Before going any further, if you have not already, please read the “picture story” of a 6-year-old that has helped so many people understand why they would do things just like how God has been doing them.  Do that now.  Read “6-year-old picture story” (Really, read the story because it is foundational for other things on this site.)

Summary:
Most people don’t understand what God is doing because they have two of the most common misconceptions about what is God’s purpose and plan for this time on earth.  They think:

• This time on earth is supposed to be a small sample of Heaven and all should be made good here.
• They think that it is about us being “basically good people.”

But neither is true. For the 6-year-old, fixing the problem would likely make their life harder, not better. Also, no parent wants their child to think they are only loved when they are being good.

A little more:
Remember the big picture of the 6-year-old:

• The past:  The parents have been giving the child wise and loving advice and also giving the child the free will to trust that wise and loving counsel or to reject it in favor of the child’s own wisdom and understanding.
• The current:  The child is experiencing a time period where unwise decisions are having negative consequences.  The parent helps the child see how their unwise decision has led to their current pain.  (Note:  if the child had listened and saved and was therefore able to buy the toy, that parent could congratulate them on reaping the rewards of saving.)
• The future:  The child will either learn from the lesson and have a better life or the child will continue to rely on their own wisdom and have a more difficult life.

Just as the parent is putting the current pain of the child into context with loving and wise purpose, God is doing so with us in the big picture of our eternal life.

• Eternity past:  Before this earth was created for its brief purpose, God created Heaven and the angels.  God had a choice of whether to give them free will or not.  God knew that free will made for a richer experience, but would also lead to some bad decisions.  Would you feel more loved if you never did anything wrong or if you did something wrong and saw the hand of your loving and wise parent reaching out to pick you up.  In eternity past, one-third of the angels rebelled and said they wanted things to be done their way.
• This current time of this earth:  On this earth, God is letting us see what happens when we get to do things our own way.  While each of us on earth think our way is the best, we see differently if we look around and realize this mess is of our own creation.  We may not agree, but our root problem is that we are each looking out for our own best rather than equally for the good of others.
• Eternity future:  Just as the parent sees the full life of the child as much more important that this one current out-of-balance focus on self, God sees this current time on earth as a blink of an eye in our full eternal life.  We are seeing what happens when we focus on self.  Only those that trust God’s loving and wise counsel will be with Him in eternity.  Heaven will be Heaven because all those there have learned how to have wholesome relationships.

God’s two greatest commandments which He says summarize all His loving and wise counsel:

• Love God and trust His counsel more than our own:  This is seen our parent/child design.  When the less wise child trusts the counsel of the far wiser parent, they make must better decisions.
• Love others as much as yourself:  That is easy to under-emphasize.  To love others as much as yourself means you put as much of your time and energy into helping others as you do filling your own desires.  It is not until this becomes core to your values and goals that you come to understand the old adage of “it is better to give than to receive.”

We are all looking for 1) purpose, 2) wholesome relationships, and 3) unconditional love.  God provides those to people that trust Him. God is looking at our overall “eternal” life and knows that this short time on earth is a blink-of-an-eye in our eternal life.  God loves to bless now and does when we trust Him, but His primary goal for our brief time on earth is to prepare us for our eternal life in Heaven.  That involves God offering wise and loving guidance which we either benefit from listening to or experiencing consequences when we don’t.  If we look around and see the mess created when so many “do what is right in their own eyes”, it should drive us to look for a better set of values and goals from our loving and wise Heavenly Father.  Recognize that Heaven would not be that great if we all brought our same “personal values” there that we have here…

Key concepts covered in “Deeper” page on this topic:

• Overview of “eternity past” / this brief time on Earth / “eternity future” (Do you recognize that this time on earth is a blink-of-an-eye part of your eternal life and has a specific purpose?)
• God’s unconditional love for us (God’s love has nothing to do with us “being a basically good person” or “practicing religion”)
• What Heaven is like (MUCH different from what you have likely seen.  We are NOT going to be floating around playing harps.)

As with most of the pages on this site, remember to review the verses on the bottom of the page.  Never rely on just what people say – see what God says.

Read FAQ “Why does God allow bad things to happen”
Read Deeper “The Big Picture” (lots more details beyond the short answer above)
Read FAQ “Can I know that I’m going to Heaven?”
Read FAQ “Heaven – Greatly Misunderstood”
Read Deeper “The Spiritual Life 2.0”
Back to FAQs

Bible references:

• Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…  (This is what a wise and loving parent does and it sometimes includes some tough love.)
• Romans 3:23  …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
• Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
• John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life
• 1 John 3:16  We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
• Acts 20:35 – It is more blessed to give than to receive
• James 4:1-3 What is the cause of your quarrels.  Is it not your lust and envy things you do not have?  (God is letting us know that a primary focus on “self” corrupts relationships and is hollow in the end.)
• Psalms 145:3  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.  (perspective of King David who trusted God and was blessed)
• Acts 5:32  And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.  (The people that walked with Jesus gave their first-hand account of what they saw and heard that was so convincing to them.)
• Psalms 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  (More on this in the FAQ on science and the Bible.)
• Philippians 4:19  And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  (Note that sometimes a wise and loving parent defines the child’s need differently than the child defines them.)
• 1 Corinthians 13:12  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully.  (God gives us a glimpse of eternity, but let’s know that you can’t really grasp how good until you are there.)