THE GOSPEL
“IF A MAN DIES, WILL HE LIVE AGAIN?”This is the question asked by the namesake of the oldest book in the Bible (Job 14:14). Death is an appointment we will all one day keep (Hebrews 9:27). Everyone instinctively knows that the death of our physical bodies is not the end of our existence (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Even the one who professes to be an atheist knows this. The atheist may say he does not believe in God, but when his head hits the pillow at night and he is left to his own thoughts, he knows there is a Creator. He knows the truth, yet he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).
What determines where we spend eternity once our appointment with death comes? Most people have this vague notion that as long as their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, God will let them into Heaven. We think of ourselves as good people because we tend to evaluate our goodness by comparing ourselves to other people. If I compared myself to Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin or Pol Pot, I’m a pretty good guy. I’ve never done any of those things. But, there is bad news. Really bad news.
What determines where we spend eternity once our appointment with death comes? Most people have this vague notion that as long as their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, God will let them into Heaven. We think of ourselves as good people because we tend to evaluate our goodness by comparing ourselves to other people. If I compared myself to Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin or Pol Pot, I’m a pretty good guy. I’ve never done any of those things. But, there is bad news. Really bad news.
THE REALLY BAD NEWS
God does not evaluate our goodness by comparing us to other people. He evaluates our goodness by comparing us to Himself. And compared to God none of us is good. All of us have broken God’s moral laws. All of us have told lies. We are liars. Nearly all of us have stolen something. We are thieves. We have taken God’s name in vain. We are blasphemers. We have looked upon others with physical lust. We are adulterers at heart (Matthew 5:28). We are all sinners (Romans 3:23). We are rebels (Isaiah 1:28). Left in our sins not only are we alienated from God (Colossians 1:21), we are His enemies (Romans 5:10).
When we break laws on earth, there is a penalty to be paid. When we break the laws of God there is also a penalty to be paid. When we break earthly laws, the penalty is temporal. When we break God’s laws, however, the penalty is eternal because God is eternal.
“But God is a good God!” people object. “A good God would never send anyone to Hell,” they surmise. The goodness of God is not the assurance of the sinner’s rescue, but rather the guarantee that justice will be done. God is good. In fact, He is the only One who is intrinsically good by His character and nature (Mark 10:18), and a good God must punish sin. If He did not punish sin, then He would not be good.
Let’s say a man committed murder and his crime was caught on a video surveillance camera. The man was arrested. The murder weapon was found with the suspect’s fingerprints all over it.
Multiple eyewitnesses testified he was the murderer. The suspect has his day in court and is found guilty. It’s an open and shut case.
The judge says to the convicted murderer, “You have just been found guilty of murder. Do you have anything to say for yourself before I pass sentence?” The convicted murderer responds, “Well, judge, I think you are a good judge. And because you are a good judge, I think you should let me go. After all, I’ve only committed one murder on one day. All the other days of my life have I never murdered anyone.”
What if the judge replied, “You know? You’re right. I am a good judge so I think I’ll just let you go. You’re free to leave. Have a nice day.” And the convicted murderer walks out of the courtroom a free man. Would that be a good judge? No! That would be a terrible judge. A good judge must punish crime. God is the ultimate good Judge and He must punish sin. If He did not punish sin then He would not be good. Many people are counting on the goodness of God to excuse them from their sin but it is the goodness of God that will seal their fate.
But what of the love of God? The Bible clearly teaches that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). The question is often asked, how could a loving God send people to Hell?
The question itself is a bit misleading because it implies that God is actively sending people who are merely passive participants. This is not the case, though. People whom God sends to Hell are there because of a lifetime of sin and rebellion against God. Further, God’s love is not a coddling love. It is a holy and just love.
In fact, God’s love is fully demonstrated in that He does not give us what we deserve. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God’s love is demonstrated in that even though we were yet sinners in rebellion against God and deserved nothing but His wrath, God sent us His only Son to die in our place. That is the penultimate expression of love.
The one who dies in his sin will very rightly and very justly go to a very real place the Bible calls Hell. And let’s not soft-pedal Hell. I have heard many preachers say that if someone dies in his sin he will be eternally separated from God. But that’s not entirely true. The most terrifying thing about Hell is…God. Because He is there. He is there in His wrath. According to Revelation 14:9-11, the condemned
…will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
People in Hell are separated from God relationally. This is what is in view in 2 Thessalonians 1:8- 9. There is no relationship between God and the condemned. There is no fellowship. There is no love exchanged. But judicially, people in Hell will be in the presence of God for all of eternity as His wrath is poured out. The fire will not be quenched and the worm will not die (Mark 9:48). The most terrifying thing about Hell is God, because He is there in his wrath.
This is the bad news. This is what you deserve. This is what I deserve. This is what we have earned for ourselves by our willful sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). No amount of good works can satisfy the righteous wrath of God that burns against our sin. The Bible says that our works are as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) before a God who is thrice holy (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). Our good works will profit us nothing on the day of judgment.
The question, then, is this:
How can a God who is holy and just pardon sinners without compromising His righteous justice?
There is good news.
God does not evaluate our goodness by comparing us to other people. He evaluates our goodness by comparing us to Himself. And compared to God none of us is good. All of us have broken God’s moral laws. All of us have told lies. We are liars. Nearly all of us have stolen something. We are thieves. We have taken God’s name in vain. We are blasphemers. We have looked upon others with physical lust. We are adulterers at heart (Matthew 5:28). We are all sinners (Romans 3:23). We are rebels (Isaiah 1:28). Left in our sins not only are we alienated from God (Colossians 1:21), we are His enemies (Romans 5:10).
When we break laws on earth, there is a penalty to be paid. When we break the laws of God there is also a penalty to be paid. When we break earthly laws, the penalty is temporal. When we break God’s laws, however, the penalty is eternal because God is eternal.
“But God is a good God!” people object. “A good God would never send anyone to Hell,” they surmise. The goodness of God is not the assurance of the sinner’s rescue, but rather the guarantee that justice will be done. God is good. In fact, He is the only One who is intrinsically good by His character and nature (Mark 10:18), and a good God must punish sin. If He did not punish sin, then He would not be good.
Let’s say a man committed murder and his crime was caught on a video surveillance camera. The man was arrested. The murder weapon was found with the suspect’s fingerprints all over it.
Multiple eyewitnesses testified he was the murderer. The suspect has his day in court and is found guilty. It’s an open and shut case.
The judge says to the convicted murderer, “You have just been found guilty of murder. Do you have anything to say for yourself before I pass sentence?” The convicted murderer responds, “Well, judge, I think you are a good judge. And because you are a good judge, I think you should let me go. After all, I’ve only committed one murder on one day. All the other days of my life have I never murdered anyone.”
What if the judge replied, “You know? You’re right. I am a good judge so I think I’ll just let you go. You’re free to leave. Have a nice day.” And the convicted murderer walks out of the courtroom a free man. Would that be a good judge? No! That would be a terrible judge. A good judge must punish crime. God is the ultimate good Judge and He must punish sin. If He did not punish sin then He would not be good. Many people are counting on the goodness of God to excuse them from their sin but it is the goodness of God that will seal their fate.
But what of the love of God? The Bible clearly teaches that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). The question is often asked, how could a loving God send people to Hell?
The question itself is a bit misleading because it implies that God is actively sending people who are merely passive participants. This is not the case, though. People whom God sends to Hell are there because of a lifetime of sin and rebellion against God. Further, God’s love is not a coddling love. It is a holy and just love.
In fact, God’s love is fully demonstrated in that He does not give us what we deserve. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God’s love is demonstrated in that even though we were yet sinners in rebellion against God and deserved nothing but His wrath, God sent us His only Son to die in our place. That is the penultimate expression of love.
The one who dies in his sin will very rightly and very justly go to a very real place the Bible calls Hell. And let’s not soft-pedal Hell. I have heard many preachers say that if someone dies in his sin he will be eternally separated from God. But that’s not entirely true. The most terrifying thing about Hell is…God. Because He is there. He is there in His wrath. According to Revelation 14:9-11, the condemned
…will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
People in Hell are separated from God relationally. This is what is in view in 2 Thessalonians 1:8- 9. There is no relationship between God and the condemned. There is no fellowship. There is no love exchanged. But judicially, people in Hell will be in the presence of God for all of eternity as His wrath is poured out. The fire will not be quenched and the worm will not die (Mark 9:48). The most terrifying thing about Hell is God, because He is there in his wrath.
This is the bad news. This is what you deserve. This is what I deserve. This is what we have earned for ourselves by our willful sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). No amount of good works can satisfy the righteous wrath of God that burns against our sin. The Bible says that our works are as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) before a God who is thrice holy (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). Our good works will profit us nothing on the day of judgment.
The question, then, is this:
How can a God who is holy and just pardon sinners without compromising His righteous justice?
There is good news.