“The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
One of the most important truths we know about God is His unfailing love for us. God could have been perfectly just to leave us in our depths of sin. Instead, He sent His only Son to take our place in the punishment of our sins. God’s love is unrelenting, and His pursuit of eternal friendship with us is unstoppable. But there is a time when the offer of friendship ends, and then comes judgment.
In our everyday experience, we know that when a person loves someone, that love requires a response. When a man courts and later proposes marriage to a woman, the woman needs to respond to that proposal – it is either accepted or rejected. When a man invests in loving and wooing the woman, hoping for a lifelong partnership, he knows he is taking a risk. The ‘investment’ can turn into a positive response, but it could turn belly up into a negative response. Love, in its nature, is risky. The only way a person can be sure he will not be rejected is not to love at all. But that is a grotesque existence. It is a very safe life, but useless. No love means no chance of sorrow, but it also means no living a futile life. We might as well be a rock or a piece of wood; at least they are useful.
We know rejection is tough to accept. It can come in the form of love, but it can also come in the form of work promotion, passing school exams, applying for work, etc. It makes us feel like failures; all our labour is for nothing. It can discourage us, and we can fall into depression. The best we can do is to learn from our failures and move on. It means making similar, if not better, efforts for us to achieve success. However, like the first attempt, there is no guarantee of success the second time. It may result in another failure. We should not give up until we achieve our goal.
How about God’s love for us? We only have a lifetime to choose or reject God. There are no second chances. Once we make our final breath, our destination is fixed. Jesus said that the gate to destruction is wide and many enter through it, and the gate that leads to life is narrow and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14). It would seem that many will reject God compared to those who will love God back. God desires all humanity to be saved and none to be lost, but giving us sinful humans free will is the risk God took so that there will be few who will be saved.
It must be heartbreaking for God to see so many who are lost. Every day, thousands and thousands of men and women pass away, and only a few accept Him. God gave all of us life and all the blessings we receive daily. Many take things for granted and do not acknowledge God’s blessings. Many pursue riches, honour and fame, but these things will never satisfy us. Even worse, many of us seek happiness through drugs, alcohol, or sex, but these things destroy our bodies and souls. Yet, there is God, who is always patient and allows us to turn away from these things and return to Him. He is patient and loving until our final breath. After that, God shows His love to all of us by respecting our decision to accept or reject Him. We will reap what we sow in this lifetime.
The truth is that God loves all of us and desires that we be friends with Him forever. Unfortunately, many will reject God’s offer of friendship, and God’s love will be unrequited by many. They must break God’s heart. Deep sorrow and loss are in God’s mind for those who reject Him.
How does God resolve the issue of those who reject Him? How will God deal with His sorrow for those who did not accept His offer of eternal friendship? We don’t know. Maybe one day, we will know.
We know one thing for sure: Despite the loss of many souls, many will choose to follow God. And God will share everything He has with those who love Him back. He will bless all of them with His Holiness, beauty, perfection, goodness, unity, love, peace, joy, and so on.
Is God’s happiness incomplete because some choose to reject Him? No. For true friendship with us to happen, God knowingly takes a risk by giving us free will. Yes, those who reject Him have broken His heart, but those who accept Him fulfil His ultimate goal of having us as His friends. It is a very one-sided friendship because of God’s greatness and glory, but it is still true friendship because it costs God something very dear to Him—the souls of those who reject Him.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:16-21 (ESV)
Top image credit: Close-up picture of a couple gesturing in animated dialog, photo © by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦on Unsplash.com. Free to use under the Unsplash License.
Tom Caballes was a National Coordinator of the Lamb of God, a community of the Sword of the Spirit with seven branches located throughout New Zealand. Tom lived with his wife Mhel and their two daughters [with his son-in-law and grand-daughter] in Wellington, New Zealand.