by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
One of the objections many have against God is that He seems so … mean.\u00a0 Indeed, throughout a reading of the major prophets, God has consistently warned about the catastrophic devastation He would bring not only upon His own people but also upon pagan nations. Again and again, He denounced their behavior, whether it was sexual immorality (God gave the sexual urge to humans, and since He “invented” it, He has the right to regulate it), greed, oppression and extortion, theft, murder, or idolatry.<\/p>\n
The implication is that man has a choice, which determines not only his immediate gratification but also his future condition. “But why can’t I just get to do what I want?” some wonder. The truth is, you can. God gives each of us the will to choose and the information regarding the consequences of our choice. He’ll punish offenses and reward obedience. And that’s His right.<\/p>\n
While some may grumble at a “mean” God who denounces and punishes what He doesn’t like, it’s important to realize that, as the Creator and Sustainer of all, He is absolutely within His authority to regulate human behavior.<\/p>\n
So, we can heed His word and live according to His good pleasure, or we can ignore it and live according to our own selfish desires. But living according to His will doesn’t mean life will be unbearably dull. You may find that it’s the best decision you could have ever made. Choose, but choose carefully.<\/p>\n
“I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. … According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will will know that I am Yahweh.<\/em>” (Ezekiel 7:3, 27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores One of the objections many have against God is that He seems so … mean.\u00a0 Indeed, throughout a reading of the major prophets, God has consistently warned about the catastrophic devastation He would bring not only upon His own people but also upon pagan nations. Again and again, He denounced their behavior,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[37,90],"class_list":["post-70142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apologetics","tag-god"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13239,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-reconcile-with-my-ex-husband-who-is-addicted-to-marijuana\/","url_meta":{"origin":70142,"position":0},"title":"Should I reconcile with my ex-husband who is addicted to marijuana?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should I reconcile with my ex-husband although he has issues with smoking pot? I divorced him over three years ago and I discovered biblically I was wrong because it was not for adultery. He since then continues to smoke but seems to have changed in other areas. I despise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-really-scared-of-how-my-body-responses-to-strong-emotions\/","url_meta":{"origin":70142,"position":1},"title":"I’m really scared of how my body responses to strong emotions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! Thank you for considering a biblical answer to my question!\u00a0 I am a 37-year-old believer in Christ since childhood, mother and wife to my believing husband for over ten years.\u00a0 I have a spiritual conflict that has bothered me from just before my marriage. It has become like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9880,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-role-of-obedience-in-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":70142,"position":2},"title":"The Role of Obedience in Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jack Holt Obedience is an obligation each human being sustains to God. This is so because God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe, and we are his creatures. Beyond the fact that God is Creator and Ruler, love places us under a moral obligation to obey. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-child-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":70142,"position":3},"title":"What does it mean to be a child of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does it mean to be a child of God? Answer: \"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2340,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-change-his-mind-about-sexual-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":70142,"position":4},"title":"Did God change His mind about sexual sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did God change? How is it that God that was so quiet about fornication, adultery, and polygamy in the Old Testament and then suddenly changed in the New Testament? Answer: It is in the Old Testament that we learn that a man is to leave his family, get married,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41585,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-my-wife-divorces-me-and-then-marries-again-does-that-free-me-to-marry-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":70142,"position":5},"title":"If my wife divorces me and then marries again, does that free me to marry again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have always believed that man's written divorce means nothing to God.\u00a0 And you reinforce my thinking when you mention that God is the one who decides when the marriage covenant ends.\u00a0 Doesn't this mean that even though she wants a divorce (by man's laws), and I do not,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}