“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives; who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche, Sartre, Altizer, and others were prominent in feeding the God Is Dead movement. Their writings reinforced the feeling in many that there was no God and caused others to consider the possibility that God did not exist. However, writings and speech cannot bring to life or put to death. No matter how much one can claim that God is dead, He is very much alive.
Parenthetically, I often wondered what the first words out of their mouths were when they died and ended up face-to-face with the God whom they denied and proclaimed dead. Would they be able to cast aside their disbelief and embrace a God who loved them as much as they disdained Him? I wonder.
The reason I wonder, and the reason I share that wonder, is because many people think that people like Nietzsche are probably not in heaven. They also believe that people like Hitler, Genghis Kahn, and others are not in heaven as well. Who is to say? Who is to know? Don’t we believe in a God who wants us all to come home to Him? Are not all people created in God’s image and likeness? Are not all people redeemable?
Nietzsche wondered if there was water for us to clean ourselves. The answer to that would be no. We cannot wash away our guilt and our sin. There is no water on earth that has the properties to do that. However, there is the Blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ washes away our sins in His Blood if we allow Him to do so. That is possible for anybody from the greatest saint to the most wretched sinner. What it demands is response on the part of the person.
I have known people who have radically changed their way of life after being introduced to the Lord. Some of them I met during my time as a prison chaplain. They were people who had committed multiple murders or other heinous crimes. However, somewhere in their incarceration, they had an experience or experiences where God came to them, touched their lives, and opened their eyes. They changed and became virtuous people.
God desires all of His children to come home to Him. He does not want to lose anyone. He gives everyone a chance to embrace Him and accept the gift of eternal life. It all depends upon our response. Try not to wait until the last minute to make that response. Try not to allow yourself to become hardened of heart. Believe that God can — and will — forgive you if you are truly repentant. Trust that Jesus can wash away your sins in His blood.
FAITH ACTION: Live in such a way as to be a witness to God’s love today.