You CAN know Jesus!

 Do You Really Know Jesus?

How could a God that supposedly loves everyone send anyone to a place called Hell?  A place where men cry out for a drip of contaminated water only to find their shrieks of agonizing pain drowning in the flames of everlasting torture.  Many people find themselves asking this question and maybe you have as well.  And. believe it or not, the answer is quite simple.

     If you commit a heinous crime here on this earth today, what do you think would be the consequences to your actions?  Jail?  Prison?  Possibly even death?  When someone commits a crime and finds themselves standing in front of a criminal court judge in accordance to our judicial system, what does the judge have an obligation to do?  He must act on the moral code that he has sworn to uphold and serve justice on those who have been evidenced as law breakers.  This is true, isn't it?  If breaking a law made by men here on earth (many of which are principles and laws from the Bible) will send you to a place of separation in a prison cell away from the rest of civilization, then why would it seem unlikely that God would place those who broke His laws in a place called "hell" to keep those who had rebelled against Him?

      Okay, by now two responses to the above question may have surfaced in your mind.  First, I have yet to answer the "love" aspect of God.  If God is loving then how could He send even those who are law breakers to hell?  This one is easy to remedy, but before I get into my answer let us think simply on a few things.  If God would allow these law breakers into heaven to be with everyone else, where they would undoubtedly taint the atmosphere, would that show love to those who had been deemed righteous?  Secondly, isn't absolute freedom the highest goal of love?  If freedom is lacking in any manner, doesn't that mean that some aspect of love is lost to the one controlling that part of the person held in bondage no matter how small?  That is why He gives us the ability to choose where we will spend eternity.  (Okay, enough of my rambling).  Although God has a nature of love, and He loved us all to the highest degree by sending His own Son to die on the cruelest instrument of death that the civilized world has ever devised, He also has a nature of justice.  One cannot override or cancel out another.  In fact, as we just discussed, they are inseparable.  Wanting justice is love anyway you look at it. I have even heard of several Circuit Court judges sentencing their own relatives to confinement because of the crime(s) they had committed. Surely these judges "loved" their relatives, but justice had to be served and a sentence had to be imposed for the greater cause of humanity; for the judge also has compassion on those whom the guilty person has harmed or may harm if the condemned is left unpunished or unconfined. If, in America, we are trying to create the safest and best society possible, then we cannot allow law breakers to go free.  Anytime we exercise our selfish will (unloving actions & deeds) in breaking the law toward others, we can expect to lose freedom in one way or another.  This is because part of the loving response reserved for us in freedom (as far as we can obtain it) is compromised through only OUR actions.  Since heaven is a supposedly "Holy" (pure, undefiled) place where a perfect God makes His abode, where sin does not exist, then sinful people could not be allowed in otherwise it would no longer be sinless or perfect.   

        The second response that you may be having is this: I believe that I am a good person and the analogy of a heinous criminal or even law breaker does not apply to me, therefore, God would not send me to hell. If you have asked this, then my question to you is this: Just how "good" are you in a society that cannot even determine whether same-sex marriages are wrong or if the murder of innocent babies (Abortion) should be legal?  What is your version of what is right and wrong, and does it line up with God's declaration of truth?  Remember, God is holy and He will judge you based on His Word - the Bible (John 12:48).  The Bible in context is the only TRUE source of morality in a world system that has all but imploded from the uncertanties and the many versions of supposed "truth" theories that exist today.

       Here is the TRUTH: One day you will die and meet your Maker (Heb. 9:27).  You will have to give an account of your actions from your life here on earth (Rev. 20:12-15).  You will not be judged on what YOU THINK truth is, but on what God has declared truth to be, and we can know this truth as it is presented in the book of all books, the Bible.

      Knowing that you will be judged according to God's infallible Word, let's just take a quick look at His moral code by which He judges.  Let's call it the "Good Person Test".  (By the way, going to church will not get you to heaven any quicker than blowing yourself up for Allah.  Islam teaches that if you take your life in the service of God, you will immediately inherit 70 mansions with 70 virgins. Now, what kind of Diety would focus on the earthly sensual pleasures of man as a reward for his faithfulness-a direct contrast to YHWH God's morality. That's for another writing. You can't even commit a crime here on earth and plead with the judge to let you off simply because you attend church or even if your a minister. In fact, he will probably give you a tougher sentence because you were in a position of trust with the community.  Neither will God let you off any easier.  The Gospel message has never been, nor will it ever be about CHURCH).   Sorry for the run-on side note, but let's get back to the Good Person Test:

1. Have you ever lied?  God's moral code says you shall not lie.

2. Have you ever stolen anything, even if it was small?  God's moral code says you shall not steal. 

        Many who are reading just these two of the "Ten Commandments" from the Bible (Exo. 20), from which there are 613 total, are saying to themselves that they have indeed done these immoral activities in the past, perhaps when they were younger, but how many times does it take to kill someone before society will label you a murderer?  Once.  If you have lied or stolen something or looked with lust at someone (Which Jesus said was adultery, Matt. 5:28) just once you are guilty of breaking God's moral law.  You are a criminal in God's eyes.  Admittedly, we have all lied in our life at some time, and if we say we haven't, we are lying even now. 

     You see, you may think that you are a "good" person, but the problem remains that what matters is that you are a criminal in God's eyes.  No one can measure up to His holiness because we have all sinned (Rom. 3:23).   What does that mean then?  It means that we all need a pardon for our criminal behavior or we must do the punishment that is befitting our crime-and that is hell.  There is no set limitation for length of sentence in God's eyes.  Why?  Because He is perfect and even one single lie carries the same catalyst that a murder does when you make perfection imperfect.  (At this point some people may be asking why God even allowed sin to exist in the first place and for lack of space I will ask those of you who want that question answered to send us an email.)

      I have just given you some very bad news.  We have all messed up, and bad.  Every person who has existed, is existing or will exist is a sinner.  Nothing we can do on our own efforts will erase the slate.  Even our futile attempts at morality on this earth have made things systematically worse.  The story, however, does not end here. In fact, God loved us so much that even though we stand on the rooftop of hell itself on this earth, we have access to a full pardon for our sin.  God provided this pardon through His Son, Jesus Christ, by giving Him up to take the punishment that was due us all.  The Bible says in John chapter three that in order to get eternal life in heaven all we have to do is place our trust in God's Son and what He did for us on the cross. Jesus took the painful anguish in His own body as He was whipped at least 39 times with the Roman cat of nine tails, which had cords of leather entangled with bone, metals and other sharp objects, as a sacrifce for us.  He had a crown of two inch thorns pushed onto His scalp by haughty soldiers.  He was pierced through by 7 inch nails in both His hands and feet to suspend His weight from the planks of a dismal tree. And most of all, He was perfect, yet He took the blame, our blame-the truest meaning of a scapegoat and the greatest display of love.   

Now that you know you are not a "good" person in God's eyes, have you accepted the fact that you need a Savior?    

        If you have not accepted God's pardon through Jesus Christ and the blood that He shed for all of us, then you will allow the same sin that you currently find yourself in to separate you from your Creator, both now and forever.  God does not send anyone to hell, mankind does that just fine on their own by rejecting God's pardon through Jesus Christ. 

        Okay, by now you may be asking who Jesus was and how He was able to take on our sins.  Here is your answer:  God became a man in a borrowed body two thousand years ago so that He could suffer the consequences of OUR sins, because only He could do it, only He was perfect and sinless.  In fact, the Bible says that He was tempted in every manner, just as we are today, yet He overcame the temptations, unlike us, and did not sin (Heb. 4:15).  The Bible says that a greater love has no man than this, than to lay down His life for His companions (John 15:13).  Are you a companion of God?  What side of the fence to you find yourself on?  Not accepting God's salvation through Jesus, is like standing before a judge on this earth, found guilty and condemned to death as you are dragged away by the bailiff kicking and screaming while the prosecuter points to large print sign hanging before his table that reads:

Free Pardons To Anyone Who Asks!

      If you have not accepted this pardon, why not do so right now.  Get real and get right with God. Get rid of the sin that has been plaguing you for so long.  Make Jesus the Master over your life by repenting of your wrongdoings (that means that if you are used to drinking, cursing, lusting, watching bad movies and hanging out at clubs and so forth that you will make a concerted effort to stop.)  and living your life for Him.  You can BEGIN by praying a simple prayer right now where you are at.  There is no formula, just talk to Him as though He were a best friend. 

If you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, we would like to know and share in that celebration.  The Bible says that heaven rejoices over one person who repents and trusts the Savior.  

What should you do next?  Get a Bible and read it; start in the New Testament book of John.  If you can't find it on your own ask a minister to show you or look in the index of the Bible.  Begin to pray on a daily basis as you cultivate your relationship with God as you would anyone else, only getting deeper and more personal.  Go to a good Bible believing, Bible preaching church that teaches Christian foundations and preaches the entire gospel message.  Don't get caught up on a church or organization that claims you must do this or that to become a friend of God.  If you have accepted Jesus with your heart believing that He raised from the dead and you have confessed Him openly as your savior repenting from your sins then nothing more is required of you, except that you continue to place your TRUST in HIM.  

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me."

God bless you. And if you have any questions, feel free to contact us.