What if the very thing people accuse God of withholding is the very thing He has freely offered them? Stop and think about that for a moment. People spend an extraordinary amount of time questioning God's goodness, challenging His authority, and accusing Him of being unjust. We hear it all the time: "If there was a God, He wouldn't allow people to die." "If there was a God, He wouldn't allow so much suffering." "If God really loved people, He wouldn't send anyone to hell." But have we ever stopped to consider what God has actually done for us?
God didn't leave humanity without hope. He didn't leave us to figure out our own way to heaven. He didn't tell us to work harder, become better people, clean up our lives, or somehow earn our way into His presence. He gave us Jesus. He gave us the very thing we could never earn and could never purchase for ourselves: forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. And He offers it freely. Not because we deserve it, not because we've been good enough, and not because we've managed to get everything right, but because of His incredible grace and mercy.
Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Think about that. The payment has already been made. Jesus went to the cross. He bore the weight of our sin. He died and rose again so that we could have life through Him. There is nothing left for us to pay, nothing we can add, and nothing we can accomplish that would make His sacrifice more complete. Salvation is God's gift, received through faith in Jesus Christ.
And yet, people reject Him.
They reject His Word. They reject His authority. They reject the very idea that there is a God who gets to define truth, morality, right and wrong, and the purpose for which we were created. We live in a world where truth has become whatever someone wants it to be, where feelings are elevated above facts, personal desires above God's design, and human reasoning above the authority of the Creator. We see confusion everywhere. Even the most basic truths about our created identity are being challenged. People increasingly want a God who agrees with them, affirms them, and never asks them to surrender anything. But that's not the God of Scripture. God does not change because culture changes. His truth does not become untrue because the world decides it no longer wants to hear it. We don't get to put God on trial simply because we don't like what He says. God is God. We are not.
Now, let's talk about hell. Does God send people to hell? Scripture certainly speaks of God's judgment and the reality of eternal separation from Him. But it also makes something abundantly clear: God does not delight in the destruction of the wicked. Second Peter 3:9 tells us that God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Read that again. God desires people to be saved. He is not standing in heaven hoping people fail. He is not withholding forgiveness from those who come to Him. He sent His Son into the world to save sinners. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And just a few verses later, John 3:19 gives us a sobering explanation: "Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." That's the part we don't always want to talk about. God offers light, but people can love darkness. God offers forgiveness, but people can cling to their sin. God offers truth, but people can insist on their own version of it. God offers eternal life, but people can reject the One who gives it. And that rejection is serious.
This isn't about being better than someone else. It isn't about pointing fingers or pretending Christians have everything figured out. Every single one of us is a sinner. Every single one of us needs the same Savior. There is no room for spiritual pride at the foot of the cross. The difference isn't that some of us have earned God's favor and others haven't. The difference is Jesus. We are all equally dependent on His grace.
So the next time someone says, "If there was a God, He wouldn't allow suffering. He wouldn't allow death. And He certainly wouldn't send anyone to hell," perhaps we should stop and consider the whole picture. God entered this broken world in the person of Jesus Christ. He experienced suffering. He experienced rejection. He experienced death. And He willingly went to the cross to rescue sinners. He has not left us without an answer to sin and death. He has given us a Savior.
While we may never fully understand why God permits certain suffering in this life, we do know that He has promised to make all things new. Death does not get the final word. Suffering does not get the final word. Jesus does. But we cannot demand that God save us while simultaneously rejecting the Savior He has given us. We cannot insist that our own understanding and desires should be the ultimate authority and then accuse God of being unjust because He does not conform to them.
God's invitation is real. His grace is real. His forgiveness is real. And so is His judgment. The Bible doesn't teach that we can earn our way into heaven by being good enough, nor does it teach that we can simply dismiss God's truth and expect there to be no consequences. It teaches that we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior, and that Jesus Christ is that Savior.
Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." A gift. Freely given. Not earned. Not deserved. And yet, tragically, a gift that can be rejected.
So stop and think about this. The God people accuse of abandoning humanity is the very God who sent His Son to die for humanity. The God people accuse of being unloving is the very God who took the punishment for sin upon Himself. The God people accuse of withholding eternal life is the very God who offers it freely through Jesus Christ.
Don't confuse God's patience with approval. Don't confuse His mercy with weakness. And don't confuse His love with an absence of truth. He has made the way. He has paid the price. He has given the gift.
And the most important question you will ever answer is this: What will you do with the gift of Jesus?
