How
can anyone seriously entertain this notion that God will save
all when there is so much death and "destruction of the
wicked" in the Bible?
Roman's 3:23 tells us that "the wages of
sin is death." Death, the destruction of both the flesh
and the carnal mind (Romans 8 tells us the sinful mind is
death) is the penalty for sin. That is why we see death in
all its forms during this human life experience. But God does
not leave us there for, "the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord."
So we must read the Bible as ONE Story with
one theme or we will miss the big picture just as the Jews
did. The theme of the Bible is REDEMPTION. It follows the
storyline of the world's greatest stories that thrill our
hearts which is: creation...fall...redemption...restoration.
Our human epic stories could not possibly take on a wider
and greater scope than God's ultimate Story. In the best of
best stories even enemies are reconciled. And in the most
breath-taking stories there is resurrection.
The question we must ask is "what is God's
'last word' throughout the Bible?" Is it life, or is
it death and destruction of most of His image-bearers? Is
it mercy, or is it judgement? Is it eternal consignment of
sin, rebellion and death to a compartment in His universe,
or will it be a complete healing of His creation? If we look
at God's track-record we see examples coming out of seemingly
nowhere in the Scriptures of restoration, renewal and resurrection.
Note the following:
Ez. 16 testifies
of the coming restoration of Sodom. SODOM...!
Isa. 19 says,"In that day
there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians
will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians
and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel
will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing[b]
on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying,
“Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork,
and Israel my inheritance.”
Jonah is a turnaround
story of redemption where full judgement was expected, (and
earnestly desired I should add), by God's own servant, yet
ended in mercy.
The Story of the prodigal son
surprises us as "the son that was 'dead' is now alive".
The death and resurrection of
Jesus Himself testifies to the scale on which
this rescue mission is operating; the very incarnate being
of God Himself who is called "The Savior of the World"
has come to rescue the world by "destroying the works
of the devil". An infinite Savior begs for a cosmic
infinite outcome.
Revelation 21:5
says, "Behold, I am making ALL things new". He
did not say, "All new things" but rather, "all
things new". He is not starting over but He is redeeming
all He created!
Scriptures of devastating death and destruction
are a testament to the fact that the wages of sin is indeed
death but if you read long enough you ALWAYS run into restoration,
rebuilding, release from exile, renewal, revival and resurrection.
God always has the last word. Not satan and the death and
sin he was allowed to import into God's Story.
