God and Why

The Bible tells us that there are two roads in life, the broad way which most people travel, that has few restrictions and is an easier path, and the narrow way which is the more difficult way, so much so that few take this road, however, it is the only road that leads to eternal life.

Matthew 7:13

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Proverbs 16:25

25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I know that in Buddhism it is believed that one obtains a sort of salvation through self effort. Striving to be a good person. The Bible tells us the following:

Romans 3:10-12

10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Isaiah 64:6

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

People do ask “How could a loving God send anyone to hell?”

God is love, absolutely, but He is also light. He is supreme purity, with no blemish. He is Holy. We may think we are pretty good compared to, I don’t know…Jeffrey Dahmer or Charles Manson, but God tells us that people are not the standard by which we compare. Compared to Him, we all fall short.

Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

We are all sinful. How do we know what sin is? By the laws that He set forth in the Bible. The definition of “sin” is to miss the mark. Compared to His Holiness, we all miss the mark. We are born in sin. You don’t have to teach a baby how to be selfish. They know how to say: “MINE” as soon as they can talk. J If you ask a child if they got into your makeup, with lipstick all over their little face, they will lie and say they never touched it. We are born sinners.

John 3:3

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

We have all been born of the flesh, but the Bible tells us that we are born spiritually dead.

John 3:6

6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Romans 8:6-7

6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the (Holy) Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

God did not give us laws to be a bully or deny us a good time. He gave us laws because in His highest wisdom he saw all the grief we would cause ourselves by doing certain things.

Why does He tell us not to have sex before marriage, for instance? Because in His wisdom He knew that there would be a trail of broken relationships that started merely based on the physical, without unconditional commitment, and children would be without two parents as a result. He gave us rules to protect us, not harm us.

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

In regard to homosexuality, God considers this no greater sin than any other sin, yet He does call it sin. Why? It “misses the mark” of what he designed for us. Even nature tells us innately, by our anatomy, that two of the same sex don’t fit. We have an “inny”, and He has the “outty”. :0) There is a reason for that. It was by design. You might say, well many are just born that way. You are right! We are all born with a fallen nature, missing the mark of what God planned for us.

John 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 15:13

13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Zechariah 13:6

6 And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms? ’Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

Isaiah 53:3-7

3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

Isaiah 9:2

2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.

Mark 1:15

15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Many blessings to you today and always!