The doctrine of universalism is utterly useless: we are not all the same. If we literally became one, you would be the same as the worst rapist, murderer or vandal. The lowest common denominator is unhuman.

We have differences, & the key to success is putting those differences to good use, rather than pretending that they don’t exist or by rating one as better or worse than another.

If you reckon that his human nature was too good, consider that Ruth is in his maternal blood-line… & Ruth’s mother-in-law was…?

God is well able to include an immense amount of important detail in a very few words.

The forgiveness of humanity is a little more complex than God saying, “I forgive you.” There is still the penalty to be paid for our rebellion against Him. The natural consequences of our rebellion against God is spiritual death; in other words, never being able to enter into His presence. It is like a blob of darkness hanging in the middle of a fully lit room. It is impossible! So when Jesus died (and he did actually die!) on the cross He was there representing all of humanity. Now He had never rebelled against God and so He did not have to die spiritually. But He willingly allowed all of our rebellion to be charged to Him. Just imagine: all of the evil acts and thoughts that have ever existed in the human race were suddenly transferred to Jesus. Only God could have stood up to that kind of weight of evil. And when He paid the consequences for our rebellion we were then given His perfection. So now we are able to exist as the light of God in His presence. Jesus proved that He had set us free from the spiritual death we were all destined for by coming back to life. Now anybody who wants to experience the amazing gift of living forever in the presence of God only has to accept that Jesus died in their place and paid the penalty for their rebellion against God and make the commitment to follow Jesus. Unfortunately so many people choose not to accept this amazing gift. They want to continue to live life on their terms and trust in their own attempts to pay for their rebellion, which in reality is just more rebellion right?! Since Jesus said “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to God except through me” (John 14:6) any way that someone tries that isn’t Jesus is rebelling against God’s way. So even though Jesus has already paid the penalty for people’s rebellion, they turn their back on it and go their own way. It is such a tragic waste!

Now Tony I know you think all of this was unnecessary, that you could have come up with a much simpler solution. To be fair, Jesus’ life was more than just about paying the penalty for our rebellion (as wonderful and as huge of a task as that was). He was also here in Earth to reveal God to us in a very personal and intimate way. He showed us a perfect example of how to live in relationship with God. I am sure you could have suggested some other ways He could have accomplished those tasks as well, but I am going to trust that as God, He knew what He was doing and did it in the best way possible. If you ever become God over your own universe than you can do things your way :) (sorry, I couldn’t help myself!)

As far as God being a fabrication of the human mind I again don’t think that satisfactorily explains the universal desire within humanity for purpose, hope and connection; the desire to be a part of something bigger and better than ourselves. Even Carl Sagan’s description of humanity’s connection to the universe through our being made of ‘star stuff’ reveals a desire to be a part of something beyond one’s mere existence. Erwin McManus talks about the three universal cravings of the soul, meaning, destiny, and belonging, which God has placed within the human heart so that we would seek those things which can only be fully satisfied through relationship with Him.

Have you experienced that desire for meaning in your life; that there is a hope that things will be better; that you would find love and acceptance?

Only, because he was in fact god, he was not in fact dead at all, because god can’t die…so not much of a sacrifice really.
Then again whey didn’t he just forgive us, why did he have to go through all the rigmarole of impregnating a virgin against her will (is rape evil?), so she could give birth to him so that 32 years later he could be nailed to a piece of wood in order that he could then die, comeback to life (though he hadn’t really died)and forgive us for things that we hadn’t actually done, but what are fathers had done…I mean he made these stupid rules up surly there was a simpler way to have forgiven us, I forgive people all the time it’s really not that complicated.
For someone who created the heavens and the earth in 6 days that’s pretty long winded.

That is God’s heart for you as well. He wants your love. He created you so that you and He could enjoy the intimacy of that shared love. But for your love to be true He also had to give you the option not to love Him. He could not force or buy or conjure your true love. You have to give it willingly.

And as we have seen through the history of the world, many have chosen not to give their love to God. Instead they have rebelled against the purpose for which He has created them. That rebellion has resulted in the evil we now see in the world. It is not that God has created evil. It is our rebellion against His love that has created the evil of this world.

The good news is that there will come a day when evil will be dealt with once and for all. Everyone will have been given their opportunity to choose to either love God or rebel against Him. Those that have chosen to love God will be received into His presence to live forever in His love. The Bible talks about this as the Great Wedding Feast. His Bride has given her love to Him and like all great stories, they will live happily ever after. But those who have rejected Him and chosen to love themselves, to trust in their own ability to create a ‘happily ever after’ will be given what they have asked for: an eternity separated from God. The Bible describes that as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth”; a place of eternal torment.

I have chosen to give God my love and I can tell you it is true. Being in a relationship with God makes every day have meaning and purpose. His love is complete in every way. That’s why I spend time telling other people about it because I know that if they choose to receive God’s love and to give their love to Him they will experience life as it was meant to be. And they will have the hope of living in His love for all of eternity.

If you want to know more about God’s love and how you can receive it for yourself go to http://powertochange.com/discover/faith/discoverpurpose You will never regret it!

To me, it seems like the problem of evil proves that; either god doesn’t exist, isn’t all powerful, isn’t all knowing, or isn’t loving… for why worship something who cannot stop, doesn’t want to stop, or is unaware of the terrible things happening to his creation?

God did not create evil but just as darkness is the absence of light, cold is the absence of heat, so evil is the absence of God. God did create humanity with free-will which presupposes the ability to choose evil rather than good. If God were to take away all evil He would be removing humanity’s ability to choose. So it is not that God is overpowered by evil but that humanity continues to choose evil or chooses that which is opposite to God.