Daniel P. Barron

A conversation about God's appearance turned into one about how He hates people:

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Have you seen God?

Scripture says nobody can see God ⁱ and live, and yet Jacob saw God. ⁱⁱ I have seen God in the sense that I have seen the heavens which declare His glory. And I have seen His body which is fellowship of His followers. "When He is revealed," "we shall see Him as He is." ⁱⁱⁱ

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But Jesus said those who are pure in heart will see God.

God can do impossible things.

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God was made known and seen through Jesus Christ by all people.

Scripture says "those who have not seen" are blessed for believing. ^iv

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I know what God looks like. Want to know?

I too know what God looks like. ^v

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Nice. Exactly, He looks just like us! But do you know the specifics of his image and facial features?

Yes. ^vi

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Can God hate?

Yes. He hates everyone.

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No He doesn't! I never heard of such nonsense. If he hated us, He wouldn't be capable of forgiving. That contradicts everything He stands for.

Does God not hate "all workers of iniquity?" ^vii Did God not hate those in Gilgal? ^viii Does God not hate someone who is a false witness? ^ix Does God not hate those who are wicked and love violence? ^x Did God not hate Esau? ^xi

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You're wrong to say God hates everyone. I don't think Scripture is saying He hates evildoers in literal terms. If that were true and God really hated everyone, He would never have died for our sins, nor would He have forgiven them. Everyone has done works of evil and if God hated all of us, He wouldn't have compassion to forgive something he hates. I've once asked God myself when I sinned against Him, and was deeply troubled in my spirit asking Him repeatedly, "do you hate me god? Do you hate me god? Do you hate me? How can you possibly forgive me? Why should you forgive? I'm evil. How can you forgive someone as evil as me?" And do you know what he said and replied back to my distress and cry? He said, "because I love you."

You are relying on your own understanding ^xii of what it means to hate, rather than believing Scripture for what it says. God died for those He hates. ^xiii You are not wrong to say God loves you. He loves everyone. ^xiv But you have added to His Word ^xv to say this means He cannot also hate everyone.

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God doesn't hate anybody! He weeps when people fall into hell on a daily basis. How can someone who hates everyone shed such tears of compassion against people he hates.It is not his desire that anyone should perish.

He creates most people ^xvi for hell. ^xvii He is longsuffering about this. ^xviii

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I'm not relying on my own understanding. God literally told me. He can't hate me but He can hate my sin.

Scripture which is God says that He hates everyone. You have been deceived by this very same God.

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I was deceived!? I don't know why you believe that, but God isn't someone that hates people. Otherwise, Jesus wouldn't have said that the greatest commandment is to love the lord with all your strength, soul, and mind and the other commandment: to love your neighbor and enemies as much as yourself. Also saying do onto others as you'd like to be treated.

I have shown you many passages that say God hates people; not the sin only. You take His love to mean that He cannot also hate. This is a blatant rejection of God's Word based on your own understanding and the basic principles of the world. ^xix

1. John 1:
   

   18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

    ^

2. Genesis 32:
   

   30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

    ^

3. 1 John 3:
   

   2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

    ^

4. John 20:
   

   29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

    ^

5. Genesis 1:
   

   26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

    ^

6. Revelation 1:
   

   12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

    ^

7. Psalm 5:
   

   5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
   You hate all workers of iniquity.

    ^

8. Hosea 9:
   

   15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal,
   For there I hated them.
   Because of the evil of their deeds
   I will drive them from My house;
   I will love them no more.
   All their princes are rebellious.

    ^

9. Proverbs 6:
   

   16 These six things the Lord hates,
   Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
   17 A proud look,
   A lying tongue,
   Hands that shed innocent blood,
   18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
   Feet that are swift in running to evil,
   19 A false witness who speaks lies,
   And one who sows discord among brethren.

    ^

10. Psalm 11:
    

    5 The Lord tests the righteous,
    But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

     ^

11. Romans 9:
    

    11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

     ^

12. Proverbs 3:
    

    5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    And lean not on your own understanding;

     ^

13. Romans 5:
    

    8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

     ^

14. John 3:
    

    16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

     ^

15. Proverbs 30:
    

    6 Do not add to His words,
    Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

     ^

16. Matthew 7:
    

    13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

     ^

17. Proverbs 16:
    

    4 The Lord has made all for Himself,
    Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.

     ^

18. Romans 9:
    

    22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

     ^

19. Colossians 2:
    

    8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

     ^