The Universal Delusion

The Universal Delusion

Recently I was confronted with an opportunity to provide some clarity to an otherwise confusing topic. I was having a conversation and in that conversation the idea of universalism came up. It was underlying. I am not sure the one who stated it realized that is what they were saying. It was so faint that we could have gone on with the conversation without ever saying anything. But it is so big of a concept that we couldn't. It is really something that we get confused about all the time in church. The idea that creation and children are the same. We tend to interchange these two words without really understanding how different they are. When we identify the differences, we are dismissed by a "Oh yeah that is what I mean." No! It is not! If we simulate those two words in our theology we are making a grave mistake. By doing so we start to slip down the slippery slope of universalism. Believing that everyone will be saved because God is love and would never send anyone to a place like hell because He created them.

So what is the big deal with two words? When we look at soteriology (the study of salvation) it is the difference between having salvation or not. In other words the difference between life and death.
As I explained to this person I was talking to, we are all God's creation. The bible teaches us that there is nothing that exist that God has not created. Colossians 1:16,
"For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him." The bible also teaches that He created us for good things. Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them."
We are all creations of God, but we are not all children of God. This again is a grave mistake to confuse the two. There is a part in all of us, believers and unbelievers, that wants to believer that God would not send anyone to a place like hell. There is even something in me as I write this that would love to believe that everyone I know will be in heaven. But because I want to believe it does not warrant my belief. This too is important because wanting to believe that everyone will go to heaven is based on my feelings. "I feel bad because they will not." Truth however overrides feelings. Truth is not determined by feelings. The truth is, even thought it does not "feel" good, not every creation of God is a child of God. Therefore, not every creation of God will be in heaven.
Not only is it unbiblical to believe every creation of God is a child of God, it is also unfair. Universalism at its core is unfair. It over rides the God given will of man. So to say that every creation (human) is a child of God, is to impose a status on a person they; one, may not want, but two, can not uphold. This is bigger than we believe. Many people are living there lives in religious legalism trying to uphold someone else's expectation of them. "They think I am a child of God, but I know I am not." Our churches are full of these sad and confused creations. Universalism is on the opposite end of theology from Calvinism, by some major differences. But they both over ride the free will of man, which again was given by God. However, according to Calvinist God provides everything you need to be and live as a child of God, universalism does not offer anything. According to universalism you will be saved but basically you are on your own. Universalism neglects the persons responsibly to respond to God's plan of salvation, while Calvinist strongly adhere to it.
I regress, when we impose the status of being a child of God on someone who may not be, we are doing them and ourselves an injustice. They will be mislead into believing they have an imposed secure in the protection of God's salvation and we will have let our feelings control us more than the truth. They will get frustrated because they can not live up to the "standard," and we will get frustrated at them for not being able to. The whole time losing sight of the reality that they are a creation of God but just not a child of God.
It is unfair to impose our desire for someone on them without them having the same desire.
How do we know? The bible teaches us we can tell by actions.  1 John 3:7-10,
"Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God’s children — and the Devil’s children — are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother."

There is a lot there but the context is clear, actions speak louder than words or feelings. It took me being alert to the universal delusion in our conversation, but once identified it became my responsibility to gentle and firmly provide clarity to a otherwise cloudy concept. I know the controversy will continue to rage, many people will continue to be disillusioned. But for those who have seen truth and know its presence; they are responsible to share the truth, even though it does not feel good. The fact that not all of God's creations are not God's children saddens me. It breaks my heart and inspires me to share the truth. But it does not give me the right to impose something on someone else just to make me feel better. Feelings come and go; truth remains the same. God loves His creation, but not all of His creations are His children.