Did you ever think about this…or have someone ask this?

In Matthew 24:14 (NIV) it says, “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”, which infers that everyone must hear the Gospel before Christ returns. Mark 13:10 (NIV) also says, “the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” How could it be preached to everyone, when someone is born every 5 seconds, and there are still people who are dying who have never heard in remote locations…?!?

Well, its not an easy one to answer, but at this point, what I believe is that God reveals Himself to people in 2 different ways.

First and foremost is through the Gospel of Christ, and the acceptance of that Gospel. This is really the only way to God that we should worry about, as it is our call to spread the Gospel through the world, as the body of Christ.

Second is through some revelation from God, that only He knows how it works. This is based more on Romans 1:20, which says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” This implies that no man has an excuse as God is evident in His creation. Since we know God knows the hearts of men, He knows who has seen and understood.

So what about the person grown up on the South Pole with a tribe of wolves…see the second way above, and I will leave that to God.

For everyone else, I/we should be doing what we can to let others know of Him, and the good news!

I am not sure where I heard this, but in re-reading it, it makes a lot of sense. Anyone can say, God is Good, but how do we see his goodness. 3 ways are mentioned below:

1) God’s Mercy is his Goodness to those in distress.

– How often have you been in distress? For me…alot! Seems like I always have some issue that I would like God to take care of for me, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. …and you know what? His Mercy has always been there, if not to relieve my burden, at least to help me endure it.

2) God’s Grace is his Goodness to those who deserve punishment.

– Pretty obvious here. God’s Grace is what allows us to be saved from the punishment of hell. This is the most obvious and greatest display of God’s Grace.

3) God’s Patience is Goodness to those who continue to sin.

– I am a Christian, and I still do wrong. I still sin. I still deserve punishment, but God’s Patience is there , understanding, forgiving and His Spirit is there to help me learn and do better.

So is God Good? Yes! Do I love Him for it? Yes! Does he love me? Yes! Do I deserve it? No! Does that matter to God? No!

He loves me for who I am, and I love Him for that.