Books by Ian Rogers
Books by Ian Rogers
When I did some training as a local preacher (which I never finished because my wife was taken to hospital for a long period) I learned about the five Omnis meaning ‘All’ God is Omni (All) present, Omni-powerful, Omni-knowing, Omni-loving and Omni-righteous.
In the book of Revelations, the soul of martyrs cry out to God: “How long, O Lord, Holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the Earth?” Rev 6 v 10. They are comforted while they wait and assured of blessings to come. Of course, Revelations is a contentious book with much debate about its meaning- some even disputing whether it should be in the Bible at all, However, there are recurrent themes through the Bible that I believe show Gods determination to convey particular messages to us. A single quoted verse can be misused but if the sentiment of the verse is repeatedly supported elsewhere in scripture then the principle can be widely applied. Few people would deny the multiple prophecies of Christ’s death and resurrection, or that there are many ‘types’- forerunners - of Christ.
The Spiritual principle of heavenly compensation for earthly trials is one of these ”golden threads” For example, Jesus accepted the cross because he looked forward to the joy to come (Heb12v2); when Jesus told the story of ”Lazarus and Dives” (Luke16v19-31) the beggar was compensated for his suffering while the rich man was punished for his uncharitable life. Amid suffering, St Paul wrote: “I long to be with the Lord, which is for better…” (Phil1v24)
Joseph told his brothers, concerning his suffering at their hands; “You meant it for harm (his enslavery, etc) but God meant it for good.” (Gen50v20)
If in the long run, God cannot bring good out of every bit of bad, then unfairness and suffering have triumphed. If bad things cannot be redeemed, then the 5 Omnis cannot be true. God would have to be limited by one of the following: he might not be all knowing so he could not respond to suffering; or he might not be all powerful, so even though he knew about suffering he could not turn bad things to good; or he might be unloving and so just let us suffer unjustly. None of these limitations match Jesus’ teaching nor the ‘golden threads’ of the rest of scripture.
I think one answer is this. We all suffer to some degree or another and then die carrying various mental and physical scars. Through Gods gracious healing power all who get to heaven will be fully healed. Those who suffered greatest damage will be healed more and comforted more while those with lesser ills will be healed and comforted less. We will all end up in the same place in Gods esteem, bearing the different fruit formed from our varied earthly experiences. God has no favourites.
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