When Christ was questioned by the religious leaders about why He spent time with sinners, He responded by stating it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Mark 2:17). As a devout thinker and philosopher in his own right, C.S. Lewis’ insight often cut through these topics with razor-sharp precision.
Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so
satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the
avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger. [41]
In this case, a depressed, loveless prostitute would ask, why? Why was I born into this life, God? Why can I not find a way out of this? Why do you allow this to happen? In longing for understanding and hope for a better future, this person would turn to God for help. No doubt, just like Mary Magdalene, God would receive this woman with open arms, love, and forgiveness. God’s love for His children is so overwhelming that we likely have no way in our mortal understanding to truly comprehend its full reach.
Now, some would strike back at such a loving claim with Old Testament scriptures asking why God commanded the death of so many people.
How do we reconcile the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament? Again, this is a misleading question. We need to put things in the proper perspective.
To start, we should point out the fact that Jesus is not all together the pacifist type commune leader that a lot of people make Him out to be. Yes, He asks us to forgive our enemies and “turn the other cheek” to those who would strike us. But He also authored a dire warning of pain and suffering that He is going to personally rain down upon the human race. Some of the things Jesus said are not at all a fun-loving
type forgive-and-forget theodicy. In fact, some of what Jesus taught is, dare we say, identical to that of the Old Testament punishments, even much worse in some cases.
On one of His ministerial journeys, Christ told the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida that their punishment was going to be worse than that of Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah. We know the cities of Tyre and Sidon were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and once again by Alexander the Great but also the Judgments given by God’s prophecies (Isaiah 23; Jeremiah 25; 27; 47; Ezekiel 26–28; Joel 3; Amos 1; Zachariah 9). Among other sins, their worshiping of false gods was
their downfall.
Sodom and Gomorrah of course were so perverse in their dealings with one another that God saw fit to destroy their cities with fire. So in this case alone, and for all who refuse to repent before the day of judgment, Christ is not “turning the other check” by any means. He is most assuredly the same God of the Old Testament.
So let us put this into context and not confuse Jesus with a lesser version of His perfect and righteous wrath. (Matthew 13:40–42; 24:21–22; Revelation 19:11–15)
That does not sound like pacifism, nor does it sound like the hippy-dippy free-loving God we all portray Jesus to be. In fact, it sounds exactly like the very stern and relentless wrath of God in the Old Testament!
As overflowing with love as Jesus truly is, He is still a God that cannot and will not tolerate sin to enter His kingdom (Genesis 3:23–24).
Since this is the case, why do we say these two Gods (Old and New Testaments) have two different views on punishment? Why do we say one is harsh and the other is all-forgiving? No, in all God’s love and all His perfect and righteous judgment, these “two Gods” are no less than identical!
This is a warning to all mankind. The wrath of God is not to be trifled with. Yes, Christ commands us to love one another. Unfortunately, there is no other choice than to issue justice for evil deeds. And so Satan, his angels, and all the souls among mankind who knowingly and willingly chose to follow Satan’s treachery must therefore be punished.
The reason God commanded us to be loving and virtuous is because that is the way it was in the Garden of Eden, and that is the way it will be in the new heavens and new earth! We are practicing now for how to love in a future scenario when we will return to His kingdom!
[40] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan, 1944), 96
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Indeed, Peggy. I have been researching and considering this for many years. Which is why I decided to publish, to…