ENDTIMES PROPHECIES: THE IMMINENT RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST - Part IX

ENDTIMES PROPHECIES: THE IMMINENT RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST - Part IX

THE HOLY SPIRIT proclaims the urgent message that JESUS CHRIST will return very soon.  Two postings remain for our end-times series.  The final entry (tomorrow) highlights the eternal joys of Heaven and the God-given rewards for the righteous.  Today’s devotional describes the final judgment of unsaved individuals, along with the nature of (and reasons for) the eternal punishment of all persons who willfully reject Christ.

The underlying reason for today’s discourse is to offer a clear-cut response to a familiar question with humanistic roots and satanic origins.  Which is: How could a LOVING GOD condemn anyone to HELL?

Firstly, it is important to note that “all souls” must and shall be judged by their Creator, ALMIGHTY GOD. (Ezekiel 18:4)  Since the sins of the saints have already been adjudicated and absolved by the atoning grace of Calvary, our Kingdom works and motives (only) will be judged in Heaven at the Bema, “the judgment seat of Christ.” (I Corinthians 3:11-13 – II Corinthians 5:10 – Romans 14:10)  Seven years later, all sinners will be summoned to The Great White Throne Judgment where their entire lives will be reviewed, evaluated and judged. (Revelation 20:11-15)  In one way or another, ALL of us must account for the choices made in this life, as has been scripturally established by Jesus Christ:

Matthew 25:31-33 (NKJV)
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Secondly, it is necessary to define “hell” so that we may gain a fuller understanding of its nature and its purpose.  The scriptures tell us that “God is love” and “God is light.” (I John 4:8 and I John 1:5)  To wit, in its most basic definition, hell is actually eternal exile from Almighty God, who is the ultimate embodiment of “love” and “light.”  In other words, every occupant of hell will cease to sense or experience the loving and enlightening presence of God.  As such, Jesus Christ described hell as a place of “outer darkness” where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:12)

Above all, we must emphasize the fact that hell is mentioned frequently by Jesus Christ, so there can be no reasonable or rightful disputation of its existence or purpose.  There are numerous examples in the teachings of Jesus.  According to Jesus, the man who maliciously insults his brother is “in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:22)  Also according to Jesus, the greatest sin of the scribes and Pharisees was making their converts “twofold more the child of hell” than themselves. (Matthew 23:15)  Also according to Jesus, “every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10 – Luke 3:9)  Also according to Jesus, HE “will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” (Luke 3:17)  

Even when Christ commissioned his disciples to spread the gospel initially in teams of two, he admonished them, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)  Jesus referred to hell utilizing the Hebrew term, “Gehenna,” which brought to mind the Valley of Hinnom for the contemporaries of Christ, which was a fiery and smelly garbage dump located outside of Jerusalem.  Indeed, Jesus sought to depict a most sobering and graphic picture of hell as an eternal judgment which carries a sentence without any possibility of parole or opportunity for appeal.

Even the parables of Jesus, His primary mode of teaching, emphasized the existence of hell: The Parable of the Tares and the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30), The Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50), The Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:2-14), The Parable of the Faithful and Evil Servants (Matthew 24:42-51), and The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-3), all of which allude to hell.  And Christ’s teachings on hell are echoed by the apostles. (II Peter 2:1-9 – II Thessalonians 1:7-9 – Revelation 20:9-15)  Moreover, Jesus Christ Himself posed a most important question for every person to soberly consider: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)  Losing one’s soul does not imply a total cessation of existence, but a complete denial of supernatural grace, the very love and light of God by which we were created and for which we were eternally intended.

HOW, then, does one manage to wind up in hell?  Is it due to the cruel actions of a heartless Creator, or is it due to one’s personal choice?  The answer is quite simple.  Hell was never designed or intended for any of us.  Jesus will make this perfectly clear in that fateful moment when He will dispatch lost souls to eternal punishment: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)  In other words, one’s entry into hell is based solely on a personal choice, i.e. one’s tragic decision to reject the Son of God (during the short span of time we call life) in exchange for the so-called “pleasures of sin” and an eventual punishment of eternity without God. (Hebrews 11:25)

Jesus Christ portrays this as a crystal clear choice: “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)  To sum it up, if we wind up in hell, we have to go there OVER the Father’s gift of His Son, OVER the Son’s gift of His life, OVER the teaching of the gospel, OVER the continual entreating of the Holy Spirit through our consciences and through the voices of others, and OVER God’s original purpose, destiny and design for us.  It is an awesome choice, but it is ours and ours alone: to believe, or not to believe; to accept, or not to accept.  The choice is so clear-cut, so obvious, so easy, yet so essential and weighty since it carries eternal consequences.

John 3:18-20 (NKJV)
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

Nevertheless, WHY is hell necessary?  Believe it or not, hell is an extension of God's covenantal grace.  Consider this.  If God allowed those who reject Him (those who willfully defile themselves and others) to enter into Heaven, then it would be an absolute denial of His promised Heavenly benefits to believers.  If God did that (as they who critique His final judgment as ‘merciless’ would have Him do), HEAVEN WOULD NOT BE HEAVEN for those who truly love and follow Him – because the unconverted would bring their hellish ways and deeds into The New Jerusalem.  Think about it.  If anyone goes to hell, it is because he or she nurtures and sustains hell within their body, mind and spirit.

There is another important consideration.  God’s attributes are perfect and eternal.  God’s love is perfect; so also is God’s justice; so also God’s wrath.  Our God certainly cannot lie.  Neither can our God act in an unjust or arbitrary manner. (Numbers 23:19 – Deuteronomy 32:4 – Titus 1:2)  So here is the thing: GOD has measured out a perfect salvation to every man by meting out a perfect justice upon a perfect scapegoat for sin, His Son, Jesus Christ.  God’s intention was/is never to condemn any human being to hell.  It bears repetition: God’s intention was/is never to condemn any human being to hell.  The Word declares that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)  However, when we choose to reject God’s perfect remedy for our sins (the sacrificial and substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ), we make the deliberate choice to become eligible recipients of the perfect wrath of God.  To wit, it is our choice, not God’s. (Joshua 24:15)

Hell represents a permanent loss of the goodness and grace of God.  It is both the ABSENCE OF GOD (which causes THE SOUL to be forever lost, miserable and unfulfilled) and the PUNISHMENT OF GOD (which causes THE BODY to reside eternally in a place of unimaginable torment).  Consider this.  The lost will actually SEE JESUS face-to-face, but then they will be deprived forever of His presence and His glory.  That fact alone will make hell much more hellish!  Don’t you dare go there!  Stay prayerfully attentive as our end-times series progresses…more to come!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!