My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. God desires all men to be delivered and to come to a full knowledge of truth.
Isa 14:24 Jehovah of Hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall be; and as I have purposed, it shall rise up;
Isa 46:10-11 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; calling a bird of prey from the sunrise, the man of my counsel from a far off land. Yes, I have spoken; yes, I will cause it to come; I have formed; yes, I will do it.
1 Tim 2:4 who [God] desires all men to be delivered and to come to a full knowledge of truth.
We have all read in the Bible that Jesus wanted to do everything according to the will of God.
Gen 1:3 ”Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light”. – God has in his word created the world. Whenever God says something he wills, it always happens:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall do that which I please, and it shall accomplish that for which I send it.
2 Pet. 3:9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance.
Isa 45:6 … I am Jehovah, and there is none else 7 forming light, and creating darkness; making peace, and creating evil. [evil, calamity, disaster; heb. רַע ra`]; I Jehovah have created it.
1 Jhn 4:14 We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
God reassured at his prophet Isaiah’s mouth that He will accomplish everything according to his will. Why would we fight this decision? Is it because we do not understand how it could be possible? Is it because the world is so full of sinners, who according to the Bible will receive the judgment of God, the eternal torment in the lake of fire. – It is perhaps appropriate to study and reflect on what God means by judgment and the penalty of the fiery lake, so that we will not interpret Isaiah’s text against the will of God.
Does God really want all men to be saved, and not to perish in the lake of fire? When I write that he wants, it means that God does not just hope or that he would be happy if all would be saved. It means that God does not accept the outcome that the majority of mankind will be lost. Everything is possible for God! Mat 19:26: Jesus looked at them intently and said, For humans this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.
– Would not God, therefore, do as he wills when it is possible for him? Ok, let us believe it is so. But what does it mean?
This is easy to agree with. However, what follows from this is, that people, and especially the theologians say, “No, this cannot be possible.” What then cannot be possible? The fact that the entire Bible interpretation of end-time judgment is wrong! I am trying to prove why God actually needs to save all people. God has acted wrong, unfairly, in relation to humans. He has created people to be different, with different gifts. He has given people faith, a lot to some, a little for some others. Of course, it is easy for the “saint” to find salvation, while the ordinary man is fighting for his daily bread. Although I often reproached God, I have to confess like Isaiah (55:9): For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my [God’s] ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts
In mainstream churches, the old doctrine of eternal torture in a fiery lake has been proclaimed for centuries. The Church’s doctrine of the second death is still in force today. It has been proclaimed so many times in the Bible so clearly that it must be literally true! This was now irony from me. Theologians do not just seem to realize that this is a figurative expression. If this doctrine is true, it should be proclaimed time and time again. Only recently has the situation changed. Who has even heard at church today of the hell in a burning lake? Hardly anyone, because such a message does not sell God’s word to people.
The perfect opposite of this doctrine is the doctrine of universalism meaning that “everyone will come to heaven”. In this chapter, I deal with both. When I say that all go to heaven, I mean that the interpretation of the will of God is that all be saved. In other words, universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be restored to a right relationship with God. God always does what he wants, even to save all people.
When reading these writings the reader will have to be moved between the two options. Just like I did. However, I hope that the solution will ultimately be found. The right solution can be found in the will of God, if only we can properly interpret it. How can we be able when our Lord said, Go, and tell this people: Hearing you hear, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not perceive. (Isa 6:9)
who [God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:4)
… God knew before the world began, that people would come to fall into sin and he saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works but according to his own purpose and the grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began [or: before eternal times, before the ages of time] (2 Tim 1:9)
God is love – most people are happy to accept this. On this basis, people do not want to accept the word confirmed many times in the Bible, the punishment of sinners, eternal torment in the lake of fire. It would still be acceptable for Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin to burn with Pol Pot in the lake of fire.
What about the old grandma, whose only sin is fearfulness, being timorous: Rev 21:8 But to the fearful (Strong’s 1169 δειλός deilós, Engl. timid, fearful) and unbelieving, and sinners, and those who make themselves abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. – Would she be in the lake of fire with Hitler and Stalin? The many centuries the mainstream churches have kept people in fear and terror. The church has used the fiery lake punishment to keep people obedient. But, God should be obeyed for love, not fear of punishment.
Every person has sinned and the reward of sin is death: Jhn 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ‘Death’ means here the so-called first death that everyone has to experience. Here, however, is referred to the so-called “second death”, a judgment given in the final judgment. By believing in Jesus’ teachings and his redemption sacrifice and by living one’s life according to God’s will, man will avoid the second death.
What kind of punishment do those get who are sentenced to second death?
Rom 9:20-21 On the contrary, who are you—mere man that you are—to talk back to God? Can an object that was molded say to the one who molded it, “Why did you make me like this?” A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn’t he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump. 12:3 For by the grace given to me I ask every one of you not to think of yourself more highly than you should think, rather to think of yourself with sober judgment on the measure of faith that God has assigned each of you. – Apart from the amount of faith, God also decides whom he draws to himself and to the Christ: Jhn 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him to life on the last day.
It is not, therefore, a matter of human choice, but of God. Jesus also told his disciples that they did not choose Jesus, but Jesus chose them.
What should we think about the above Bible verse? First, God has not created all people alike. Others have been made for ‘cheap use’, others for ‘noble work’. Those who have been made for cheap use have been given faith a smaller amount compared to the ones created for noble tasks. Does this feel unfair? What if it is insignificant what we do in our first phase, in life on earth, before the first death. If God would leave his “little vessels” without the possibility of salvation, that would be unfair. God himself has given different starting points for each human being. If God’s plan – which people do not seem to understand – is that all people will be saved by God’s cleansing fire after reading the last judgment.
Once again; God wants everyone to be saved! Even the greatest persecutor Saul, he (later known as the Apostle Paul), received grace and salvation. Do we trust that God is love, and God is righteousness? We do not always understand the words of Isaiah: Isa 55:9: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts – When the fearful have been included in the list of sentenced people, could it be intentional in the sense that God wants to stop people to think that maybe all about hellfire is not literally true? The aforementioned ideas are rather shaky; all human beings would eventually be saved, both good and bad. Before you dare to accept these ideas rejoicing that there is no rush to stop your sinful life – everyone will be saved – read on and ponder!
