The Suffering Sermon (Part 6 of 8) 

Perfect Love and Judgement 

So, if God is the perfect judge, and loves us all perfectly, then what is the story about hell fire and brimstone? 

Why would God create a human soul just to condemn them? 

The God in the Old Testament seems to have many personalities; cruel, unjust, kind, loving, and jealous, just to name a few. There are, however, two major areas which we humans have a difficult time reconciling; the love that God has for us versus righteousness. God is loving, but perfect love requires justice. Just as a father disciplines his own children when they disobey, God disciplines us if we don't meet His requirements. The problem for us is that we cannot keep all of the commandments because of our selfishness and self-centeredness. God would have been completely just and loving in destroying all of us for our disobedience to Him. It is only through His extraordinary love and grace that we are allowed into His presence. 

In regards to free will and love. I believe in a God that has dignified you and me by giving us the capacity to choose. The capacity to choose who to love. The choice to decide for myself who to follow and obey. 

And if I choose to say "no" to God, then God will allow me the implications of that choice. He will allow me not to have Him. Otherwise, we would be accusing Him of forcing Himself into our lives. And life without God is by definition, hell. As the Bible vividly reveals the very nature of the Creator to us, the definition of what is good is derived directly from the nature of God, What is good is like God. Of course God is more than just good, He is everything that society has come to think of as good. God is holy. God is justice. God is morality. God is love. 

And love cannot be forced or else it isn't genuinely love. So true love must be a free uncoerced choice. If coercion, even to the smallest degree is involved, then it ceases to be love and becomes some level of servitude ( a.k.a; slavery). Love comes down to choice.