God hates you. Not a very popular start to the blog this week. But, could it be true?
A friend of mine is a missionary to distant lands. And he preached a message at our school this past week entitled, "God Hates You, And You Hate God."
Will you read the whole of this writing and not bow out early. Please attempt to read this without the constructs and deposits of our Western American theology. That will be difficult to do because we have been crafted a mindset for years that is pervasive. Almost inescapable. That God hates sin, but loves the sinner.
Now, I believe that is true. And because of this great love, could it also be that God hates the sinner with a holy and righteous hatred. Not like we hate. If He is capable of perfect love, He must be capable of perfect hatred. Even James, the brother of Jesus says that we could be angry without sinning.
A scriptural background from texts that build the base of my message
1 John 4:7-8, "Beloved, let us love one another...for love is of God and God is love."
God is love. There is no better place to start than here. He is the perfect definition of love. His love is the foundation of this message. And we must love as He does.
Because God is Love and Holy, can God hate man?
Most of us believe that He can hate sin. We have heard that all of our lives. That God hates sin, but loves the sinner. Again, that is true. But, could He also hate the sinner? Let's look at the scriptures that use hate, wrath, abomination, or indignation. Since these are used interchangeably, the meaning of these verses are intact with our message. That research you may do on your own. Remember, we are not saying God is not love. We are saying that because God is love and holy, He could hate so purely and without sin.
I will not share the context surrounding the texts, for brevity and space.
Psalm 2:12, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way when His wrath is kindled..."
Psalm 5:4-5, "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness...You hate all workers of iniquity."
Proverbs 6:16-19, "These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him...a false witness who speaks lies, and the one who sows discord." (Note, that five of the things God hates are actions and the last two are people)
Hosea 9:15, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because the evil of their deeds I will drive them out of My house; and I will love them no more..."
Romans 2:6-10, "...God will render to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil..."
What about the texts where God killed man (or said that He would)?
Can you kill without hating? I don't think I like that option. Here are just a few:
Genesis 6:5-7, "Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great...and the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have made..."
Leviticus 10:1-3, "...and fire went out from the Lord and killed them and they died before the Lord."
Acts 5:1-11, "...how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" (And Ananias and Sapphira died on the same day in the presence of the Lord)
The point I am trying to make is that because God is love, He can hate without sin. Maybe it is the picture of our sin placed upon His Son that angers the Father so much. The cross must have been an unbearable pain.
Think about America. As a church we have tried the message of grace. We have preached the message of love. We have taught the message of mercy. And where has it gotten us? The statistics say that 93% of Americans believe in God and that 83% believe they are Christian. That is where preaching love and grace has gotten us.
Now, I am not asking for a baptism of hatred and wrath and indignation. Maybe what I am calling for is the truth. A balance of the attributes of God. To understand the powerful truth of God's whole nature would only take a light rain upon mankind to make a difference.
It is said in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that there is a time to love and a time to hate. Because God is so perfectly loving and holy, could He be wanting for mankind to feel His hatred and wrath against our sin? If the message of love has not reached mankind, could the message that God hates us bring us running back to our creator because we have hurt Him so much? Or, maybe we like the comfort of a loving God and are unwilling to hear the other side of His character and nature because of fear.
Maybe it is time to Kiss the Son lest He be angry and His wrath be kindled against us.
A friend of mine is a missionary to distant lands. And he preached a message at our school this past week entitled, "God Hates You, And You Hate God."
Will you read the whole of this writing and not bow out early. Please attempt to read this without the constructs and deposits of our Western American theology. That will be difficult to do because we have been crafted a mindset for years that is pervasive. Almost inescapable. That God hates sin, but loves the sinner.
Now, I believe that is true. And because of this great love, could it also be that God hates the sinner with a holy and righteous hatred. Not like we hate. If He is capable of perfect love, He must be capable of perfect hatred. Even James, the brother of Jesus says that we could be angry without sinning.
A scriptural background from texts that build the base of my message
1 John 4:7-8, "Beloved, let us love one another...for love is of God and God is love."
God is love. There is no better place to start than here. He is the perfect definition of love. His love is the foundation of this message. And we must love as He does.
Leviticus 11:44, "For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy."
Psalm 99:9, "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill. For the Lord our God is holy."
God is also Holy. Pure and un-mixed. And He calls us to be Holy as He is Holy. And that means we must be like Him in His purity.
Most of us believe that He can hate sin. We have heard that all of our lives. That God hates sin, but loves the sinner. Again, that is true. But, could He also hate the sinner? Let's look at the scriptures that use hate, wrath, abomination, or indignation. Since these are used interchangeably, the meaning of these verses are intact with our message. That research you may do on your own. Remember, we are not saying God is not love. We are saying that because God is love and holy, He could hate so purely and without sin.
I will not share the context surrounding the texts, for brevity and space.
Psalm 2:12, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way when His wrath is kindled..."
Psalm 5:4-5, "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness...You hate all workers of iniquity."
Proverbs 6:16-19, "These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him...a false witness who speaks lies, and the one who sows discord." (Note, that five of the things God hates are actions and the last two are people)
Hosea 9:15, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because the evil of their deeds I will drive them out of My house; and I will love them no more..."
Romans 2:6-10, "...God will render to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil..."
What about the texts where God killed man (or said that He would)?
Can you kill without hating? I don't think I like that option. Here are just a few:
Genesis 6:5-7, "Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great...and the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have made..."
Leviticus 10:1-3, "...and fire went out from the Lord and killed them and they died before the Lord."
Acts 5:1-11, "...how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" (And Ananias and Sapphira died on the same day in the presence of the Lord)
The point I am trying to make is that because God is love, He can hate without sin. Maybe it is the picture of our sin placed upon His Son that angers the Father so much. The cross must have been an unbearable pain.
Maybe we have to look at the definition of hate. The etymology or the origin of a word is crucial to our understanding. The words from our texts I have given are hate, wrath, abomination, and indignation. According to Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus.com, these are all synonyms. As referenced above, they are used interchangeably in scripture. A detailed look into the biblical texts in both the Hebrew and the Greek defines these in similar terms.
Think about America. As a church we have tried the message of grace. We have preached the message of love. We have taught the message of mercy. And where has it gotten us? The statistics say that 93% of Americans believe in God and that 83% believe they are Christian. That is where preaching love and grace has gotten us.
Now, I am not asking for a baptism of hatred and wrath and indignation. Maybe what I am calling for is the truth. A balance of the attributes of God. To understand the powerful truth of God's whole nature would only take a light rain upon mankind to make a difference.
It is said in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that there is a time to love and a time to hate. Because God is so perfectly loving and holy, could He be wanting for mankind to feel His hatred and wrath against our sin? If the message of love has not reached mankind, could the message that God hates us bring us running back to our creator because we have hurt Him so much? Or, maybe we like the comfort of a loving God and are unwilling to hear the other side of His character and nature because of fear.
Maybe it is time to Kiss the Son lest He be angry and His wrath be kindled against us.
Professor Grenell....I have to say I have been wrestling with this very thing the past year or so. It has been hard because I have not spoken with others about it to see what they think/believe. Thank you for challenging me to consider this more!
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