Theology Proper

Yesterday night and all day today I was in my Systematic Theology class and we were talking about God. It was good, scary and convicting. All things one would expect from time spent talking about God, his character, attributes and works. One big thing that hit me was the concept of his mercy, grace and judgment. We watched a video in which R.C. Sproul stated that we are so used to living under God's mercy and grace that we are surprised when his just judgment comes into play. We are so used to his grace that we forget that daily, if not hourly or minute-by-minute we do things that deserve eternal condemnation. God extends his mercy and sustains us for our every breath, extending his mercy and grace in sustaining us instead of his justice.

And I take it for granted. Daily. I whine when I don't have something. I don't think about my sin as deserving eternal punishment. I don't think of the fact that God's grace sustains me. Wow. He loves me. As someone in my small group said after we watched the video, "It makes me want to fall on my face in prayer." We serve a mighty and gracious God.

The other thing that slammed me in the face is the truth of hell and God's wrath. Other things that I regularly avoid thinking of. There is a real hell where people who do not know or accept Jesus will go. And God is just and right to have such a place. 

We all deserve to be in hell, but God in his grace and mercy sent his Son to take the punishment of my sins. Of the sins of all who will believe.  Do I pray for those who don't know Christ as I should? I don't. I avoid thinking of hell and talking about it because it makes me uncomfortable because then I could be saying those words to someone, and I'd really rather not. Shouldn't I be warning them, shouldn't I be loving them enough to share the full counsel of God's truth? I need to care much more of what God thinks of me then of what others think of me. I need to remember the reality of hell and talk about it to be reminded of the reality and power of the good news.