by jimwalton » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:35 pm
You sure have asked a lot of questions! But that’s a good thing—it shows you’re a thinking person and that you care about what you believe.
“People going to heaven and back—is that considered a miracle?” I’m not sure what you mean by this. Who went to heaven and came back? Once I know more specifically what you’re talking about I can answer meaningfully. I don’t just want to beat out and answer that’s off-target of what you’re asking.
“Do people ever go to hell and come back?” The Bible has no record of such a thing—no examples, no teaching, no suggestion even that anyone in hell ever came back. I’d give a pretty confident “no” on this question, but if there’s something specific that you’re referring to, let me know and I can answer again.
“Why does God love us? Why would he want to since we are so sinful?” Love is God’s nature. He loves us all. There’s no particular why. In a way it’s like asking why you love your parents. Um, I would guess because they’re your parents, and there really isn’t another reason. Sure, behind that is that they have raised you, loved you, have taken care of you, and want your best, but you just love them because you love them. Why does God love us? We’re human, and He created humans to be in relationship with Him, and love is His nature, and he doesn’t really need another reason. He certainly doesn’t just love us because we’ve earned it or deserve it; He surely doesn’t just love us only if we love him. The Bible says (as I’m sure you know) that God loves us all (John 3.16), and that He loved us even when we were sinners in rebellion against Him (Rom. 5.8).
When a parent gives birth to a child, they love that child just because it’s their own. My daughter adopted a 9-year-old child from China. We loved him the minute he walked off the plane. It’s because we chose to, and it’s because he was now a member of our family. There was no particular “why.” We chose to. God is love; He wants us in His family, and He chooses to love us without a particular “why.”
“Do we go to God or does God reveal Himself to us (to be saved and hear the gospel)?” It’s “B”: He reveals Himself to us. The initiative is all with God. We wouldn’t know diddly, and we could never know much of anything about Him, and we would never be motivated to “go to God” if He didn’t draw us to Himself. According to the Bible, God is continually revealing Himself to us, continually drawing us in His direction, and continually tugging on our hearts.
“It would be a little unfair if he picked out only certain people He wanted with Him.” That’s right, and it’s not true. As you said, He wants everyone in heaven with Him (2 Pet. 3.9). When the Bible talks about election (God choosing people), He is choosing people not only to be with Him but also to invite as many other people to come as possible. Invite everybody! Bring as many as you can! Christians aren’t elected because they’re special and others aren’t, or because God wants them and not the others, or because God loves some but not others. Christians are elected to be messengers and inviters: “You, I have chosen YOU to be the one to bring Ally, Emmy, Ethan, Sophia and as many others as you can.” That’s what the choosing is about.
“The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—what’s that gonna look like in heaven?” Our best view of that is Revelation 4. It’s all imagery, but it’s all we have to go by. I’m quite convinced John couldn’t find words to describe what he was seeing, and he did the best he could by using poetic images and word pictures.
“The Bible talks about Jesus sitting next to the Father—is that supposed to be taken literally?” No. It’s a word picture of Jesus’ equality with God and Him being king just like God is king. But I do think we’ll see Jesus like He looked after the resurrection. But he’ll obviously one with the presence on the throne with the emerald rainbow around it. There are just no words for it.
And thanks for your last paragraph. I’m glad I’ve been helpful. I like all your questions. As I said, it shows you’re thinking and you care. That’s such a good thing. You know, if I remember right back to some of your first emails, you said a friend of yours directed you to me. Feel free, if you have friends who have questions too, to tell them to email me, too. I just want to help people find and know the truth. I’m glad you don’t want to run away from it as much as you did a few months ago—really glad. As I’ve mentioned, knowing God and having a relationship with Him is the most valuable part of life.
You sure have asked a lot of questions! But that’s a good thing—it shows you’re a thinking person and that you care about what you believe.
“People going to heaven and back—is that considered a miracle?” I’m not sure what you mean by this. Who went to heaven and came back? Once I know more specifically what you’re talking about I can answer meaningfully. I don’t just want to beat out and answer that’s off-target of what you’re asking.
“Do people ever go to hell and come back?” The Bible has no record of such a thing—no examples, no teaching, no suggestion even that anyone in hell ever came back. I’d give a pretty confident “no” on this question, but if there’s something specific that you’re referring to, let me know and I can answer again.
“Why does God love us? Why would he want to since we are so sinful?” Love is God’s nature. He loves us all. There’s no particular why. In a way it’s like asking why you love your parents. Um, I would guess because they’re your parents, and there really isn’t another reason. Sure, behind that is that they have raised you, loved you, have taken care of you, and want your best, but you just love them because you love them. Why does God love us? We’re human, and He created humans to be in relationship with Him, and love is His nature, and he doesn’t really need another reason. He certainly doesn’t just love us because we’ve earned it or deserve it; He surely doesn’t just love us only if we love him. The Bible says (as I’m sure you know) that God loves us all (John 3.16), and that He loved us even when we were sinners in rebellion against Him (Rom. 5.8).
When a parent gives birth to a child, they love that child just because it’s their own. My daughter adopted a 9-year-old child from China. We loved him the minute he walked off the plane. It’s because we chose to, and it’s because he was now a member of our family. There was no particular “why.” We chose to. God is love; He wants us in His family, and He chooses to love us without a particular “why.”
“Do we go to God or does God reveal Himself to us (to be saved and hear the gospel)?” It’s “B”: He reveals Himself to us. The initiative is all with God. We wouldn’t know diddly, and we could never know much of anything about Him, and we would never be motivated to “go to God” if He didn’t draw us to Himself. According to the Bible, God is continually revealing Himself to us, continually drawing us in His direction, and continually tugging on our hearts.
“It would be a little unfair if he picked out only certain people He wanted with Him.” That’s right, and it’s not true. As you said, He wants everyone in heaven with Him (2 Pet. 3.9). When the Bible talks about election (God choosing people), He is choosing people not only to be with Him but also to invite as many other people to come as possible. Invite everybody! Bring as many as you can! Christians aren’t elected because they’re special and others aren’t, or because God wants them and not the others, or because God loves some but not others. Christians are elected to be messengers and inviters: “You, I have chosen YOU to be the one to bring Ally, Emmy, Ethan, Sophia and as many others as you can.” That’s what the choosing is about.
“The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—what’s that gonna look like in heaven?” Our best view of that is Revelation 4. It’s all imagery, but it’s all we have to go by. I’m quite convinced John couldn’t find words to describe what he was seeing, and he did the best he could by using poetic images and word pictures.
“The Bible talks about Jesus sitting next to the Father—is that supposed to be taken literally?” No. It’s a word picture of Jesus’ equality with God and Him being king just like God is king. But I do think we’ll see Jesus like He looked after the resurrection. But he’ll obviously one with the presence on the throne with the emerald rainbow around it. There are just no words for it.
And thanks for your last paragraph. I’m glad I’ve been helpful. I like all your questions. As I said, it shows you’re thinking and you care. That’s such a good thing. You know, if I remember right back to some of your first emails, you said a friend of yours directed you to me. Feel free, if you have friends who have questions too, to tell them to email me, too. I just want to help people find and know the truth. I’m glad you don’t want to run away from it as much as you did a few months ago—really glad. As I’ve mentioned, knowing God and having a relationship with Him is the most valuable part of life.