Judging God

"...rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8)."

"How could a loving God send someone to Hell?" Have you ever heard someone say this to justify why they don't believe in God? Ultimately, what they are saying is that, "I am so wonderful that, if God exists, He couldn't possibly send me to Hell." Like many of us, we often see ourselves in the best light. We believe ourselves to be "basically good" and not so bad as to warrant being put in a place of eternal torment. Yet, how quick are we to act in the place of God and condemn others to Hell? God's standard is whether or not an individual has come alive to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. The standard that an individual often uses is if they like a person or have personally benefited from someone being in their lives. Generally speaking, nobody would send a family member or loved one to Hell. Nor would they even think to consider condemning their favorite athlete, entertainer or politician to eternal darkness. But, what about those people we don't like? How about that politician we believe to be the personification of evil? Who could forgive that athlete or Hollywood superstar who did that "terrible thing" despite all the riches they have? Don't forget those ex-husbands, ex-wives, ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends and all of their present significant others who replaced us. They hurt us despite our "perfect" behavior towards them. They deserve the worst, right? We want mercy for ourselves and judgment for our enemies. Therefore, if we can feel justified in condemning others who have hurt us or disappointed us, why doesn't God have that same right, since He not only created us, but gave us everything in this world to enjoy and be a part of?

Have you ever heard the story of the Hindu and the Anthill? To make a long story short, it goes something like this: A devout man who belonged to a Hindu sect believed that all life was sacred. He would not kill an ant, a cow, or even a cobra, because to him, due to his belief in reincarnation, he might be killing some past relative. He came to America and was confronted with the claims of Jesus Christ. One day, while contemplating these claims about Jesus, he stumbled across an anthill. While admiring the ants he noticed a tractor was headed right for the anthill. He wanted to warn the ants, but didn't know how. He thought to himself, "How can I warn them?  If I could write in the sand, they wouldn't be able to read it.  If I shouted to them, they wouldn't understand me.  The only possible way I could communicate with them would be by becoming an ant, if I had that ability." Then suddenly he had a revelation from the Spirit of God.  He saw why God, the Creator of the universe, chose to become one of us by becoming a man, in the Person of Jesus Christ.  Through his experience with the ant hill, the light suddenly came on in the heart of that Hindu man, In this story, we are the ants. We are the ones scurrying around, living our lives; oblivious to the eternal judgment headed our way. But, while we sit in judgment of God, we fail to realize that we have already been judged. But, as the hindu realized, we have a way of escape in Jesus Christ. God gave us this world as a testimony of Himself, but we end up worshiping it instead of Him. He spoke to us, but like the Jews of old, we refuse to listen. The only thing left for Him to do was to become one of us and we killed Him! Yet, we dare ask, "How could a loving God send someone to Hell?" The question that should be asked is, "How could a loving God not send you to Hell?" If you reject Him and His only offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, where else is He going to put you?