Saturday, April 13, 2013
Hell is a Monument
God is love. Jesus
Christ was the embodiment of God , and He loved the world unconditionally even
when his objects of affection politically sabotaged and illegally executed
Him. Strangely enough many people
misunderstand God's love, and God's anger against the things that are
detrimental to mankind. Like any good
father, God has our best interest at heart and will do everything he can to
help us live a life that is healthy and pure.
But, like most children who, at some points in their life, resent their parent's efforts to give good
direction and protection, most of us experience times when we resent God's
efforts to do the same. When God, out of
love, shows His wrath against evil we can completely misunderstand.
Acclaimed speaker and author, Becky Pippert, explained God's
wrath like this: "Anger is not the opposite of love. Hate is, and the final form of hate is
indifference…God’s wrath is not a cranky explosion, but his settled opposition
to the cancer…which is eating out the insides of the human race he loves with
his whole being."
Because of His love for mankind, and because of his innate
justice, God had to do something about the sin problem. He did two things:
1. He provided a way of
escape. He invites everyone to be born
again - He offers them eternal life at His expense. This offer also includes a life of
forgiveness, empowerment, healing, and wholeness on earth.
2.
He provides an alternative eternal abode for those who do not want His loving, generous
offer of Heaven. This alternative place
was originally designed for fallen angels, but if mankind insists they can choose Hell as
their forever-option.
The great author C. S. Lewis put it in perspective when he
wrote" Hell is the greatest monument to human freedom.” To put it informally: Hell is only necessary because some people
don't want to do it God's way. You don't
have to go to Heaven. You don't have to
enjoy a kingdom where everything is fair.
You don't have to live in a mansion or walk on streets of gold. God hates sin and cannot let it enter heaven,
but if you or I insist on holding onto sin, He leaves us that freedom.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
