Springs Church of Christ

I was reminded of a line from C.S. Lewis’s, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe recently.  Before meeting the great noble character, Aslan, one of the main characters asks an interesting question about him.

Mr. Beaver - “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

If you have ever read those books or even just watched the movies, you will remember that the character in question is a huge lion.  He is stronger and more powerful than any of the other various creatures in the books, but he is also wise, and gentle, and good. 

Our God is infinitely stronger and more powerful that any character or imagining we may dream up. The Lord too is good.  He is also not safe. 

Some might bristle at the suggestion that our all-knowing, all-powerful, loving God is “not safe”, but the Old Testament in particular proves repeatedly that He is certainly not safe. 

I don't know about you, but the idea of God's "jealous" and "furious" vengeance sounds terrifying to me.  Not safe at all.  God is anything but safe to His enemies, yet the very next verse says, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked.".  God's wrath should terrify the wicked, the unruly, the cruel and selfish.  His punishment should send shivers down the spine of all who reject Him, but He is also merciful and patient.  He is just and justice requires the perfect combination of all of those traits.  No, God is not safe, but He is good.

Psalm 94 says, "The LORD is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth. Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve." For God to be just, He must be a God of vengeance, but in general our society doesn't want to think about the punishment of the wicked.  I heard a "sermon" the other day by a denominational speaker stating emphatically that EVERY person, EVERY soul will be saved.  That since God says that He wants all to be saved in passages like 2 Peter 3:9, and since God gets what He wants, that must mean that no one will be punished - no one will be lost.  What a foolish and dangerous message of lies.  Jesus Himself stated plainly toward the end of His sermon on the mount that there would be punishment.  There will be many on the last day that will believe that they are safe. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’".