Why?

[payattention]

Every now and then this question pops up in my mind. Why are Christians so scared of the loving God they serve?

 

[StormyOne]

Every now and then this question pops up in my mind. Why are Christians so scared of the loving God they serve?

Who said they were serving Him? Do they really, I mean really love Him? How can one love a Being they don't see, yet mistreat the humans they do see?

 

[HoneyDew]

Well, if you were forced to read the OT when a small child and Revelation and bits of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel ... all that sticks is the idea of a wrathful Deity. By the time you are old enough to rediscover the truth about the God of Love, you are too afraid to tackle it. Conditioning, I think.

 

[StormyOne]

Well, if you were forced to read the OT when a small child and Revelation and bits of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel ... all that sticks is the idea of a wrathful Deity. By the time you are old enough to rediscover the truth about the God of Love, you are too afraid to tackle it. Conditioning, I think.

So its hard to unlearn what has been learned... difficult to undo the conditioning?

 

[HoneyDew]

So its hard to unlearn what has been learned... difficult to undo the conditioning?

Yessiree, Bob.
And why should we struggle to unlearn anything? We are content. It keeps us all feeling special -- peculiar, if you will. (This is a general remark to the Christian community.) It maintains the status quo. And it excludes those we think are excludable. Hmmm, very human tendencies. What's not to love?

 

[StormyOne]

Yessiree, Bob.
And why should we struggle to unlearn anything? We are content. It keeps us all feeling special -- peculiar, if you will. (This is a general remark to the Christian community.) It maintains the status quo. And it excludes those we think are excludable. Hmmm, very human tendencies. What's not to love?

Interesting... this attitude does seem to be contagious....

 

[HoneyDew]

Interesting... this attitude does seem to be contagious....

Passed on to our children and new converts, you mean?

 

[StormyOne]

Passed on to our children and new converts, you mean?

that too...

 

[Tiras]

Well, if you were forced to read the OT when a small child and Revelation and bits of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel ... all that sticks is the idea of a wrathful Deity. By the time you are old enough to rediscover the truth about the God of Love, you are too afraid to tackle it. Conditioning, I think.

I agree but even those parts of the Bible if taught correctly display God's love, mercy and grace... so I think it has a lot to do with how God is displayed through the parents, teachers and leaders of the church that "conditions" people...

 

[payattention]

that too...

If God is approachable does not our fear of him mean that we don't trust Him? And if we don't trust Him, why would He want to come to get us?

 

[StormyOne]

If God is approachable does not our fear of him mean that we don't trust Him? And if we don't trust Him, why would He want to come to get us?

We can't trust who we don't know.... and we don't know Him because of the misconceptions that have been taught about Him... and no, we don't question those things that we have been taught....

 

[Sophia7]

Many Adventists seem to be afraid of God because they don't really have assurance of salvation. Because of what Ellen White said about not saying that you are "saved," they seem to think that they can't know for sure. And I think they have totally misunderstood what she meant by that statement. After all, 1 John 5:11-13 says:

11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

One question, though: why, whenever angels appeared to people in the Bible, did they have to tell them not to be afraid (Mary in Luke 1:30; the shepherds in Luke 2:10)? When the angel of the Lord appeared in human form (a possible example of Christophony) to Manoah in Judges 13, he was not afraid, but when the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame, and he realized who it was, he thought he was going to die:

JDG 13:17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"

JDG 13:18 He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding. " 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.

JDG 13:22 "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"

Is there not some understandable fear involved in actually seeing God? After all, even Moses was only allowed to see God's back, as recorded in Exodus 33:

EX 33:18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

EX 33:19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

EX 33:21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

 

[payattention]

One question, though: why, whenever angels appeared to people in the Bible, did they have to tell them not to be afraid (Mary in Luke 1:30; the shepherds in Luke 2:10)? When the angel of the Lord appeared in human form (a possible example of Christophony) to Manoah in Judges 13, he was not afraid, but when the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame, and he realized who it was, he thought he was going to die:

Fear was introduced after man fell, and the devil has been feeding that fire ever since. This is why the people have always been afrighted. Jesus came so we could get to know the Father through Him. You would think that by now we got the message. We have not because we fail to understand that the people of Bible times were not closer to God than we are. This is why they needed prophets.