Hey, I’ve got a quiz for you. And it’s not that hard. It’s a simple one question, multiple-choice quiz. The question is: What kind of God is God like? There are only two possible answers: (A) A Disgusting, Mean-Spirited God; (B) A God Who Is Worthy of Our Praises. Your answer is to be determined solely from the data contained in the following passage in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10:
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
I’m going with B. But I’d be interested in your answer.
Jerry Shepherd
May 1, 2015
Hi Jerry, I have just come accross your blog site & it looks like I have much to read & digest.
Your answers do not give much alternative.
From the passage, God is at work amongst His church at Thessalonica increasing their faith, love & perseverence in the midst of persecution & trials. Then the big one from all of it is that God is just & righteous. Who am I to judge Him & His dealings with man. Sure I can question His integrity & His justice but in the end
I choose by faith to declare that God is worthy of my praise!
Hi, Pete. Thanks for the feedback. Of course, what I am getting at in this post is the way in which some people characterize God as wicked and vindictive when Scripture talks about him as punishing the wicked. But the passage in Thessalonians shows exactly what the rest of Scripture shows. When God punishes the wicked, it is always an occasion for praise.