Hell – Page 2 – Michelle Lesley

The ERLC has come out with a helpful fact sheet on the recent Supreme Court decisions on same sex “marriage.” It can be distributed or even used as a bulletin insert at your church, (it’s a free PDF download available in both English and Spanish). Anyone is free to use it– it’s not just for Southern Baptists. It’s really a great resource, so I wanted to share it with you.

I think there’s one point of clarification that needs to be made, though. Under the heading “What Hasn’t Changed,” we find this statement:

“Jesus Christ is still alive, and ultimately will bend history toward His kingdom.”

I read that, then read it again, then turned it over in my mind several times, then tried to recall a verse of Scripture that says anything about Jesus ultimately “bending history towards” His kingdom. Nada. Bupkis. Zilch.

I’m still not exactly sure what the fact sheet writer meant by this phrase. All I can figure (and perhaps I’m misunderstanding his intent) is that he’s referencing Christ’s return and the coming judgment. When I read Scriptures referencing Christ’s return, I see things like Revelation 19:15:

“From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”

and Matthew 21:44:

“And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Not exactly a soft summer breeze gently bending a stalk of golden grain, is it? At least that’s the mental picture I get when I read a phrase like “bending history toward His kingdom.”

Judgment is coming for all of us, lost and saved, regardless of sexual preference. It’s going to be fast and furious and without any second chances to change your mind. The wheat is going to be gathered into the barn and the tares burned up. The sheep are going to be placed on the right, and the goats on the left. Period. End of story. That’s all she wrote.

Sounds scary, doesn’t it?

It should. And that’s a good thing.

As Christians, it should scare us enough for ourselves that we do what 2 Corinthians 13:5 says to do: examine ourselves– our hearts and the fruit of our lives –against Scripture and make certain we are, indeed, saved. (If you’re not sure where to start with that, here’s an excellent tool that I’ve found very helpful.)

It should also scare us for our lost friends and loved ones. It’s a hard, cold, frightening fact, but anyone who does not repent of his sin and place His faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for his sin is going to spend eternity in hell when he dies. There’s no Purgatory. There’s no god who just forgives everybody and lets everybody into heaven.

Does that scare you for your children, your parents, your siblings, your spouse, your best friend?

Yeah, me too. And it makes me want to plead with them to repent and believe the gospel so they can escape that terrible fate and we can all spend eternity together with the Lord.

So use these fact sheets at church and share them with your friends. They’re good! They’re informative! But forget the “bending” and remember the sword, the fury, the wrath, and the crushing that are coming, and let them ignite a passion within you to love your lost neighbors enough to plead with them to flee to the cross for cleansing, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Osama Bin Laden is dead. Across the globe, people are celebrating. There’s a general sentiment, even amongst non-Christians, that he is in hell, because that’s what he deserves.

I’m guessing that, some of those people, if you had shared the Gospel with them two days ago, would have said they didn’t believe in hell. Or that a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell. Or that God just forgives everybody when they die, and everybody goes to heaven.

If you hold any of those beliefs, the law of non-contradiction requires that they be applied across the board to everybody. In other words, you can’t say you don’t believe in hell and at the same time believe that Bin Laden is in hell. If it doesn’t exist, he can’t be there.

So I’d like to pose two questions to people who hold the aforementioned beliefs:

1. If God decided not to send Bin Laden to hell, but rather allowed him into heaven, has justice been done?

2. Do you think it’s fair that you will have to spend your own eternity in heaven with Bin Laden? And Hitler, and Nero, and Mussolini, and Caligula, and Jack the Ripper?

As broken and messed up as we are, even we humans demand that there be justice –punishment– for people who have committed such heinous crimes. If God doesn’t punish these awful people, what does that make Him? How could He be perfect in every way and let such people off scott free?

I can tell you how. Because I used to be Bin Laden. And Hitler, and all of those other people rolled into one. Me. A good little Sunday School girl. Guilty. James 2:10 tells us:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

In God’s eyes, when I broke curfew to stay at Bible study just a little bit longer, I was as guilty as a serial murderer. When I said, “Oh my G-d!” I was on par with a child molester. When I refused to forgive someone, I might as well have flown one of those planes into the Twin Towers myself. And I deserved the same punishment as all of those horrible people. Hell.

God is perfect. He’s perfectly holy and perfectly just. And that’s why He can’t let any sin slide, no matter how small. But He’s also perfectly loving and compassionate. He knew none of us would measure up to his standard for us –perfection, no sin whatsoever– so He made a way for us to escape punishment, yet still serve justice: Jesus.

God Himself came here and lived out His perfection as a human being. And when it was time, on the cross, He took the punishment for our crimes against God. He got our sin and our punishment, and because of His death and resurrection, we can get His sinless perfection.

We can get it, but it’s not an automatic thing that just happens to everybody when they die. As I said in a previous post, you can’t have it both ways. If you decide to get married, you give up the single life. If you decide to become a star athlete, you give up being a couch potato. And if you decide you want God’s forgiveness for your sin, you give up a life of embracing sin, and, instead, embrace Christ and the new life He has for you. Here. Now.

Is Bin Laden in hell? I can tell you with certainty that if he did not, in the last moments of his life, sorrowfully turn from his sin and bow his knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, yes, he is indeed in hell.

And there, but for the grace of God, go I. And you.