A selfish God?

Question 4:

Isn't it selfish for God to create us and then condemn us to hell if we don't love him?

As i talk to some people, the exclusiveness of the christian doctrine as i have proven in question three have rubbed the shoulders of some people. It seems like God is saying if you don't love me, I'll put you in eternal jail forever. If you don't love me, I'll condemn you forever in sulphur and fire. God seems to be saying, hey, you have to love me, or else i won't love you anymore.

Can that actually be true?

There are a few ways to answer this question. Here goes:

1) Let us first define some terms. What is heaven? Yes, its a place full of light, full of glory etc but the main gist of it is that heaven is a place where you spend eternity with God.

So if heaven is a place where you spend eternity with God, what is hell? Hell would simply be a place without God right since they are direct opposites.

Asking this question is like your ex girlfriend who dumped you for another guy coming to scold you for not letting her live in the house you and your wife currently live in now.

If you are someone like me, who hated my discipline master in school all my life, never believed in him, would gladly crucify him for all the detention he lashes out, run away from him whenever you see him and lets say, i ask you to spend an eternity praising him in a room in school affectionately called heaven, how would you feel? Would it really be heaven or would it feel like hell?

The truth is, God loves you so much. The greatest gift that God gave you is this thing called freewill. The freedom to choose your own path to love as you would like but with consequences. To force you to do anything against your freewill will make you less human then you are. Its like taking a steering wheel away from a car.

He loves you so much and respect you so much that he would respect your decision not to know him and love him. Although he have all the powers to put you physically in heaven, he doesn't do that because you know what, he respects your decision. Forcing you into heaven to praise him and love him would be like hell to you. You won't enjoy heaven so off you go, to a place where God does not exist.

When people ask me this question, I'll always ask them 2 questions.

a) Why do you think people wants to go into heaven. Because heavens sounds better then hell?

b) Do you know what people do in heaven? Would you enjoy what they do in heaven?

If you won't, then go heaven for what? You'll enjoy hell more i guess.

2) The second angle you can answer this question is from that of purpose of creation.

When you ask this question, you have already accepted that there is a God. I'll assume you are asking from a Christian's point of view and not asking about the Muslim God. If you are, go ask someone else, i don't know how they will answer the question.

So from a Christianity point of view, what was God's first role in us? He created us. And he did not create us out of fun, but he created us with a purpose. Let's see what the bible says about this.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
~ Genesis 1:26-30 ~

In verse 26, it says "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness" Who is the "our" here? It refers to the trinity. The trinity was living in perfect unity. The Holy Spirit and Jesus submitted to the authority of the Father. They were like one. They had perfect love within. When God made us in their likeness, we inherited this trait as well. Our first trait of creation and reason for existence was to be in perfect unity with God just like the trinity had within. We were created to submit to God's authority and love him. Beyond that we were created to rule and reign with him.

We all know from there that Adam and Eve fell to sin and disobeyed God and the perfect unity was broken from then on. God doesn't condemn people to hell. He is asking you now, do you want to come and rule and reign with me? if you say yes, come, I'll reserve the best i have for you. You'll be the heir and co-heirs to my treasures. I've died on the cross to make this possible for you and me to have a love story which lasts for eternity.

If you say no, alright, but i can't always keep the door open. It'll close one day because the devil has to be wiped out one day and i will be victorious. When i wipe the devil out, you would have chosen to go with him. As much as it hurts me to see you follow his lies, you've made your choice. That's why I'm calling out to you know. Don't walk on the wrong path, come back to me, my child.

So, its not him condemning you eh.. its you condemning yourself. If God was to condemn you, he would not even have bothered to make the effort to die on the cross for you and me. God really loves us.

Some would ask Why am i created to glorify you?? Why didn't God just create me and let me be. A world where i do not rule and reign with him. Where i serve myself and where i just live my own life on earth. God, just create me and leave me alone. Well, no one is stopping you from asking for hell you know? Isn't that world you just asked for an apt description of hell?

I rest my case.

What do you think?

Regards,

Jie hui

Labels: Apologetics