This topic is so significant to me that I am also opening it up for online discussion on our LCMI forum - Here is a link - Click here. Please feel free to offer comments either via email or on our online forum. Thanks - Mike

Rejection?
By Mike Rule

I have been pondering the age-old thought that God rejects us and sends us to hell if we refuse to accept His son Jesus. Now, first let me allay your fears; I am not coming at this from a universalist’s point of view (i.e. one who believes there is no hell and that everyone goes to heaven when they die). But I think this age-old theology needs to be reviewed.

First, let me be honest. The longer I walk with God, the harder time I have accepting that God gets ticked off if we refuse to accept Him, and punishes us for all eternity by sending us to hell for that same refusal. Reason being, Jesus said, if we want to understand God, all we have to do is look at Him (Jesus). If we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. In the scripture did Jesus ever get all bent out of shape and punish people who refused to trust Him, believe in Him, or accept Him?

Perhaps once again we have been inflicting human motives (i.e. our own) onto God and His words, which leads us to believe in a God of our own making instead of the God who really is.

Now, let me be clear, I am not saying I do not believe there is a hell, and I am not saying that God does not send people there. But maybe His reasons are different that we first assumed. For years I have mentioned in my teaching and counsel that maybe hell is also an expression of love from God towards man. How, you might ask? Well, 1 John 4:8 says that God IS love. Therefore, everything that God does MUST flow from Who He is. But how could hell be an expression of love? Or perhaps God really is a self-serving ego maniac who wants everything His way and who is only interested in Himself!

Perhaps the real issue is not that God is angry with the people who reject Him, but He is angry because He knows how people are hurting themselves when they reject Him. Is it loving for God to FORCE Himself on anyone? Or does it take greater love to respect and accept a person where they are at?

We present a gospel to the unbelieving world that basically says, Come to God and accept Jesus, or He will get really angry with you and send you to hell for rejecting Him. Therefore, most people come to God out of fear of hell-fire and punishment, while only a few come to Him out of a sense of His love and compassion, and His desire for intimacy with us. Is a message of “Confess your sins, or burn in hell” really good news? Or is it a threat? Perhaps the real gospel is one that says, “I love you so much, I have made a way for you to be with me both now and into eternity. But, if you choose not to, then I have also prepared a place for you with that in mind as well.” Perhaps hell is an extension of an unbeliever’s reality in the here and now… an all-consuming emptiness where there is no interaction with the living God. That sounds like a lake of fire to me… being apart and cut off from Him would be an all-consuming fire, one that I created and fueled for myself. God simply gave me what I chose.

Perhaps the gospel we should be presenting is not one of hell fire, but rather of a burning love. Love from a Being Who is secure, and therefore does not have to threaten people to come to Him. A love that is all-consuming, and because it is so powerful and strong, it is terrifying and yet comforting all at the same time. God does NOT manipulate. If He did, He would be pretty pathetic indeed.

Remember it is His kindness that leads us to repentance… not His wrath, not His manipulation.

I want to spend a few weeks visiting this topic, and I would love to get some feedback from you. I look forward to hearing more from you about what He has revealed to you.

Shalom,
Mike