Is God a God of judgment or a God of love? He is both, I mean can you really have one without the other? He who judges does so out of love. You parents can understand this, for that is the reason you discipline your children. You realize a path that a particular behavior will send them down if they continue, therefore, you discipline them. Though punishment is never pleasant while being endured however when received, will bring about wisdom for right living. So how do we compare this to God.
The classic judgement that everyone knows took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (no it was not an apple). Their punishment, in an overview, was hard work for the men, pain and submission for the women and banishment from the Garden of Eden. That seems like a pretty severe punishment for eating some fruit, would you not agree?
However, Adam praised God after the punishment by renaming his wife, Eve, “because she would become the mother of all the living.” (Adam was the first optimist.) Then they were banished from the Garden of Eden so they would not eat the fruit again and live forever while in their sinful state. Therefore, they were banished so eventually they could be reconciled back to God. (This is were Jesus comes in. He died and took away the sins of the world.)
So what about the hard labor for the man and the child labor for the woman how does that show God’s love? He was not making them suffer because of their sin, rather He was telling them that since they could no longer stay in the Garden of Eden that they would have to suffer these things.
Basically, in modern day language God said this, “You can no longer be in the Garden of Eden because if you eat of this fruit again while in this sinful state you will live forever and will not be able to come and hang out with me in heaven. So you are going to have to live outside of Eden and as a result things will not be as easy for you out there as they were in here. (Then he told them what they were going to have to go through.) However, I am going to make provision for you so you can eventually come back to me and we will live happy ever after.
Then like any good Father, God sent them away with gifts. He made garments of clothes for them (Genesis 3:23) and then I believe that He showed them how to make sacrifices to cover their sins until Jesus came. (Where else would God get the fur?)
There are countless examples of this in the Bible where God’s judgment demonstrates His love. However, most individuals do not see God in this manner, so this is me sticking up for my Papa upstairs. (Like He needs my help.)
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