If God is omniscient (knows the past, present, and future things to come), how come He created people that He knew would only end up in Hell to suffer forever and forever without ever being able to repent or escape… and yet says He loves people?

Even if you say, “it is each person’s choice on whether or not they go to heaven or hell”, set that aside and ask yourself: what loving, caring couple, if they knew in advance, that a child they could conceive, raise, etc. would only ultimately end up in an eternal hell would go ahead and procreate that child?  I don’t think any good, loving parent would do that.

Also, how come we think God is “pro-life” when He condoned the killing of men, women, and children (including infants) in the Old Testament?  Whatever the excuses or rationalizations are… they would just be making excuses for acts of atrocities.

Sincerely,
Where’s The Good?

Dear Where’s The Good,

God could have made us without the freedom to choose, but then we wouldn’t be “in His image” (Gen 1:26)… we would be automatons.  You told us to set aside human choice, but setting aside the freedom to choose isn’t as easy for us as it is for you.  If every parent had the choice between having a child that may break their heart or purchasing a robot that would obey their every command… well, the choice is obvious.

God has to make complex decisions that allow individuals the freedom to choose while still keeping the rest of mankind safe.  Every time that God has destroyed a nation, He has done it for the safety of other nations and because that nation had become so corrupt that it was unsalvageable (Gen 15:16, Gen 6:5).  God knows that infants will be safe in His arms when that nation is destroyed.

In short, your argument makes perfect sense – if people weren’t people and freewill wasn’t important.

I like this boy that is saved, and I have been wondering that if I love him now, will I still be in love with him while I’m in heaven?

Sincerely,
Big Crush

Dear Big Crush,

Romantic love, at least as we know it, will not exist in heaven.  Jesus says that there is no marriage in heaven (Matt 22:30).  Without marriage, there must be some sort of change in the relationships we have.  Love will certainly still exist once we enter the heavenly gates (1 Cor 13:8), but it will be different from what we have here.  Our relationships with others will change because we will change (1 Cor 15:51-52).

How can there be no pain in heaven if some of our loved ones might not make it there with us?

Sincerely,
Love From A Distance

Dear Love From A Distance,

There will be no pain in heaven because God will heal us.  Heaven is a place where we show up with tears, and God wipes them away (Rev 21:4).  There will be a great deal of pain that we bring with us to the feet of our Maker, but He is the Great Physician (Mk 2:17).  We here at AYP have no idea how God will heal every wound and sorrow in heaven, but we also don’t know how skilled doctors repair hearts and arteries.  If a surgeon on this earth can repair my body and make it whole, certainly God is capable of repairing our hearts and souls.

Is it true that when Jesus comes back and we go with Him, we will no longer be married to our spouses?  I just found the love of my life.  I believe Jesus is coming soon; can you help with this question?

Sincerely,
In Love

Dear In Love,

We won’t be married in heaven, but we will be closer to our loved ones than we can even imagine.  Jesus says in Matt 22:30 that there will be no marriage in heaven.  However, in heaven, there will be no sorrow, no death, no sin, and no pain (Rev 21:3-4).  Heaven will be full of the most healthy and fulfilling relationships that mankind is capable of having.  Just make sure you and your spouse both put God first, so you can see each other there!

(This is a follow-up to “Finding The Narrow Gate”)

I have to disagree with you on the narrow gate subject.  You wrote:

“God says that everyone has the opportunity and freedom to choose Him – regardless of what background we come from.  The very universe screams of the nature of God, so all are without excuse (Rom 1:20).

There are tribes out there who either do not know of Jesus or believe in a different god.  Some of these tribes are small, isolated, little communities.  The children are brought up believing what the parents tell them to believe; the cycle continues, and they all go to hell.

Jesus says: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels…” (Matthew 25:41).  If I do not accept Jesus, I will burn in hell for all eternity because God’s justice demands it. You say God is trying to keep us from hell by accepting Him when He CLEARLY has the power to just cast us into non-existence.  With God, all things are possible.  It seems like He is trying to scare us into loving Him… kind of like a parent spanks their child to get them to obey.  He is the one who chose to send the wicked, disobedient, and nonbelievers to hell.  Was it not God’s idea for this?  He’s not doing anything to stop it, even if He does not approve of it.  Apparently, He does approve of it because He’s not changing it when He has the power to do so.

Sincerely,
Justice League

Dear Justice League,

When we begin to talk about hell and the judgment of God, we must be very careful to not speak about what we don’t understand.  Why God chose to create hell along with heaven is like trying to comprehend the length of infinity… only God knows.  We must be very careful to not overstep our bounds and make the mistake of speaking about things too wonderful for us (Job 42:1-3).  God is just (Rev 16:7), and we may not understand why He created hell, but we can know that He made the right decision.

I have a question referring to the time when tribulation falls upon the earth.  What if someone who is going through tribulation recognizes  the Lord’s existence and repents for his sins, and truly accepts Jesus, but is  knocked out or drugged to where he becomes unaware of his surroundings and has no say or right to what happens to his body, and receives the mark of the beast?  He awakens to realize he has received an unforgivable mark and will go to hell.  Would God prevent something like this from happening, or could the person repent for this if he had no choice?  If the Antichrist was smart, wouldn’t he force or drug (a drug that physically prevents you from making decisions such as a sedative, not deception) mankind to give them the mark without consent?

Sincerely,
Tattoo Terror

Dear Tattoo Terror,

The teaching that there will be a specific Antichrist that will take over the world at a future date is an erroneous doctrine that has confused many.  The Bible specifically says that anyone who deceives and mocks Christ is an antichrist (2 Jn 1:7).  The apostle John mentions that there are many antichrists (1 Jn 2:18).  The word ‘antichrist’ simply means ‘against Christ’.  Anyone who stands up in opposition to the teachings of Jesus is an antichrist.

The ‘mark of the beast’ is a reference to Rev 13:17.  There are two things that we need to keep in mind whenever we discuss the book of Revelation.  First, it is a symbolic book (John says he will be writing in ‘signs’ – Rev 1:1); many of today’s false doctrines have been created by treating symbolic language as literal.  Second, the book of Revelation prophesies of events that were to “shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1) and events that were “at hand” (Rev 1:3).  The book of Revelation isn’t dealing with a future tribulation for the church – but the suffering that christians of the first century were about to endure at the hands of their countrymen.  If you would like a full understanding of the book of Revelation – listen to our class series on the topic.

The end result is that you need not fear the mark of the beast, nor is that mark a literal insignia upon people’s flesh.  We always have a choice, and no one will ever accidently be condemned to hell.