Wednesday, February 3, 2016

How Does Someone Qualify for Hell?



Isaiah 46:9-10 ~ "Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still t come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."

We need to know history or His-story, God's dealings with the world if we are ever to have any hope of understanding that God is a God of love. We need to understand that God knows the future. He is not wringing His hands with worry when something happens in the world. He knows everything. Nothing surprises Him. So why do we worry?

When we worry, we are assuming a responsibility that God has never intended to be ours!

As we continue our study into the Book of Revelation, we need to remember that Chapter 14, is a parenthetical insert. God's giving us snippets of things that will happen during the Tribulation period but not in chronological order.

Revelation 14:8-13 ~ "A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries." A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice in the heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

The final verse in Revelation 14:13 is the most exciting thing in these study of the Scriptures and we will learn more about that in our future study. Today we will study and answer the questions, "Will people really be tormented in fire for rejecting God? How can God, who is a God of love, send people to hell?

We need to understand that God doesn't want anyone to go to hell, but there are those who will inherit hell based on their own choice. 

How does God justify hell and eternal torment regarding humans? How does a person go to hell? There are 4 ways.

1. Mankind's rejection of God's rule in his life. It's saying you don't want God in your life. Every human will at least have one prayer answered by God before they die. That one prayer is to those who say, "Get out of here Jesus. I don't want anything to do with God, Jesus or the Bible." Guess what? God will answer their prayer, tragically.

Understand this. God is no terrorist. He doesn't force His way into your life. He will never force Himself on someone. You have to chose.

2. By mankind's rejection of God's will for our life. God's has engineered our lives for a purpose. Some find it early in life. Some find it late in life. Some find it just before they die. But all of us have been uniquely created for a purpose.

3. By mankind's rejection of God's Son, Jesus. Jesus is no joking matter. Neither should His name be a cuss word. He is a living person. He is real. He lived the life that we can all read about in history. Even ancient Rome does not deny that Jesus existed.

4. By mankind's rejection of God's Word. It includes all of the above... when you hear the gospel, if you reject it, you are rejecting God and all He offers.

How can God, therefore, justify sending someone to hell?

John 3:16 ~ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

Insert your name in the place of world and whosoever. Even if no one else existed in this world, God loved You!

So what is wrong with accepting that invitation of accepting Jesus into your life?

Nothing, it's perfect! It came from the mouth of God. We apparently don't understand the price that was paid for our sins. Why?

Because we have a very low view of our offenses. Whenever we do something wrong, we don't see it as so bad. We can simply apologize for it and it's over. Never under-estimate man's own ability to justify his sins. It just doesn't look so bad in our own eyes. But if we see someone else do it, it looks really bad. Our own sin just doesn't look so bad to us, until someone else does it.

Sin, put Jesus on the cross. That's how bad our sins are. We have a thought, no one heard it but God, yet it still put Jesus on the cross. Even if you were the only person created by God, your sin put Jesus on the cross. We can't escape it. People fail to understand, what price Jesus had to do. Because it is free, we think it's cheap.

It took God to the brink, Jesus Christ died for us as God in human flesh. Every single one of us is sinners. No one is perfect except for Jesus. He lived a perfect life and it cost God everything. That is how hideous the debt to sin is, and only God could pay it.

Jesus Christ's offering was so precious. He was like a Lamb, innocent, but He never defended Himself, because He has nothing to defend Himself for. That is why He said nothing. He had to pay the price in His own blood to set us free from sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Without Jesus' sacrifice as payment for those sins, all of us would die forever. Jesus set us free!

By faith, sin is so bad, that He sent the perfect offering in my place, that I have to accept this offering in faith alone. The offering of Jesus cancelled the debt, but we all have to make a choice. No one can do it for us.

Most people misunderstand God. They picture Him as a God of wrath, angry all the time, but He is a just and holy God. When man rejects God, there are consequences for our actions. He wants to save you. He doesn't wish that any should perish but all should have eternal life, but we have to be the ones to chose that. Why would anyone give that up?

You have to qualify for hell, by rejecting God every single day. It is harder to qualify for hell than it is to qualify for heaven. We must accept what Jesus has done for you and asking His forgiveness of your sins. That is a whole lot easier, than waking up every single day and pushing and kicking God away.

But more on that tomorrow. Today I hope and pray that you will choose Jesus and eternal life. If you want Jesus as Lord and Savior in your life today, simply pray this prayer and believe it with all your heart.

Lord Jesus, 

I know I am a sinner, and without Your sacrifice and payment on the cross I would have no hope. You came to save me from my sin and from death and I ask for forgiveness of my sins. I believe that You came to earth, died on the cross for my sins, was buried and was raised again to life on the third day and I surrender my life to You. In Jesus Name ~ AMEN!!

That is all you need to do. Your life has been redeemed by the only one who could save you. Welcome to the first day of your new life in Jesus. If you have prayed this prayer, I would love to chat with you and welcome you into the family. Please email me at Stevenkat27@gmail.com.


1 comment:

Denise said...

very powerful post