The following article is written by a former preacher of the Gospel. While I did not have the pleasure of knowing him, I know his son who is a current preacher in East Tennessee. In this article he writes about the severity of God. We usually view God as always good and loving, but make no mistake that God punishes when it is necessary. I hope this article serves as a reminder that we need to always strive to be cautious in our Christian walk.
Many people have a mistaken view of God’s nature. Most seem to relate to the goodness of God but many forget that there is another side to God. Paul wrote, “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness” (Rom. 11:22 ). There is a real danger in taking the view that God is all goodness. Some are lead to think that they are given liberty of conduct. After all, if God is only good to us, what difference does it make if we do the wrong thing?
It also would be discouraging to think that God is only severe with mankind. We would have the impression that regardless of how hard we try, we are doomed to failure. We can quickly see that the balance of God’s nature is most important. Bible examples make this balance clearly seen. In the beginning, in the Garden of Eden we get our first picture of the two sides of God. God was extremely good to Adam and Eve in what He provided for them in the garden. They were given dominion over all that was there with but one exception. They were forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A warning was given. They were told that if they ate they would surely die. God had been good but now His severity was seen. They were removed from the Garden. What we do determines which side of God’s nature we see. If we obey, He is good to us. If we sin, we must deal with the severity of God. The choice is ours.
-Written by Frank Higginbotham-