Doomed

by Rod Spade

Question:

How can a loving God allow a person to be born into this world

knowing he is doomed to hell?

Answer:

This is a good question and one requiring an answer because it

implies a contraction or at least an inconsistency in the very nature

and character of God. However, the God of the Bible can be neither

contradictory or inconsistent, otherwise He ceases to be the perfect

God as portrayed in the Bible.

The question as stated presupposes several things about God as well

as about man:

(1) God is a loving God.

This is a true statement. God is by nature love. 1 John 4:8, 16

clearly state that "God is love." The love here spoken of is a selfless

love. It is most practically demonstrated in John 3:16, "For God so

loved the world that He gave [i.e. sacrificed] his only begotten

Son...".

(2) People born into this world are doomed to hell.

This too is a true statement. The first man Adam's disobedience in

the garden of Eden (Genesis 3) has affected the whole of mankind,

involving everyone in sin and death (Genesis 8:21; Isaiah 53:6; Romans

3:23; Hebrews 9:27.) Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin

entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passes upon all

men, for that all have sinned...". Here we see the solidarity of

mankind. When Adam sinned, the race sinned because the race was in him.

Adam _was_ the race. What he did, we as his descendants who were in him

did also.

(3) God knows even before they were born, that some will never be

saved from the penalty of sin and therefore are doomed to hell.

This too is a correct presupposition. According to Psalm 139, God

knows everything about me, past-present-future.

However, there are several other basic character traits about God

and man which have a bearing on this question. But, the question itself

does not take into consideration these character traits:

(1) God is sovereign.

God acts on the basis of His own will and not because He is forced

to do so by any outside influence. The Bible itself begins, "In the

beginning God..." (Genesis 1:1.) It does not begin seeking to prove or

defend God's existence and sovereignty, it simply assumes it by stating

a fact. One of the things God in His sovereignty chose to do was to

create man. He created the first man in His own image, a perfect

spiritual being capable of having fellowship with Him (Genesis 1:26,

27.) Being a spiritual being created in God's image, man was given

eternal life to be lived in uninterrupted fellowship with God. It was

God's will that man should not know evil, therefore He forbid man to

eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17.) God

has always had man's welfare in mind.

(2) Man himself, created as a being with a free will rather than as

a robot (for how could a robot fellowship with God or glorify Him),

chose to disobey God (Genesis 3:1-7).

Death is the result of this disobedience; both physical death and

spiritual death (i.e. separation from God.)

(3) God is not only a loving God by nature, but also a holy and just

God.

1 John 1:5 says, "... God is light and in Him is no darkness at

all." God being holy by nature cannot fellowship with those living in

the darkness of sin (1 John 1:6.) However, because He is a loving,

merciful, and kind God, He does want to have restored fellowship with

fallen humanity. This can only be accomplished if His holiness is

protected. Therefore, a way must be provided for God and man to be

restored to fellowship while God's love is shown and His holiness

protected.

(4) God is by nature a just God and His justice demands satisfaction.

Man sinned against a holy God and God's justice and righteousness

demands that a penalty be paid. God cannot simply allow our sins to be

swept under the rug, for in doing so He would be tolerating evil and

denying His own holy nature. God's requirement for the payment of sin

is the shedding of blood. This was the basis of the Old Testament

system of animal sacrifice. The blood of the unblemished sacrificial

lamb of the Old Testament temporarily covered over and also pointed

forward to the ultimate sacrifice, namely, Jesus Christ, The Spotless

Lamb of God. Christ's blood not only covers over but also takes away

our sin (John 1:29.) Hebrews 9:22 says, "... and without shedding of

blood there is no remission [i.e. forgiveness]."

(5) God in His mercy and love has provided a way whereby His own

holiness can be protected, His justice satisfied, and we ourselves

restored to fellowship through the substitutionary death of His own

perfect Son.

God has provided the way for our salvation, it is now up to us

individually to life up our empty hands of faith towards God and

receive His gift of salvation to us. Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou

shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine

heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Concluding remarks:

God in His sovereignty continues to allow nature to take its course;

people are born, they live, they die. Many if not most die under the

condemnation of this unbelief, not because we have not received the

light, but because we reject the light already given. Romans 1:20

teaches us that even the creation around us is evidence of God's

eternal power and Godhead (i.e. trinity.) If man will respond

positively by faith to just this amount of divine light, then God will

reveal more of Himself "from faith to faith" so that ultimately He will

provide the saving gospel of Christ to the seeking individual (Romans

1:16, 17.) However, when God's revelation is rejected, our hearts

ultimately become darker and we turn to worshipping creature things

rather than the Creator (Romans 1:21-23.)

If one is still troubled by the seeming injustice of being born with

a sinful nature because of what the father of the race did; and being

held accountable for the sins that result from disability; and by a

loving God allowing man to be born into such a situation, he should

weigh carefully the significance of our reconciliation as stated by

Paul the Apostle: "... that God was in Christ, reconciling the world

unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Corinthians

5:19.) The sins committed, that owe their original impetus to the sin

of the first man but which we also are personally responsible for, are

not reckoned against those who have committed them provided they put

their trust in Christ crucified and risen. God takes their sins and

gives them His righteousness. Would we not agree that this is more than

a fair exchange? Must we not admit that God has done more than His part

in providing a way of salvation for rebellious man living under the

deserved condemnation of sin?

Rod Spade is our Assistant Pastor at SAYSF Bible Church in Lexington

Park, Maryland. I would like to thank him for taking the time to write

and research this very important question; I would also like to thank

him for his friendship, fellowship and and most important for his love

of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Thank you Rod!

Southern Maryland Christian Information Service BBS