Archive for September, 2008

A lot of people get confused in their thinking because they can’t understand how a loving God could send anyone to hell, or how a loving God can stand by and watch his own son die an excruciating death on the cross. From a human view point both of these questions can easily lead you to the wrong conclusion if you don’t fully explore them. Let’s see if I can share a few thoughts that might bring a little clarity.

First and foremost:

God doesn’t send anyone to hell! In fact he is trying to save all humanity from this destination. In the beginning when God created Adam & Eve it was the start of what should have been a long term rail journey together. However, while waiting at the station to begin the journey, humanity was tricked by Satan into thinking that we could take the journey by ourselves without God’s interference. So our great grandparents rebelled against God, sin entered the world & death and judgement followed. Instead of boarding the train with God and going on a wonderful journey together, which would finally end in heaven, we crossed to the other side of the platform and boarded a train with God’s arch enemy Satan. From that point on all human beings were born onto that train, under his influence and heading toward Satan’s final destination- hell!

Unfortunately now all human beings are casualties of war – simply because we allied ourselves with God’s enemy. It was humanity’s own poor choice that lead all human beings to become objects of his wrath and righteous anger and judgement. We rebelled and rejected God bringing this on ourselves. Into this helpless plight comes hope and redemption through JESUS CHRIST. Jesus comes to pay the price for yours and my sin, he comes to provide and escape route out from under the devil’s influence and power. All we have to do is receive him as our personal Lord & Saviour and God literally translates or transports us from the devil’s hell bound train and onto Jesus’ heaven bound train.

The scriptures are clear, it is only through Jesus Christ that any human being can escape their eternal destiny of hell. Do you get it? God doesn’t send anyone to hell, in fact he has done all he can to provide us a way out! The choice is yours, the choice is mine! We will decide our eternal destiny. The truth is if you refuse to accept God’s offer of salvation you will remain under his wrath and judgment becoming eternal causalities of war –simply because you are choosing to stay on the wrong train, you are choosing to mix with the wrong team!

This leads us to the next question:

How could a loving God stand back and let his own son suffer and die a cruel death like that. From a theological point of view it can help to understand the trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three and yet one, so even though the Son is paying the price physically to provide salvation for you and I, a part of the Father was dying at the very same time.

Have you ever had the situation where you are watching someone go through something really traumatic and later you discover the the pain you felt for them was equally, if not more severe than the the pain they felt themselves? In fact they tend to repair and get over it very quick but you still carry the pain. That is how it is for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit when it comes to providing salvation for us.

No matter how you approach this question the real problem is that humanity is asking the wrong question completely! The question how could a loving God stand back and let his Son suffer and die on a cross like that is the wrong question for us to ask. The right question to ask is this…

What on earth awaits human beings on the other side of death that warrants such a drastic course of action by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? What awaits us on the other side? If there were nothing to be concerned about then I am sure the Father would not have allowed Jesus to go through what he did. What it does tells us is that something so horrific awaits all human beings on the other side of death that God himself was prepared to give part of himself to provide a way for any human being who wants to avoid it! God is so concerned for our eternal souls that He gave everything he could to provide a way for us to avoid hell the eternal dwelling place for the devil and his angels. And friends, it all comes down to what we do with Jesus Christ, He is the key to what eternity will looks like for all of us.

The devil is so subtle and sly, he is trying to keep us asking the wrong questions long enough hoping that death will suddenly come calling and we will not be prepared. Friends, we need to ask the right questions if we are to get the right answers!

My Prayer: My prayer is that we would all help people to start asking the right questions so that they get the right answers. Answers that will lead them back into relationship with a loving God who gave His all for them. He provided the cross to secure the eternal resting place of their souls in Jesus Christ. It’s time to get off the train!

Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

This is a wonderful Psalm as we see David interacting with his God about the circumstances he finds himself in. He is blatantly honest in his confession about just where he is at, while at the same time unswervingly confident in where his rescue will come from. How can he be like this? I think verse 8 gives us glimpse to what was at the core of David’s being!

David had an expectancy that the morning would bring God’s unfailing love. David had a confidence in his God’s ability to keep, protect and sustain him. Why? In the past he had put his trust in God to come through and God had never let him down. David had seen his God deliver him before, so he knows He can do it again!.

David had confidence and trust that God would show him the way to go! David knew that God already had the answer, all he needed to do was patiently wait for God’s unfailing love to show him the way! How did David reach this place of trust? He had learned the spiritual art of raising and lifting his soul to the one who would rescue, deliver and bring about his salvation!

So, the reality is if we struggle with confidence and trust as to whether God will rescue and save us or not, then we really haven’t experienced his unfailing love. If we really can’t wait for God to reveal his way for us, then we really don’t trust that God is able to act on our behalf.

The truth is, we are really uncertain about whether he truly does know what he is doing! We start looking for another answer, another source of salvation usually coming from the arm of flesh. We look to another human being to tell us what we should do in life. David didn’t do that. David knew that to do that was lifting his soul to someone other than his God to provide his salvation.

So the real question for all us is this, will we take the time to evaluate our lives & be brutally honest asking to whom am I really lifting my soul? To whom am I looking to deliver, rescue and show me the way to go? Whom do I trust to work out my salvation for me ? Whom do I trust to bring about the unfolding of my life? To whom am I hoping to get the three green lights from to assure me I have won the gold medal of life?

My prayer: Father help me to master the art of only lifting my soul up to you, for you are my salvation. Let me experience your unfailing love as I put my total confidence and trust in you!