Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #10
“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
Matthew 18:14
God loves babies!!! They are so cute and cuddly! He loves children. (“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Matt. 18:10) He loves them so much that He has assigned them each an angel to watch over them! Our heavenly Father is compassionate and loving! He desires that each of us join Him in heaven. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Does He lack power then to overlook sin and bring each of us to Himself? Yes, because it is against His very nature. Or He would not have had to sacrifice His only Son. God is holy and cannot dwell with unclean or holy things. He loved us so much that He wanted to make us holy so that we could be with Him for all of eternity. And that holiness is available to everyone! One must repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and He will be saved. God desires that we all do exactly that.
Does that make God a judgmental God because not everyone will come to know Him? Not at all. Judgment has already been passed because we are of Satan’s family (John 8:44). We are born sinners. We must be adopted into God’s family (Colossians 1:13). Only when we are born again into God’s family does God legally also declare us not guilty. We are no longer sinners, but saints! And saints go to heaven! Does that mean we will never sin again? No, but we have the right as children of God to be forgiven and renewed. God is not looking forward to the judgment day because He gets perverse satisfaction out of sending people to hell. He is looking forward to the judgment because then He will welcome His children home forever!