We concluded Appendix A by noting that linguistic analysis leaves us with only 2 principal reasons for questioning the ‘forever’ interpretation of ‘aionios’ when considering Jesus’ descriptions of God’s judgment. The first of these is that we don’t like the implications.

Ons leef in 'n ongelooflik komplekse wêreld; so kompleks, in werklikheid, dat ons die meeste van die tyd net kan raai oor die potensiële gevolge van ons optrede. And when we also attempt to factor in the concept of a potentially unending chain of consequences, stretching from now to eternity, we begin to confront the possibility of an unlimited liability for the potentially devastating consequences of what may have seemed to us, destyds, to be minor acts of negligence or self-interest.

ek dink, byvoorbeeld, of a pastor I once met whose driving really scared me, so that I felt I should warn him of the risks he was taking. But misplaced respect caused me to remain silent. A few weeks later he was killed in a head-on collision; and the relief charity he had been running collapsed. How many productive years of this pastor’s life were lost? How many lives of those involved in that crash were wrecked by his untimely death? How many potential acts of mercy never happened? Did any of them turn against God or fail to hear and respond to the gospel? How will I feel in eternity when I discover all the consequences of my failure to speak out? Even if I’ve been told that I won’t be held accountable for the offence, how can I live without finding myself on a never-ending guilt trip? Especially since I’d been pre-warned of my responsibility? (Sien Ez 33:2-9.)

The possibility of finding ourselves in an everlasting state of conscious condemnation and regret is, frankly, so overwhelming that, if the choice were ours, we might well be inclined to prefer a state of instant annihilation. But would that be a just outcome? In effek, we are suggesting that it would be OK for someone to inflict unspeakable pain and suffering on others, en dan hierdie lewe verlaat sonder om ooit die gevolge in die gesig te staar. I think it should be quite readily apparent to us all that this could not be described as ʻjusticeʼ.

Maar, aan die ander kant, how can we be held responsible for the unforeseen consequences of such actions? En hoe kan ons die skuld kry dat ons onsself slagoffers vind van omstandighede wat buite ons beheer is? Is dit my skuld as ek in armoede of mishandeling grootgemaak is en my tot misdaad of prostitusie gewend het: of is dit tot my eer as ek grootgemaak is in 'n familie van welgestelde filantrope?

Kom daarby, what real responsibility can I possibly have for what happens to those around me? Am I my brothers’ keeper? This sounds like a good opt-out: maar ver terug in die eerste hoofstukke van Genesis maak God dit baie duidelik dat sulke aansprake nie sal was nie. Look again at the original story of Cain and Abel…

The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain … Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Soos die tyd verloop, it happened that Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. Yahweh said to Cain, “Hoekom is jy kwaad? Why has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” … It happened when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” Hy het gesê, “Ek weet nie. Is ek my broer se wagter?” Yahweh said, “Wat het jy gedoen? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. Van nou af, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.” Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Kyk, you have driven me out this day from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. It will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.” Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should strike him.
(Genesis 4:1-15)

Notice that the issue which God highlights was not what kind of offering was made, nor who was first to make it: maar die gesindheid van hart waarin dit aangebied is. Abel was thankful and not ashamed to follow Cain’s example in his own way: but Cain was competitive and resented being outdone. God didn’t spell out how this would lead to tragedy: but made it very clear what his problem was, and how to fix it.

But notice also that God does not permit others to usurp his role as the one true judge of the hearts of others. Ons leef in 'n interafhanklike wêreld waarin ons is, in die eerste plek, held accountable to God for the deeper motivations of our own hearts and how they affect our relationships with God and man, sonder inagneming van die ooreenkomste en verskille in ons persoonlike omstandighede.

I Am Guilty Too!

Ek is gebore in die nasleep van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog; soos voormalige vyande probeer het om weer vriende te word. Strokiesprente en rolprente het gereeld 'ons kant' uitgebeeld’ as helde en die vyand as beginsellose skurke: tog was daar ook verhale wat vertel word oor vertoon van edele menslikheid deur individue van beide kante van die skeiding. Dus, as 'n jongeling met geen direkte herinnering aan oorlogstydse gruweldade, het ek dit meestal maklik gevind om die gees van versoening te omhels namate nuwe alliansies en vriendskappe gesmee is.

Ek het selde 'n volwassene hoor praat oor die gruweldade wat hulle aanskou het: maar op die seldsame geleenthede wanneer iemand dit gedoen het, dit was soos die mors van 'n pruttende sop van vitriol. Ek onthou veral die reaksie van een dame wie se man deur die Japannese gemartel is; wanneer, as jong predikant, Ek het dit gewaag om te sê dat Jesus’ opoffering sou voldoende gewees het om selfs die sondes van 'n Hitler te bedek, sou hy hom bekeer. Aan haar, dit was 'n godslasterlike ontkenning van God se geregtigheid.

Ek het aanhou glo dat my instink korrek was; dat niks anders in die hele skepping ooit die hoogste offer van God se geliefde Seun sou kon oortref as 'n meer-as-voldoende betaling vir al die euwels wat ooit was of ooit sal wees nie. nog, hoe meer ek gesien het van die dieptes van onmenslikheid waarin die mensdom kan wegsink, hoe moeiliker vind ek dit om te verstaan ​​en te vergewe.

Soos die Oekraïne se lotgevalle in die huidige konflik met Rusland verbeter het, my gedagtes en gebede het al hoe meer gedraai na die vraag hoe die strydende partye ooit versoen kan word; en ek was geskok om te ontdek hoe diep die eis om vergelding in my eie hart ingevreet het.

I have struggled to maintain as far as possible an open heart towards those on both sides, remembering how easy it is to get dragged into the cycle of deception and revenge, rejoicing when it seems to me that enemies are getting their ‘just deserts.’ I have pondered that devilish path by which the human conscience becomes seared and indifferent to the sufferings of others. En ek het die pad gesien wat lei na die aaklige besef dat jy self stadigaan 'n monster word en geen uitweg kan sien nie. Hoe sou dit wees om te besef dat jy 'n Poetin of 'n Hitler geword het met die bloed van duisende op jou hande? Hoe kan jy hoop om reg te maak? Op watter stadium is dit te laat om te bekeer?

Uiteindelik, die antwoord op sulke vrae is buite my: maar ek weet wel dat in my eie verlede donker gedagtes en dade is waaroor ek bitter spyt is: en ek durf sê dieselfde geld seker ook vir jou.

Wat dan? Is ons beter as hulle? Geen, op geen manier nie. Want ons het vroeër beide Jode en Grieke gewaarsku, dat hulle almal onder sonde is. Soos dit geskryf is, “Daar is niemand regverdig nie; geen, nie een nie. Daar is niemand wat verstaan ​​nie. Daar is niemand wat na God soek nie. Hulle het almal eenkant toe gedraai. Hulle het saam nutteloos geword. Daar is niemand wat goed doen nie, geen, nie, soveel as een.”(Rom 3:9-12)

Where Does the Real Blame Lie?

There is an old anecdote that says, when Adam ate the apple, he blamed God for making Eve: but Eve blamed the Serpent – and the Serpent hadn’t got a leg to stand on! This may raise a few laughs: but it misses the point. The Serpent actually began his temptation by claiming that God, foreseeing man’s potential for greatness, was deliberately withholding from Adam a full understanding of Good and Evil. This was a classic lie of the very worst kind; because it was almost true. Adam already had unfettered access to the fount of all knowledge – God himself. The only knowledge Adam lacked was that of Evil; and all it took for Adam to cross that fateful boundary was to do what Satan himself had done, by choosing his own self-interest rather than loving and trusting the One who had made him.

According to Satan’s twisted way of thinking, to be really ʻgod-likeʼ he had to have the ability to defy God’s will. Perhaps, as others have done, he fancied that God himself was really the one at fault. Na alles, if God had not given us free will, there never would have been a problem in the first place, would there? And God must have known what would happen; so doesn’t that make God himself the source of evil? In een sin, that is perfectly true – and God doesn’t deny it!

I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things. (Isa 45:7)

The fact is that God necessarily made it possible for us to do evil, simply by giving us the ability to choose whether or not to love. By creating light, God effectively also defined darkness as the absence of light. And in the same way, by establishing such virtues as peace and love, evil is automatically defined as the absence of these things. But that does not make God himself evil – far from it! The real blame, and the crucial moral distinction between people’s characters, depends on the choices they make and the motivation for those choices. God’s overriding concern is for the welfare of his creation, regardless of what this may cost him personally: whereas Satan’s chief value is to proclaim himself equal to God by defying God’s will.

As for us, we started out by following God’s rules: but were then seduced into a life of self-interest; still desiring virtue: but prisoners to our natural desires.

For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. … For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; maar ek sien 'n ander wet in my werk, oorlog voer teen die wet van my gemoed en maak my 'n gevangene van die wet van sonde wat in my werk. Wat 'n ellendige man is ek nie! Wie sal my verlos van hierdie liggaam wat aan die dood onderworpe is? (Rom 7:19,22-24)

The Buck Stops Here

So waar doen the buck stop and how can we find freedom from the penalty we deserve and our legacy of guilt? At the cross! This is the point at which God, in the person of Jesus, formally took upon Himself the ultimate responsibility and endured the consequences for all the evil that has ever been committed.

This is the only place where all are condemned, all can be forgiven; and none can stand in judgement against any other. Notice especially Jesus’ teaching about the unforgiving servant…

Daarom is die Koninkryk van die Hemel soos 'n sekere koning, wat rekeninge met sy dienaars wou versoen. Toe hy begin versoen het, een is na hom gebring wat hom tienduisend talente geskuld het. Maar omdat hy nie kon betaal nie, sy heer het beveel dat hy verkoop moes word, saam met sy vrou, sy kinders, en alles wat hy gehad het, en betaling wat gemaak moet word. Die dienaar het toe neergeval en voor hom gekniel, sê, ‘Here, wees geduldig met my, en Ek sal julle almal vergeld!’ Die heer van daardie dienaar, met deernis beweeg word, hom vrygelaat, en hom die skuld kwytgeskeld. “Maar daardie dienaar het uitgegaan, en het een van sy medediensknegte gekry, wat hom honderd denarie geskuld het, en hy het hom gegryp, en hom aan die keel gevat, sê, ‘Betaal my wat jy skuld!’ “Toe val sy mededienskneg voor sy voete neer en smeek hom, sê, 'Wees geduldig met my, en Ek sal jou vergeld!’ Hy sou nie, maar het gegaan en hom in die tronk gegooi, totdat hy moet terugbetaal wat verskuldig was. So toe sy medediensknegte sien wat gedoen is, hulle was baie jammer, en hulle het gekom en aan hulle heer vertel alles wat gebeur het. Toe roep sy heer hom in, en vir hom gesê, ‘Jou slegte dienskneg! Ek het jou al daardie skuld kwytgeskeld, want jy het my gesmeek. Moes jy nie ook jou mededienskneg genadig gewees het nie, net soos Ek my oor jou ontferm het?’ Sy heer was kwaad, en hom aan die pynigers oorgegee, totdat hy alles moet betaal wat hom toekom. So sal my hemelse Vader ook aan u doen, as u nie elkeen u broer uit u harte vergewe vir sy wandade nie.” (Mat 18:23-35[/]x)

Die kruis is God se genadetroon, waar almal vergifnis kan vind. But by setting up ourselves to judge the worth of other peoples’ siele, ons ontken die einste genade waarna ons vir onsself smag. eerder, daar word van ons verwag om God se aanwysings te volg om Sy samelewing van liefde op die aarde te vestig. En, tot daardie doel, ons moet altyd bedag wees op enige geleenthede om ander by te staan ​​en aan te moedig in 'n groter ervaring van die liefde van God. (Sien ook Geen.. 18:2-32 & 33:2-20.)

See other Appendices …