1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Verse 16 we have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
We love these kinds of verses, but we seem to forget the other attributes of God. We all know that God is Love but we seem to forget that God is also Holy and Just.
Some say that if God is Love why not bring everyone to heaven with him and end the suffering in this world today? Why does God allow such horrible things to happen in this world?
Simple: God does not allow such things. We were created to willingly worship fellowship and love the Creator of all things. In the beginning, however, mankind fell into sin because we were given a free will. God hates sin so much he cannot even look on a sinful person. When sin came so did the suffering from sin, the results of man’s rebellion. This is not what God wanted but He was willing to take the chance by giving mankind free will to choose Him or evil.
Now that is Love. But he knew what would happen so God already had a plan a way back to Him through his Beloved Son the Lord Jesus. He offered His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus up as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. It is a free gift, but we must choose having free will to accept this free gift or not. If we reject or neglect this Salvation then the Justice of God kicks in and when we die if we are not saved we go into an eternity without Christ.
This is our choice not His. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. So those who do not repent and ask Jesus into their hearts, admitting they are sinners, which we all are, and asking forgiveness of their sin, then God has no choice but to toss them into the lake of fire in the end. For us who have and do it is eternal life with Jesus.
If not for Jesus the Holy God could not look on us but He sees us through His only begotten Son’s blood, shed on the cross at Calvary. What Love and at the same time what Holiness and Greatness and Justness. What a mighty God we serve.