What is fair? Who said that life is meant to be fair? What is equality? We are all born equal, as sinners. We are all born into different circumstances and these shape us as much as our innate abilities. We cannot blame God for our circumstances or our abilities. He made us not equal but unique.
Romans 9: 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."[f] 16It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."[g] 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Job 40: 6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: 7 "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 8 "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? 9 Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? 10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. 11 Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low, 12 look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. 14 Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.
God is sovereign. He has reasons behind everything that he does. We do not have all of the information and therefore cannot question his motives. Yet, despite this he has equipped us. We have infinite power, but don't choose to use it. Jesus said that we could tell the mountain to jump into the sea (Matthew 21:21). He said that we could do more great things than even he did (John 14:12). Yet, we don't.There are people who do great things. They are usually not extraordinary people. But they take advantage of God's provision and rely on him and his Holy Spirit which we all have available to us and who dwells in the saved.Life is not fair. It cannot be fair in a fallen world. People are not equal for the same reason. We are fallen people, born into sin. A child is born with fetal alcohol syndrome, not because God wills it, but because we are fallen. As science delves into the human genome they are finding that more and more is in our genetic makeup. Sin is passed through the generations and we bear the sins of our ancestors whether we like it or not.God could put us in a bubble of protection but chooses not to. He wants us in the world so that we can make a difference. This may mean that we need to suffer, but he has provided for that too. All suffering is temporary. He has said that he will help us through it and does. All of the apostles except John died painful deaths. Paul lived with a condition that he repeatedly asked God to remove, but God asked him to endure.Without suffering, humanity would egotistically and blithely go on without God. We would try to do everything under our own power and take all of the credit. We do that even in a time of suffering and would be even worse without it. In our weakness we turn back to God. Suffering shows the nature of sin and the author of our troubles, Satan, not God.The book of Job starts with a conversation between God and Satan. It shows how suffering works. God removes his protection from Job and allows Satan to operate. That is what is happening in the world. God steps in as we invite him in but will only operate insofar as his sovereign purposes allow. We cannot and should not question his sovereign purpose or right to do so. When we decided to do it our way, God stepped back and allowed us to see the folly of that and as such has temporarily left us to our own devices and allowed Satan time and space to operate.God wants us to learn that sin produces suffering and that as long as we choose to operate outside of his will then pain will be the inevitable result. But there is more than us at stake. We are part of an epic battle of cosmic proportions. The Heavenly hosts are watching both us and God. Satan is accusing God and God allows it. He wants to show that he has been infinitely patient and when he steps in at his appointed time to stop it, then no one can accuse him of acting out of fear or self interest. Remember Satan's accusation in the garden.
Genesis 3: 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
He is saying that God fears that we will become like God and as such he is telling the Heavenly hosts the same thing. We can be like God and God knows it and is afraid.Personally, I like God's way. His love is sacrificial. He felt that he had to make a sufficient commitment to his plan that he had to take on human form and surrender his divinity and live and die a long, slow agonizing death. Do not think for a second that Jesus did not feel pain? He was fully human until the time of his resurrection.God loves us and wants us to return to him, to return to his path and live under his protection. That cannot happen in this fallen world and in our fallen condition. We must be reborn and the world must be remade. That was Jesus' message to us and he was willing to suffer and die for us to demonstrate the Father's love for us. And he did all of that while we were unworthy sinners.
Romans 5: 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
No, we are not equal and life is not fair. Someday that situation will be reversed. We will all live under his protection and experience his love in the same way that he originally envisaged. We are his love child. He made us so that he could love us and so that we could love him. Those that disagree with him will live without his love and protection. I think that this is what Hell is. Jesus cried out on the cross. It was a cry of despair. He experienced the emptiness that comes when we are without God. Why would anyone want to live eternally in such a condition, separated from God, knowing no fellowship or love? That is why it is called Hell. It is not a place, but a condition.There is spiritual devolution. We became depraved and it is getting progressively worse. There isn't spiritual evolution but spiritual renewal. That happens when we are reborn in Christ. However, our new character evolves as we learn what it means to live by the power of the Holy Spirit and we become more and more like Christ. The former part which is instantaneous is frequently called justification. The second part is the the gradual evolution and it is often called sanctification. The problem is that many people stop at the first part because they just didn't get the message right. They think that if they say the right words then it is the end of it, but it isn't the saying the words that justifies us, but the believing the words. These people never experience renewal and transformation because they distorted the message from being based on grace to works. Believing the power in those words makes us new people and it is not the end, but the beginning. A new beginning and a fresh start.The third part of salvation is called glorification and we have to wait for that in hope and anticipation. It is like waiting for all Christmases wrapped up in one. It is a certainty, but because we have to wait it drives us crazy, in a nice way.In this world we need to expect God to deliver on his promises. He always has and always will. It is the only certainty we have. The first certainty is that he can give us a new spirit. The second is that we can be transformed into new and better people. The final certainty is that we will be given a new home and perfect bodies that will never change. Another certainty is that there is no hope for the world or its people apart from Jesus. Suffering is increasing and the world is getting worse. That puts everybody in a position where they have choose which set of certainties they will go for.I have made my decision. Everybody has to choose for themselves.
