What About the Children?

Some of the people I really care about have some real issues with God. Chiefly, that He seems to be unfair. One special young woman once said to me, "Why would He make people knowing that some of them would go to hell?" I think of her all the time and the many things I would like to say, if ever given the chance again. But the most recent question of fairness happened last week in the Sandy Hook school shooting. "Where was God in all this? How could God let this happen? How is this fair or just to these children?"

Well, I tend to be quite long-winded, so I can't really give thorough answers to all those questions here. But I do want to give evidence that God loves and provides for children even when he doesn't appear to care. Specifically, that He has taken care of the children that did not survive the Sandy Hook massacre.

When someone we love dies, that person is lost to us. We no longer see or hear from our loved one. We can't hold him, we can't talk to her, the rhythm of our life is disrupted and we are separated from the one we love. Death seems so final and permanent to us. But this is not the case for God. Death creates an obstacle for us, but it removes one for God. He calls to us in life and, if we accept Him, then when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. As Jesus told the thief on the cross, "I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)

But what about children who have not been raised Christian? Are they condemned to hell?

God's Word, His Message to us, the Bible indicates that children are exceptional and are accepted into Heaven with God. In the words God and Jesus spoke to His people and to us, there appears to be a time when we are young before we are held accountable for knowing the difference between good and evil. There are two clear examples of this "grace" period while we are young. The first occurs after the Exodus, when the Israelites were rescued while in Egypt. God led his people to the promised land, but they sinned greatly against Him, so He refused to let those people enter. This is what He told them through Moses, his prophet and their leader, "None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers except Caleb the son of Jephunneh (and Joshua son of Nun)... Your little children, whom you said would be plunder, your sons who don't know good from evil will enter there. I will give them the land,and they will take possession of it." (Deuteronomy 1:35-39)

The second account occurs in the book of Isaiah in a prophecy about Jesus himself, following some well-known words that we've often heard at Christmas-time. "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating butter and honey. For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned." (Isaiah 7:14-16) We don't know much about Jesus' childhood, and we're given no indication as to what kind of child he was until he was 12 and old enough to travel to Jerusalem with his parents for the Passover feast, but we do know that there was a time before he knew "to reject what is bad and choose what is good."

Jesus, Himself, gives us the third glimpse of how God views children and His relationship to children. "Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them." (Mark 10:13-16)

What does it mean to not know good from evil and to not know to reject what is bad and choose what is good? God is the ultimate Judge and he is a righteous Judge. (Psalm 50:6) He knows our hearts and we are judged according to our works (Revelation 20) For those who accept the offer that Christ makes to each of us to pay our penalty in exchange for giving our lives to Him, Jesus stands in our place and we are not condemned. But the righteous Judge that is our God has admitted in the past to withholding judgment from those He knows are too young. Where there is no judgement, there is no condemnation. To be condemned by God is to be separated from Him for eternity. And if the children are not separated from God and Jesus, they are with Him.

God is Light, He is Love, and He is Truth. To be with God is to be with Perfect Love and perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18) We have not been told everything. God is content to let some mysteries remain mysteries. Yet he has revealed many other mysteries to us and given us enough knowledge of his character, and hints of His plans that we can have confidence in His love and mercy. He does not punish the innocent and the innocent are with Him. Whatever happens in our past, our past is put behind us when we are with Him. He is the great Healer and Comforter. He is the loving and merciful Judge. He is the One Who sent His Son, Our Savior, so that we can share His love forever.