As
God Cries Out
How often has it been said that a loving
God will not send anyone to eternity in hell? Really, I must agree. When the
pits of hell were created they were not created for man. Matt 25:41 “Then shall
he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” God never intended
for mankind to suffer the terrors of hell. After Michael and his Celestial
armies ousted Satan and his minions they were cast out of heaven, Rev. 12:7-9 “And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels, (v.8) and prevailed not; neither was their place
found any more in heaven. (v.9) And the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was
cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” But remember
from Matt 25:41 they were cast out of heaven and into everlasting fire.
OK then, why are we telling people that
God will send them to hell if they do not repent of sin and turn to Jesus
Christ for salvation? Think back to John 3:16. Do you remember it? “For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” From the very beginning God
set into motion a plan to save every man, woman and child from the agonies of
hell and to give them a place in heaven for all of eternity. Isn’t that
wonderful. But God made this conditional. It was conditioned upon our belief
that God would truly grant freely to us the death of His Son in our place, that
he would allow Jesus to die in our place, John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth
on him.”
But still that sounds simple enough
doesn’t it, so what happened? If it is so simple and easy then why do people
still go to hell? Most people will remember John 3:16 but ask them if they also
remember John 3:19. You see God gave the explanation Himself for why people
will refuse to be saved, John 3:19
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Men love sin. A
call to salvation includes the idea of repenting or turning away from sin (Luke
13:3; 24:47; Acts 3:19; II Cor. 7:10) and men love sin. They do not want to
give it up. But God makes it very clear that those continuing in sin, those who
will not repent will suffer the same judgment Satan and his angels will suffer,
Matt 25:45 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal.”
God has done everything needed to save us.
He has set out the plan, He has provided the perfect sacrifice required by His
own righteousness. He has allowed his own Son to bear the penalty of our sin in
His own body. Essentially, He is standing between us and hell trying to warn us
before it is too late. He is standing there crying out that the penalty is
already paid. He is doing everything possible to alert us to the danger and to
His marvelous salvation. But men will not listen. He has placed the mercy of
the cross between us and hell and yet men continue to race toward sin and hell
running, diving, and jumping past Him to reach their own pet sin as God cries
out, “Stop, turn back and accept my precious gift of mercy before you plunge
head long into the pits of hell for all of eternity.” Have you heard his Cry?
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