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TO BE GOD HE MUST HAVE ALL THESE QUALITIES., NO OTHER BEING HAS!
God also has moral attributes.
a.Holiness [whole or perfect] 1Pet.1:6. Exo. 15:11.
b. Justice [Giving due recompense or reward] Psa.19:9. Gen. 18:25.
c. Faithfulness [Firm in adhering to promises] 1Cor.1:9. 2 Tim.2:13.
d. Love "agape" [devoted attachment to one] John 3:16. 1 John 3:16.
e. Merciful [a forgiving disposition ] Psa.103:8. Rom. 9:18.
f. Gracious [undeserved favour] Psa.116:5. Exo. 34:6.
g. Righteousness [the right way and actions] Psa. 116:5. Jer. 12:1. Ezra 9:15
There are many more but these will be sufficient.
One more point that we should not overlook God sees the end from the beginning.
We need to look at man to help with the full picture.
Man was created by God [Gen. 2:7] and is a tripartite being; man consists of three component parts, body, soul and spirit. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" [1 Thess. 5:23] "For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow" [Heb. 4:12]
Some people teach that the soul and spirit are two words but mean the same thing; this verse definitely tells us that they are divisible.
1. Body gives man world-consciousness; the ability through the senses to understand.
2. Soul gives man self-consciousness; the ability to be a person, personality.
"God...............breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" [Gen. 2:7] The soul is that which will exist for ever in one place or the other. Man is a soul and has a body and spirit.
That soul will never die, except in separation from God who is the life. Whena soul is lost it is lost to God.
3. Spirit gives man God-consciousness; the ability to communicate with God.
When God created man He gave him a free will to be able to choose. God wanted man to be obedient to him and follow Him because he wanted to. God did not create a robot but a man with a free will. That was the reason God had to give man the opportunity to choose. "And the Lord God commanded man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it: for the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" [Gen. 2:16, 17]
The results of that wrong choice in Gen.3:6: Separation from God the life, is being dead to God! Eph. 2:1 Because of this all men and women are sinners at birth. Rom 5:12. Eph. 2:3.
God hates and must punish sin but loves the sinner and wants fellowship with man and woman.
THE JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD DEMANDS JUDGEMENT OF SIN, BUT THE LOVE, MERCY AND GRACE OF GOD DEMANDS FORGIVENESS.
The answer. SUBSTITUTION! Sin involves judgement. Someone must bear the punishment, either the sinner or a suitable substitute. John 10:11. One taking the place of another.
"Christ in His death fully satisfied the demands of a righteous God for judgement upon sinners, as their infinite sacrifice, provided a ground not only for the believer's forgiveness, but for his justification and sanctification." [Dr John Walvoord in "Jesus Christ our Lord" page 162]
God's plan of reconciliation [Rom. 5:10] was to give His perfect, sinless Son as a sacrifice for sin [ Isa 53:6.. 53:10. Acts 2:23.]
HAVING SAID ALL THIS AS A INTRODUCTION I HOPE THE ANSWERS WILL NOT BE TOO LONG.
The answers you are seeking I will answer as I see them and will endeavour to back them up with Scripture references.
1. Hell's torments symbolic or literal, annihilation.
a. Hell was prepared for the devil and his rebellious angels Jesus said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" [Mat.25:41]
b. Regarding whether on not it is symbolic or literal and regarding annihilation. Jesus told about two men one died and went to hell. Luke 16.
l. He could feel the torments. [v 23]
ll. He still had desires, water to drink, a missionary to go to his family. [ vs 24-27]
lll. He could still recognise others [v 23]
llll. He had the ability to pray but his prayer was denied. [v 27]
c. Hell is simply to be cut off from God. The Bible uses many pictures about hell, but the important thing to remember that hell is a place and life without God. Many people say that they don't want God to interfere with the way they run their lives. Well it seems that hell is the place where this wish comes dreadfully true. Luke 16:26 "great gulf fixed"
People are in hell not to be punished for their sin but simply because they refused God's offer of forgiveness and a new life. In other words they prefer their own way to God's way. Calvary and all the anguish, pain, agony, and the judgement of a righteous God punishing His beloved Son for every sin of every person shows how much God values every person, and maybe a lot more that people value them selves.
"For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul" [Mark 8:36,37]
Many people value money, possessions , position, prestige, pleasure more than their own soul. God gave the best of heaven for the worst of earth. What more could He do?
So every one has a choice. Those in heaven know that those who are lost had the same opportunity to enjoy the free grace of God but refused it. [Maybe we Christians should make sure that everyone we come in contact with should be told of God's love through Calvary., then there will be no regrets.]
May I be so simple as to give an illustration. If I ignore the instructions on a prescription and take what dose I think is right, how can the chemist be blamed if I take an overdose. If I choose to ignore the advice given by those who know better than I, then the consequences of taking too much will rest solely upon me.
People say that a loving God would not send people to hell. That is right God does not send people to hell. Men and women choose to go away from God. That is their own decision "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal" [Matt. 25:46] The ungodly
don't want holy lives and are relieved to get away from the presence of a righteous and holy God. God has provided and paid for through the death of His Son on the cross a great salvation. A way of escape!
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