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Archive - Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
"Burned until..."Poof! You're gone!
This is the glad tidings that our annhilationist friends are proclaiming to a hurting world, is it not?Is the message, "Love Jesus NOW, or be annihilated!" good news? Does it evoke authentic love and worship of God in the hearts of deeply shattered and hurting people who hear it?
Let's say your parents called you into a little "conference" at age 9 or so. And let's say they told you the following:
"Dearest Child, you may have wondered what our PURPOSE was in bringing you into this world. Well, pure and simple, we brought you here so you could prove that you are REALLY our child by loving us unconditionally with all of your heart. Also we had you so you could praise and encourage and adore us constantly and advertise to the neighborhood what GOOD parents we are to you. So that's our real purpose for having you, dearest one. Now when you're around 12 or 13, which is what we call "the age of accountability", we will call you in for another conference to see if you are not a bad seed, but really and truly our child. Then, if we decide that you've not TRULY loved us unconditionally and praised us sincerely and advertised us before the neighborhood, we plan to exterminate you. But don't worry about it much, cherished child. We won't torture you "forever"! No, what we'll do is secretly move out of the house with our WORTHY children while you're sleeping after pouring kerosene throughout the place. Then we'll light a match and see that you die as painlessly as possible in the explosion. Aren't you fortunate that you have loving and just parents that don't torture their offspring for eternity?"
Well, this is the message of Annhilationist "good news" proclaimers, is it not? This is the "Heavenly Parent" they are advertising to his earthly offspring, and they expect that you love and WORSHIP him (it) too!
(Don't forget that Acts 17:28 records Paul telling "pagans!" that we are all His offspring.)
Annhilationism is ROOTED IN the religious concept (as is ET-ism) that God's--purpose--for creating human beings was so they could "choose" to love Him "before it's forever too late." But for more about that, and what the Bible really proclaims as God's purpose, you can go to my article "Love Me--NOW!!!"
Love to all,
CharlieP.S.
Something dawned on me a few weeks ago that some may find helpful. God doesn't correct us because we don't love Him enough and He's trying to FORCE us to love Him. Not at all. He corrects us FOR OUR SAKE--because He loves us, irrspective of whether or not we have yet learned to love Him.
He knows that between our experiencing His kindness shown both by His generosity and His judgments, that He will eventually win our hearts.And when we remember that the "judgements of God" that come upon us, are simply His letting us experience the OUTCOME of our own foolish ways--and His rescue that follows--we are grateful for the wisdom He has let us gain via those hard experiences. Right?
And we also gain an increasing thirst to seek the shorter route in learning wisdom...
Truly!
CharlieSpirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff