For a long time I have struggled with how God could let one of us human beings suffer in hell for all of eternity. To be honest I still don't think I have my head completely around it. Recently, I listened to a sermon from one of my favorite pastors, Bill Randles. He is pastor of Believers in Grace Fellowship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He made quite a few very interesting points in a sermon I listened to recently.(believersingrace.com) One of them was that "Can you imagine that just sinning once against God is worthy of eternal damnation, and how unbelievably awesome he must be?" I never really thought of this before. How many of us would be ashamed to do something to offend the President of the United States, in his presense? (I personally would love to with the current one, but that's another story.) Now just think of sinning against God, your creator? God is so holy that someone who sins once against him cannot be in his presense. No wonder Isaiah said this after being in the presense of God, "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Isaiah 6:5
This makes me think of my own life and all the things that I have done. How many times in my life have I had unclean lips? How many times today?!
What makes me think that I am so great that I should get to spend all eternity with the Creator of the universe? How arrogant us humans can be! If God just created us for his own amusement, like a game of SIMS, what right would I have to argue with him? I didn't create me. I don't have any right over myself. Only my Creator does. In Paul's epistle to the Romans we get a some perspective on this,
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Romans 9:18-24
So if the clay does not have to right to say to the potter, "Why have you made me this way?",why should we expect any different from God? I'm not trying to say that God is a jerk either. Quite the opposite. He sent his son, Jesus, to die for us so that we could be in heaven with him for all eternity. Just think that the Creator of the Universe thought highly enough of you and me that he sent his Son to die for you? This is why I have such a difficult time with depression. Granted, I know some people have genetic defects, etc. I currently work in this field and I see it every day, but shouldn't the idea that if you were the only sinner on earth that Jesus would've came to die for you be enough? I'm sure some will say, "Well not everybody is going to believe in Jesus." This is not an excuse, IT IS THE PROBLEM! Everybody needs Jesus. It is part of our fallen human condition. Man is so prideful that he thinks all he needs is himself. That is such a joke. We are here today, gone tommorow. Just look at myself. I have cancer. Although unlikely, it could spread all over my body and I could be gone in months. I'm 27 years old. Readers, we have no guarantees in this life. Please accept Jesus now while you still have time. Life on this planet is so short. You never know if tommorow that your number could be up.
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