Indescribable, part 1

John MacArthur Predestination question from 2010 Shepherd’s Conference

Why God Allows Pain and Suffering – Lee Strobel

Lewis on Hell

‘The whole difficulty of understanding Hell is that the thing to be understood is so nearly Nothing. But ye’ll have had experiences…. It begins with a grumbling mood, and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticizing it. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood, nor even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.’

 

Lewis, C.S. (1984-07-05). The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from C. S. Lewis (p. 140). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

Longing for heaven

 

Australian aborigines pictured heaven as a distant island beyond the western horizon. The early Finns thought heaven was a distant island in the faraway East. Mexicans, Peruvians, and Polynesians believed they went to the sun or the moon after death. Native Americans believed that in the afterlife their spirits would hunt the spirits of buffalo.

The Gilgamesh Epic, an ancient Babylonian legend, refers to a resting place of heroes and hints at a tree of life. In the pyramids of Egypt, the embalmed bodies had maps placed beside them as guides to the future world. The Romans believed that the righteous would picnic in the Elysian fields while their horses grazed nearby. Seneca, the Roman philosopher, said, “The day thou fearest as the last is the birthday of eternity.” Although these depictions of the afterlife differ, the unifying testimony of the human heart throughout history is belief in life after death. Anthropological evidence suggests that every culture has a God-given, innate sense of the eternal—that this world is not all there is.

 

—Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Tyndale, 2004)

 

 

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (164). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Seeing the unseen world

Humans can perceive only 30 percent of the range of the sun’s light and 1/70 of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy. Many animals exceed those abilities. Bats detect insects by sonar; pigeons navigate by magnetic fields; bloodhounds perceive a world of smell unavailable to us.

Perhaps the spiritual or “unseen” world requires senses activated only through some sort of spiritual quickening. As Jesus said, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” And the apostle Paul said, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Both expressions tell us that some truths are available only to a person who is spiritually alive.

 

—Philip Yancey, “Seeing the Invisible God,” Books and Culture (May–June 2000)

 

 

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (355). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Garry Friesen on God’s will

The truly wise father teaches his child the basic principles of life. He teaches right and wrong, wisdom and foolishness. He trains the child to make his own decisions within those moral guidelines. He is overjoyed when he sees his child grow into a mature adult capable of making wise decisions. This very picture is developed by the apostle Paul in Galatians 4:1-11. Throughout history, God has dealt with His people as a wise father would rear his children. As children grow, they are given increased responsibility. With increased responsibility comes greater freedom and fewer restrictions. The other images indicate a similar pattern. A good shepherd sets boundaries for his sheep, but allows freedom of movement within those boundaries. He establishes limits for the safety of the sheep, but does not point out which specific tufts of grass ought to be eaten by each animal. Likewise, an effective king does not seek to legislate every activity of his people. He establishes basic laws to promote order and uses penalties to promote compliance. He does not desire a nation of slaves, but a kingdom of people who respect his wisdom and appreciate his protection. When such a relationship exists, the people will act responsibly within the limits of the law. God does guide His people like a father, shepherd, and king. But these figures do not prove the existence of an individual will of God. If these figures argue anything, they demonstrate that God guides through the basic principles of life given in the Bible (His moral will), thereby teaching His children to wisely use their freedom in the application of those principles to the decisions of life. Friesen, Garry (2009-10-07). Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View (p. 43). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition.