We read in the HOLY BIBLE “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world and its entire people belong to Him.” God is our Creator and we were created in His image. He made us and we are His. He rules over everything.
He has given us many wonderful gifts; the most important (and dangerous) is the gift of deciding to give our life to Him. The choice we make now determines where we will spend eternity. The bottom line is that our relationship with our Creator is the most important thing in our earthly life.
God tells us that he “showed how much he loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him”. Accepting Jesus as our Savior involves repentance, faith, trusting and acknowledgement of Him. It is a new birth- we are in fact ‘born again’. For those of us who have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior it gives meaning and help to our lives despite the problems that we all experience
However many people who will read this have not made the decision necessary for the new birth. Again the Scripture tells us “the gateway to life is small and the road narrow and only a few find it”. Which is a pity since it is open to all mankind, no matter who we are or what we have been like. Yes, even a murderer can be born again.
But this life on earth is but a moment, even if we live to be 100. The soul that God implants while we are yet in our mother’s womb continues on after our earthly death. For this world is not our home, we are only passing through, looking forward to our city in heaven.
God has told us there are two eventual destinations he has prepared for mankind, Heaven for those who have been born again, who love and serve Him. Hell for those that have rejected the Lord Jesus.
The key attribute of going to Heaven is that we will be in the presence of God, that where He is we may be also. There will be no more heart ache or sickness like we sometimes experience here.
The Biblical descriptions of Hell are so horrendous that one would wonder how a God of love could commit a significant portion of mankind to this never ending destination. You might say it’s really not fair. We were born with a sinful nature; we did nothing to deserve it. It’s like STRIKE ONE, before we get to the plate. But that is the situation in which we find ourselves.
There are those who believe all will be saved and not experience Hell. However we need to consider what God tells us from His Word. Actually Jesus has more to say about Hell than Heaven. It is very scary!
We need to examine God’s nature. Yes, love is first, but He is a God of justice and purity. Sin cannot be brought into His presence. The Bible says-“Don’t you know those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshippers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers and swindlers- none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.” Those who believe that they have a personal relationship with Jesus but indulge in these sins need to reexamine their position. Don’t fool yourselves!
What does the Bible tell us about Hell?
When God opens the Book of Life, anyone whose name was not found recorded will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. (This Book of Life is not the membership roll of the any denomination or church. It is composed of those who have been ‘born again’. It is by grace that we may be saved).
The Lake of Fire burns with fire and sulfur, and there will be torment day and night forever and ever. You will experience the terrible wrath of God, there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night.
If you don’t think God would do this, consider these examples of God’s swift judgment revealed in the Bible:
About 4,500 years ago He drowned all mankind because of their wickedness except Noah and his family.
He killed the oldest child in each Egyptian home to expedite the Exodus.
Many times because of His chosen people’s disobedience, He killed thousands of them by earthquake, sword, snakes, plagues and fire. For sexual immorality, 23,000 fell dead in one day. God sent His Angel of Death to destroy those murmuring against God.
For not following His explicit instructions concerning their priestly duties, He burned up Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu.
At times He sent the Israelites into battle with instructions to kill all the men, women and children, to completely destroy communities.
In the New Testament there is the episode of God striking Ananias and Sapphira dead for lying about the amount of their gift to their fellow Christians. He gave them no chance to say” I’m sorry, please forgive me!”
Yes, God is love, but you can’t mess around with God! God shows His anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Our life here on earth is very short. We need to be reminded how brief our time on earth will be, that our days are numbered. If a sudden deadly illness or accident would take you out, you would have no ability to appeal to God, too late, too late. Now is the time if God is tugging at your heart, you need to act and make the choice God allows us to make. You definitely don’t want to take the chance. God looks down from Heaven, watches everything closely, examining everyone on earth.
Two eternal destinations, HEAVEN, to be with God or HELL, separation from God- you have a choice if God is calling.
Virginia Christian Alliance Board Member
