I had this thought and I'm curious on the opinions of people. If God never offered salvation or eternal life and instead left you in your sins and you had to one day endure sins eternal punishment would you 1. Still love God? and 2. Still serve him?
Don't feel bad if your answer is no. The same fate is being forced upon Lucifer and 1/3rd of the angels and i can see why people would not want to serve a God that isnt merciful but is instead "all judgement" but, i think my answer would still be yes. Mainly because, I don't deserve eternal life whether God leaves me in my sins or not the fact of the matter is, I've sinned against God and God has every right to punish me. I cannot help loving God and loving to serve him just as much as I cannot help breathing. But, I'm curious is it the same for others? Again don't be ashamed if your answer is no it's the response I'm sure even God would expect and maybe that's why God chose mercy. I'm mostly just curious if other Christians would still love God no matter what.
Tough question, and complicated answer.
What I loved was not the promise, but rather the personhood of Jesus. Who He is and what He did, the compassion, the forgiveness, the self sacrifice for us, that is what made me admire Him. But, the forgiveness and compassion and the self sacrifice is what leads to the salvation and promise of eternal life.. so it is to a degree irrevocably connected.
Without the compassion and forgiveness there is less to love about God as a person, and so less desire to serve Him or love Him. I can't love a glorious all powerful tyrant. Without the person of Jesus Christ.. I can't love God. I'd just wish I was never created... every single day. Now.. that said sometimes I do wish
I wasn't created out of my own flaws and imperfections and feelings of worthlessness and wonder what's the point of
me? But in this case, without the personhood of Christ, it's not that I wouldn't want to exist because of my own failings.. but because of the disappointing tyrant that created me and this whole world just to inflate his ego. I could not bear with such a "god".
In other religions, such as Islam, Allah declares himself creator, and proclaims himself glorious and transcendent, demands obedience and punishes sinners. To some, if you are "good enough" (works based salvation but you never know if you'll have enough goodboy points to receive mercy), you are given mercy, and in fact Allah offers everything you could humanly wish for, an afterlife of 72 wives, while you sit on a perfect plumped up cushion and the fruit trees just extend their branches out to your fingertips so you don't even have to move to get up to pluck succulent fruit to eat. Oh there's the promise of eternal life, the promise of all the sex and sweet food and human wish fulfillment you could desire!
But I can't love Allah, because Allah did not come down in human flesh. Allah didn't experience temptation as we all do, and overcome it. Allah didn't express the compassion and mercy and meekness of Christ. Allah didn't allow himself to be nailed to a cross and die, and in fact die for
my sins in
my place and take the wrath of God that
I deserve.
and Allah didn't make it his plan to come back, and dwell among us on Earth, bringing heaven to Earth, forever and ever.
So,
even if Allah is the true creator, and Jesus Christ was the imposter, then I guess I would go to hell, deservingly. I would spend eternity with Jesus, in hell, and still love Him, because He selflessly did, what Allah would never do, in spite of my utter worthlessness. Even if Allah had mercy on me, and I lived in Heaven forever and ever, surrounded by wives, after a lifetime on earth unmarried, something that I have always wanted (but just one, the way God intended, not 72), and every carnal pleasure I could desire... I'd still not love him, and still be inconsolably depressed, forever, because the man I admire most, is Jesus Christ.
Just to clarify, no I don't believe Allah is the true creator. I was making the point between Islam and Christianity, to make a compare and contrast. Both religions teach one God who created the universe, both teach that man fell into sin and the God who created them will judge them all for it. Both have an afterlife, and the possibility of an eternal life in paradise.
But one has a God who became flesh and died for our sins, and the other doesn't.
I believe the true God is one that so loved His own creation that He'd die for it to save it, and is the only way a god would be worth worshiping.
