Chapter 1 A Question God Can't Answer

CHAPER 1 A QUESTION GOD CANNOT ANSWER

Our Heavenly Father we ask you to be present and speak to the heart. This one who reads is seeking your guidance and loving care. Send the Holy Spirit to heal any hurt and show how much you care and love us. We know Lord that you have given each special gift for a specific purpose. Thank you Lord for caring enough to listen as our hearts seek you and loving enough to send your only son to die for our sins. In Jesus name we ask all things.

In the course of history many have asked why did this or that happen. In times of great grief some have challenged God or blamed Him. Some have even tried to put words into God’s mouth trying to justify a difficult situation. Many have even accused God of not listening or caring. Some try to explain what God really meant using carnal knowledge. There are also the times when everything is going great and we forget God is even there. There may have been times in your life when you’ve asked the same questions. As I looked into God’s word I found that there are some questions God can not answer.

In the book of Hebrews chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 we find these words.
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things, which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
For if the word spoken by angles was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward:
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.”
In these verses the Apostle Paul is making it clear we are to listen to what God has to say. He is giving us instructions and warnings.
The fact that Jehovah is God makes it impossible for Him to do some things. Although God is capable of impossibilities He still can’t answer the question, “How shall we escape is we neglect so great a salvation.”

Just to keep things in perspective let me share some things God cannot do.
God cannot sin. God cannot change. He is the same yesterday, today and will be the same tomorrow. God cannot lie. Satan on the other had is a liar and the father of it. God cannot save a man against his will. Even though He desires that none should perish but that all should be saved. He will give you all the tools and talent you need to get to heaven where He is but you have to use the talent and the tools, He will not force His will on you, you have a free choice.
In God’s infinite mercy He has provided a “Great Salvation”. He planned it from the very beginning. When Adam and Eve fell from grace in the garden God made a decision that something had to be done to get man back into fellowship with Him. It is the first promise of a redeemer. God set in motion a chain of genealogical events that stretched from the first garden through several millennia until it reached a small city in Nazareth. This chain wove its way through common men, Kings, leaders and followers alike until it fell on a carpenter and his soon to be wife.
Once that promise was fulfilled God knew that there would have to be a great price paid to redeem fallen man. In first Peter chapter 1 verses 18, 19, and 20 the apostle lets us in on just how high a price God had to pay for our salvation.
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from you vain conversations received by tradition from your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”
What a price God paid so that you and I might live. He gave his only son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for you. I cannot imagine a love so great that someone would give his only child to die in my place. God will be quick to tell you He had you in mind at the very beginning as if you were the only one who would ever need His help. But then He had another thought and added this, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1Timothy 2:3-6.

Picture if you will God standing at the gate to the garden. Through tear dimmed eyes He watches His two children walk away. They had not listened to His commands about the tree of good and evil. They broke the law if you will. They now were forced to leave paradise. He had no choice but to put them on their own. As he watched them go God made a decision how mankind was to come back to Him. He devised a plan and put it in motion as the first family walked out of the garden. He said this is a Great Salvation.
If God went to all the trouble to plan and execute His Great Salvation plan for you and me how on earth could we ever neglect it?

There could be volumes written on that subject but let me share just a few examples of that neglect.
If you know Jesus as your Saviour and you simply don’t want to share that great salvation you have then you have neglected you salvation. Maybe you have not prayed in so long you prayer skills are rusty and stiff. Let me let you in on a corporate secret. God has been setting waiting ever since you put him on hold for you to get back from what ever you thought was so important. Well you say I bowed my head last Sunday in Church and when the invocation was given at the race, what do you mean I forgot how to pray. Well just because you bowed your head does not mean you prayed. You heard someone else say a prayer. When was the last time you knelt and truly spoke to God from your heart? That is what God is waiting to hear.

Another way we neglect our salvation is by not being faithful to His house. Ouch that one hurts! Hey I am there when ever I get the chance. My I inquire did you make it to the bass tournament? How about the race you bowed your head at? Weren’t they on a Sunday? Yeah but I had been waiting all winter to go. Yes and God has been waiting most of your life just to hear your voice. You know one day He will hang up and you will loose your connection.
Okay I know you are busy but let me share one more secret with you. You will make at least one more trip to the Church. You will be the guest of honor. Many will speak about you. Six good men, friends or family members will escort you to the front and the whole congregation will stand to pay their respects pass by and tell you goodbye. Oh wait you won’t even know this is going on. Your shell will be in the box at the front. Your spirit the part that is you will be somewhere else. One other note if you have never accepted Jesus as your Saviour your next stop will not have air conditioning.


Just so there is no mistake here let me stress that there is no substitute, there is nothing just as good. Acts 4:12 states, “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”
This is not a denominational position this is a biblical position. This is God’s position.
As in other facets of life neglect must be punished. You neglect to pay you bills you will loose your possessions. Your lights will be turned off, your water will cease to flow, you neglect to eat long enough your heart will stop beating.

How shall we escape? God cannot answer, as there is no answer to that question. He has provided all the ways and means. Given all the opportunity sent all the preachers it is now up to you. Should you continue your neglect God will shake his head and wipe the tears from his eyes as he watches you walk into destruction; as great as he is he will be helpless to prevent that.

If you are a Christian and have stopped reading you Bible or studying His Word you have neglected you Great Salvation.
If you are a Christian neglect can cost you your joy. David in humble prayer asks please restore to me the joy of my salvation. It can also cost you God’s blessings. One day we will all have to stand before God and give Him an account of our lives and how we used the talents, and gifts He so loving gave to us. Keep this in mind as you ponder how you will respond God already knows what we have done or have not done. So He will not accept any excuse. The Bible says our works will be tried by fire as to what sort they are. Only the precious metal will be left as our reward. Our good intentions, our good thoughts our selfish deeds will all go up in flames leaving only ashes. We then get what is left.
How will you answer the only two questions God will ask? The first is, “ What have you done with my son? The second, “What did you do with what I gave you?
As you read this if God has spoken to your heart and you do not know how to answer the first question the second will be of no consequence. For without Jesus as your saviour and guide you leave God no choice but to cast you into a place created for the devil and his angles. Just as God had no choice but to drive Adam and Eve from the garden after they broke the rules you will leave Him no choice as to your final destination. You ask how can a loving merciful God do that to me? He did not do that to you, you did that to yourself by rejecting His Son Jesus Christ. You don’t have to believe there is a place called hell, but that does not mean it does not exist. Look in Luke 16:23, “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments…”
There is a great salvation provided by Christ Jesus. He went to a cruel cross and paid your sin debt. Neglect of so great a salvation must be punished either by banishment or by loss of reward. The choice is yours.
If we neglect this great salvation, planned by so great a God, bought with so great a price we then leave God no choice. He must destroy your works if they are made of wood hay and stubble or you will be separated from God for all eternity.
The choice is ours to make. Make it wisely.