And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:46
Heaven and Hell
What do we really know about these two places called Heaven and Hell? The Bible has much to say about each, but at the end of the day we truly don’t know a whole lot. God has provided us just enough information whereby an intelligent person would choose the place where God dwells over the place where He dwells not. I raise the 
issue here, because it came up once again in a discussion with a non-believer. “The God I believe in is not mean,” our dialogue began, “God allows everybody into Heaven.”
To refute that claim, I pointed out that if God were mean, He would send people to Hell. However, that’s not what He does. Our God is loving! So much so, that He sent His Son as our surrogate. Jesus stood in our place — in the place of all sinners, so all could be saved from a horrible fate. There is but one string attached; a scarlet thread as it were — the sinner must believe this to be true. To deny the Son is to deny the only solution the Lord will ever offer. Rejection, not God, is what dispatches a man to Hell.
I went on to tell him how God’s ‘one solution‘ is the most loving gesture. Can you imagine, I told him, how confusing it would be if God had proffered just one more option in addition to Jesus? Making a decision for Christ is hard enough for most folks. Adding a second or a third choice would only serve to muddy the waters and create intense havoc. Point of fact: this is precisely where satan enters the picture, for in his attempt to usurp God’s authority and simultaneously destroy humanity, he has introduced into various cultures thousands of ways to be saved — all false, all deadly.
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33)
God kept it simple. His remedy, His fix, His counteractant is obvious. It’s as plain as day and night, light and darkness, good and evil: receive the Son and be saved eternally — reject Him and be lost forever. No fluff, no gimmicks, no hoops to launch ourselves through. So straightforward and loving! Jesus did the work, do you believe it — that’s it. A yes or a no determines your fate. Don’t be angry that God has given you such a limited offer, but be grateful that He has given you any offer at all. Think about it — has anger ever led you to a good place? God knows that an intelligent person will choose wisely.
At this point I had to confess that I too had once thought every soul went to Heaven. As I made this disclosure, it occurred to me why I had held so firmly to that delusion — to abandon it was to admit that many of my friends and family were in Hell. Somehow, I thought, if I believed my fantasy hard and boldly enough, these loved ones of mine were in a better circumstance. I came to understand that believing and promoting a lie cannot save the dead, but only hurt the living. To my shame, maintaining a myth for my own emotional well-being, was at the expense of those who needed to hear the truth.
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.” Ezekiel 3:17-18
I also had to concede that believing in Jesus did not ease my pain for the lost. My hearts aches. At this juncture I am thankful God has not revealed to us in totality the terror and magnitude of Hell. I’m sure if He did, I would not be able to function as a Christian. The portrait He has painted is sufficient. The reality that people I know are likely there, compels me to scare the Hell out of those who still have breathe in their lungs. Yes, the love of Christ also strongly compels me, but so does this pain. I have blood on my hands and I do not want anymore.
Do You Believe?
That’s the most important question you will ever be asked. How you respond will alter your eternity. May I encourage you to put all your un-biblical notions and unanswered questions aside for a moment and consider whether or not you are going to Heaven. To begin this journey, trust two things by faith: Jesus is the only way and all these other things will be answered when you believe.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33
There is a road that leads to salvation. If you want to know more? Click HERE or ask a question below in the comment section.
These articles may or may not be related:
- Originals – Passion for Jonathan Edwards (greensboring.com)
- The Amazing Race of God (corbenstreet.wordpress.com)
- Sandy Survivors: May I Be Blunt? (compassiondave.wordpress.com)
- The Practical Side of God’s Sovereignty (a continuation of my last post) (mikespot.wordpress.com)
- Why Repent? (bigpreacher.wordpress.com)
- Spirit of God (mommyofgrace.com)
- Moral Resistance Resides Deeper than Intellectual Reasoning By Dan Delzell , Special to CP (lacykitkat.wordpress.com)
- How God the Father Reveals Himself Through Jesus (mywarminghouse.com)
- How to become a Chrsitian, it’s simpler than you think. If you’re already saved then pass this on to someone who isn’t! (pastormikesays.wordpress.com)
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He Dwells -- The B'log in My Eye 