The God Shaped Hole In Our Heart

Q

I just read one of your answers to a predestination question. If I understood you correctly, God already knew who would choose to be with Him in Eternity before He created us. So He makes sure that it happens and they all get saved. Nobody who wants to be with Him will fall through the cracks. Is it that simple? If so, there’s something I don’t understand. Everybody needs love, there are no exceptions. God is love. How is it that there are people who wouldn’t want this?

A

You are correct in saying everybody needs love. One commentator described the human condition by saying we all have a God-shaped hole in our heart, and we’ll never be truly happy until we fill it with His love.

But it appears that only a small minority of people wind up filling this hole with God’s love. The vast majority spend their whole lives trying to fill it with earthly things. Some do this out of rebellion against God, others because they think it doesn’t matter how or where we find love, and still others because they don’t believe God can fill the hole in their heart.

A few finally realize their mistake and find God after a lifetime of trying other things, but many die unhappy because they’ve never found anything that works. After a lifetime of trying and failing, they’ve convinced themselves there’s no way to fill it.

None of this means that God ignores those who He knows won’t choose Him. At the end of their life, I believe He will show them all the times when He tried to get their attention and they ignored Him or put Him off. No one will die without having at least one bona fide offer of eternal life. Otherwise they could rightly accuse Him of being untruthful when He said He doesn’t want any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3 :9) and that He wants everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:3-4).