in body and soul. We will see him face to face and better understand his mind and counsel. With that said, we will better comprehend the holiness of God and his repugnance and detestation of sin. One of the promises that believers cling to is that we will be like Christ. This means that not only will we be unable to sin, but we will be holy. As holy worshipers of God, we will praise him for all of his glorious attributes. This includes his holiness and severity. This means that being entirely sanctified and in God’s presence, we too will hate sin and continue to worship our God who is at that very moment sustaining and punishing sinners in hell. We will worship at the foot of the throne of a wrathful and vengeful God. This is the “not yet” of the “already but not yet” that defines the Christian’s life in time. We have difficulty thinking about this on earth and rightfully so. Remember, we are still sinful and unholy. All of this will change in the twinkling of an eye and we will with all the saints and un-fallen angels praise God for all eternity.
Last, I surmise that any relationship that we had on earth with a person that is in hell is dissolved. Our real brothers and sisters are in heaven. When we realize how evil sin is and all of the pain it has caused, we will praise God the more and be pleased that he is being glorified by punishing sinners, whomever they be, in hell. It will no longer be aunt so and so or dad. It will be a sinful and unholy wretch that is getting his or her just deserts for a lifetime of rebellion and iniquity. This is a hard truth now, but remember that we still like sin and our sinful friends and family members. We simply do not see sin the same way that God does.
How amazing is God? God chose to create. That is amazing, but it becomes even more so when we learn what he was doing beforehand. What was he doing? We can only guess that he was enjoying and loving himself completely and perfectly. The Trinity was glorying in the Trinity. They were experiencing supreme and flawless communion with each other. So what. Well, then God chose to create and although their harmony and communion with each other is not halted, they now have differing relationships, one with creation. It will never only be just the Godhead. When God decided to create he did so knowing that there will always be creatures in his presence. Recall that he is omnipresent. He made beings that posses immortal souls (a gift from God) so heaven will never cease to be populated. That’s amazing.
How amazing is God? Jesus, the second Person in the Trinity, took on flesh. The Son’s divine nature was joined to a human nature. That is amazing, but something we do not think about is that this was how he ascended into heaven. And that is how he will remain for all eternity. He will never cease to be the God-Man. The Son will always be God and Man; two natures in one Person. He will never just be the Son.
How amazing is God? He chose to save a people for himself, he causes the wrath of man to praise him (Ps. 76:10), water burst forth from rocks, the dead were raised, a flood destroyed the earth, plagues wreaked havoc, a donkey talked with the voice of a man, demons cried out for mercy, billions of stars hold their course, a fish swallowed a man, a storm was calmed with a word, diseases were healed, darkness arrived at midday, the sun stood still, men were unharmed by flames, old people bore children, hundreds of prophecies were fulfilled, sin was atoned for on a Roman cross, wrath and mercy met on a hill outside of Jerusalem, the Spirit empowered men to preach and sinners were converted, and the list goes on and on. God is amazing, he can never be not amazing.
Sin is sinful but God remains amazing. That is the sum of it all. No matter how far humanity fell God, in his amazing wonder, is still sovereign and is working all things for his glory and his children’s good. There are false gospels. But, God is amazing. Man is filled with pride. God is still amazing. Satan and his minions have blinded the minds of man. God is amazing. Multitudes cherish a false hope and cling to other gospels. God is amazing still. Salvation is tailored to fit ungodly men. God is amazing. Confusion abounds. God is amazing!
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