Many will say this is heresy! But the TRUTH can always withstand scrutiny. Study this information and pray about and let the Bible and the Holy Spirit lead you.
Destruction of the wicked is easy! That's Satan's main modus operandi! Satan is the author of death and destruction. That's also the way humans behave. Even WE can destroy. Destruction is TOO EASY! And that's not God's way of doing things.
God is far greater and far smarter than all of us. He has the power and genius to win His children back. He didn't create a creature (Satan) that is smarter than He (God) is -- someone who could win the majority of God's children away from God - and leave God helpless to know how to win His children back!! Rubbish!
It's EASY to destroy! But it takes a real Genius to change His children's lives and win them back so God can be ALL in ALL!
Remember, Jesus said "If I be lifted up, I will draw ALL unto me." John 12:32
What a God! How GLORIOUS the New Earth will be!
By the way, that's the way God is going to "wipe away all the tears from our eyes." Not by giving everyone a lobotomy so they won't remember all their loved ones who "weren't saved." Instead, Our great and wonderful God has the power and intelligence to win EVERYONE back to Him!
If God is love. (I John 4:8) --- and Love NEVER fails. (1 Cor 13:8) --- then GOD NEVER FAILS! It is impossible for God to lose even one of His children!
GOD DOESN'T WASTE ANYTHING!!
Everything God has created is recyclable. Nothing is wasted or permanently destroyed. It is a law of physics that matter is never permanently destroyed. All matter is conserved.
Jesus, after feeding the 5000, ordered the disciples to collect all of the scraps in baskets. He doesn't waste ANYTHING!
It is God's nature NOT to throw anything away. Why would He create BILLIONS of people just to permanently annihilate them by whatever means? If He will go to the trouble of having scraps of bread picked up so they wouldn't be wasted (after the feeding of the multitudes), how could He permanently destroy billions of people? (After all, God tells us that He watches out for the sparrows and we're told we're far more important than sparrows.)
We BECOME like those we admire!
Jesus is God in human form. When we fall in love with someone, we want to know all about them, and do what they want to do, and do what they want US to do.
That's what happens when we fall in love with Jesus. But the ONLY way we can fall in love with Him is by getting to know Him, by talking to Him regularly every day in prayer, and by letting Him talk to us through His Word, by our reading the Bible, and through Him impressing His character on our minds.
It is well known that we become like those we admire. Kids that admire Satanic Rock groups, dress like them, talk like them and behave like them.
If we love a God that is going to destroy His enemies -- then that's how we become - hateful to those who don't believe as we do. We start to believe that they DESERVE to be destroyed! After all, THEY didn't make the RIGHT CHOICE --- and WE DID!! (What spirit is that?)
Did God create Lucifer (who became Satan) to be smarter than God is? That has to be the case if Satan can win 80% or more of God's children away from God, and God doesn't have a clue as to how to win them back. And then what do we do with the quote of Jesus "If I be lifted up, I will draw ALL men unto me"???
The omnipotent, omniscient God who creates galaxies with billions of stars, Who created the sun, moon and everything in the universe, yet knows when a sparrow falls - certainly HE can win His children back!! God Himself said, "Is ANYTHING too hard for the Lord?" Gen 18:14
But we're taught that Satan has outsmarted God and God has NO idea how to win His kids back, so He's just got to KILL BILLIONS of them!!
But I thought Satan is the destroyer!! Destruction is SATAN'S modus operandi. And that's what we humans do also - DESTROY - whatever we don't like or can't control.
But God says "I'm NOT like you! My ways are NOT your ways. My ways are HIGHER than your ways." God is the RESTORER, NOT the destroyer! "Behold I make ALL things NEW!" says the Lord.
CONTRACTS OBTAINED THROUGH FRAUD
If a person enters into a contract through fraudulent representation, it is NO contract at all. Fraud nullifies consent. If any contract is obtained by the use of fraudulent means, it is declared null and void in any court in the land.
Are our earthly courts more fair than God's justice? Satan has won ALL of his converts by the use of fraud and deceit. If Satan had been honest about his motives, methods and goals, NO ONE would agree to follow him.
Even though God allows us to reap what we sow, will God honor permanently the contracts made between Satan and human beings when ALL of them were obtained by fraud?
FREE WILL - FREEDOM OF "CHOICE"
God has given us "free will" to make our own choices. We "choose" to follow the Lord?
But where is our "free will"? Consider this:
1) We didn't ask to be born. We had No choice in it.
2) We had NO choice whether to be born a sinner or not - "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
3) We had NO choice as to who are parents were, our genetic make-up, the place or circumstances of our birth, our heighth, our nationality or our physical characteristics nor whether or not we were born with or without birth defects.
4) And we have NO choice as to the circumstances nor experiences that go into making up our subconscious mind which determines in large part how we react to situations and how we make decisions.
CONSIDER THIS:
Methuselah had 969 years to find God and get his life right.
Yet a child may be born to a prostitute, drug addict mother and a Mafia "hit man", alcoholic father who beats his wife and kids everyday. The child grows up in the ghetto, on the street, joins a gang and is murdered in a shootout at the age of 14.
According to what we're taught, God says "Well kid, you had 14 years to find Me and get your life straight and you didn't get it right -- so YOU'RE DEAD MEAT. You're going to BURN because you didn't accept Me as your Saviour in those 14 short years!"
In this "parable" the boy responds by saying "But why did you give Methuselah 969 years and me only 14 years? That isn't fair!"
And the boy is absolutely right! IT ISN'T FAIR!! SO GOD WOULDN'T DO THAT!!
God is the ULTIMATE in fairness.
REGARDING GOD'S SAVING OF ALL MANKIND!
"The news of Christ's resurrection was so DIFFERENT from what they (the disciples) had anticipated that they coud NOT BELIEVE it. It was TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, they thought. They had heard so much of the doctrines and the so-called scientific theories of the Sadducees (the church leaders of the day) that the impression made on their minds in regard to the resurrection was vague. They scarcely knew what the resurrection from the dead could mean. They were UNABLE TO TAKE IN THE GREAT SUBJECT." Desire of Ages, pg. 793
The SAME is true of the church of today regarding UNIVERSAL RESTORATION - the SAVING of ALL mankind. But this means saving people FROM their sins, notIN their sins! It is "TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE" we say, but yet that's the way God REALLY is!! He's FAR GREATER and KINDER than we have EVER IMAGINED!
This is why we can now understand the following texts to their fullest:
Phil 4:6 Be anxous for NOTHING! (Don't worry about ANYTHING) But in EVERYTHING, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests know to God and the peace of God that passes ALL understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
UNIVERSAL RESTORATION is truly "the peace that passes ALL understanding."
1 Thess. 5: 16-18 Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS! For this IS THE WILL of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
Will I Make it to Heaven?
Everyone is always worried about whether they're going to "get to heaven." "How do I make sure I'm going to be there?!" People say that Universal Restoration means we don't have to pray for people because, if Universal Restoration is correct, EVERYONE is going to be saved anyway.
But that misses the real point! Because that assumes that it's NOT FAR BETTER to be with Christ NOW while here on earth! We want to pray without ceasing that our friends and relatives accept Christ NOW so they can be with Christ NOW on this earth, as well as for eternity.
That's what the parable of the Prodigal Son is all about. The son who stayed home said to his father "I stuck around here all these years with you and didn't go out and have "fun" like my brother (who, of course, ended up living with the pigs! Some fun!) "And you're giving my brother the same reward you're giving me (son-ship) plus you're giving him a big "welcome home" party. I'm upset!!"
And the father replies "Hasn't it been better to be here with me all this time? If you don't think there's any advantage to being with me NOW - EVERY DAY- then you haven't gotten the picture yet! In fact, you really have NEVER been with me. You've just been going through the motions, waiting to get my fortune (reward of eternal life). Depart from Me, I NEVER knew you!"
If we don't understand that it's FAR BETTER to be with the Lord right now, here on this earth, even if there were no future eternal life, then He will allow us to follow our own path until we finally learn that our own plans lead to nothing but pain and sorrow and that the ONLY road to happiness is to follow God's way.
How long will God have patience with us? Will He ever become impatient and give up on us? Remember, God says "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you." Heb. 13:5 How long did the lost shepherd search for the one lost sheep? Until He found it! There was NO time limit!
"Do you mean we actually get a second chance?" you ask. Isn't that heresy? When could that possibly happen? And if that is true, then I can "be bad" as long as I want, and I'll still have a chance later to change and be saved, so what's the big deal? I can put off coming to Christ for as long as I want.
And why should we pray for people, when everyone is going to be saved anyway?
Don't you realize that it's BETTER to be WITH the Lord, than to be WITHOUT Him? --Even if there were nothing after this life, wouldn't it be better to be with the Lord NOW than NOT to be with Him NOW? If we don't realize that, and if our reasons for being with the Lord are ANY other than just WANTING to be with Him, we're NOT safe to save! We either just want the "goodies" of heaven, or we're just afraid of the "penalty."
Re-read the parable of the Prodigal Son and concentrate on the role of the older brother who really didn't care that much about his father, he was just staying around to get his inheritance (the goodies).
Are Christians guilty of the same motivation?
