This is a difficult lesson for me to write and for you to read. I expect many of you to disagree with me, even to become angry with me. I invite you to send me your comments, your questions, even your unbridled anger about my devotional. My purpose is to write truth and to educate, not to divide or to infuriate.–A.H.
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“Because God is just, He will always treat me fairly.”–Bill Bright
On face value, I must disagree with this statement, but we will return to that thought when we talk about mercy in a few weeks. Instead let’s focus on the most controversial belief in religion: the idea of everlasting punishment (and reward).
First, God is just in His castigation. All human beings will face the judgment of their lives at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11). In verse 12, we clearly see that all of our deeds, even our thoughts, all that we are is diligently being recorded for our upcoming encounter with Holy God.
One might envision this scene as that of a trial. The soul is called before the Throne. Satan (which means Accuser) will argue for the claim of the soul for its sins. God the Father will agree that this soul is not pure enough to enter heaven on its own. Then Jesus will stand up and claim the soul for His own through His blood and the faith of the soul in Him. The records will be checked and yes, the soul is recorded in the book of life. He may enter the kingdom!
The next soul enters the courtroom. Its deeds and accomplishments are recited, but they are not enough for atonement. Does Jesus claim this soul as well? “Then he will say…’Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (
Matthew 25:41) The soul, despairing, is led away to torment.
Millions of trials, so few acquittals, so many convictions! This is justice in all of its uncomfortable, unpleasant reality. “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” (Romans 3:23) Thus all must pay the price, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), through substitution (Jesus’ death and atonement) or through retribution upon their own soul forever.
But it gets “worse”: We often misundersand the partitioning of the afterlife. We see Heaven as really high up and Hell as really low down, separated by a great divide, which we take from Luke 16:26. Our cartoons depict a vast underground lair with Satan wielding his pitchfork and reigning over a domain of fire and torture.
The reality is that Satan is not in control. He had his time as master of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:8-11, I John 4:4). Hell was made to be his punishment, not his realm of control. So who is sitting at the controls of the eternal fire: God! (Whoa now! You’re telling me that God is punishing people in Hell? Buckle your spiritual seatbelts, it gets bumpy from here!)
The first proof of this is that God is everywhere. Psalm 139:8 teaches that God resides both in the heights and the depths. God sits on the throne over all the new heaven and earth, the seat of benevolence and the seat of punishment. No longer does He delegate His authority.
The second proof is the vindication of His wrath. The first time we see this most clearly is in the Crucifixion. Matthew 27:46 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) had always confused me. How is that Jesus as God could forsake Himself? How could the communion of the Trinity be broken? The meaning of forsake (‘azab) is “to loosen, to permit, to relinguish”. In that terrible moment, God the Father took a step back and removed the veil of mercy that surrounds every living human. Then His wrath, unfettered, fell upon Christ like waves of fire. In His infinity, Christ felt all the suffering that Hell had for us for all eternity. So great was the pain that it killed the Giver of Life! How great is His mercy that He did that for us! How great is His vengenance that awaits the unredeemed!
We next see the fire revealed in Revelation 19:15: “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” A sword is a personal weapon. It requires one to get close in order to inflict damage and death. God’s wrath is not this generalized smothering blanket, but is a one-on-one thrust plunging deep into each heart. This fulfills God’s vows in Genesis 12:3 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68: He takes an active role! He alone has the right to judge, thus He alone punishes.
Do not think that God enjoys wrath! He clearly desires otherwise for us. “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) Hell was not even made for us. “…the eternal fire prepared for the DEVIL and his ANGELS.’” (Matthew 25:41, emphasis mine) But He is also holy and just: He must enact the Law He gave us and not contradict His commandments. He gave us the means out of it (Jesus), but some did not take it. We made our choices and now He must bring about the consequences.
The third proof is that the chasm is not that big after all. I’m not going to get into the differences between Sheol (in Luke 16:26) and the afterlife, but Revelation 22:15 tells us that the lake of fire and those in it are just beyond the walls of the Holy City. Eternal punishment is not something God puts away from Himself, out of sight like we would, but is something He presents for His angels and His people to ponder and to inspire praise for Him and His grace.
Let us now return to the second way God is just, in His remuneration. II Corinthians 5:10 teaches us that we also receive repayment for what we have done. This is distinct from reward/punishment in that it is more “settling debts” than “paying ransom”. Much of the New Testament speaks of enduring and awaiting crowns and riches given to those who are faithful through trials. Our salvation was not based on how well we were at being Christians, but on our faith in Christ. Yet our afterlives will be filled with the gifts we have been promised. Life _IS_ fair if you count the eternity beyond death, when both good and evil will receive their due.
It is one thing to have a home and clothes; it is another to have a nice home and beautiful clothes. An often-missed lesson of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) is that the two faithful servants were not equally compensated. Both brought back double what they were given. Both share in the master’s happiness. But the one with ten talents was given an eleventh. Why?–Because he had done more! Wait, but both doubled their money? That is true, but we aren’t told how they accomplished that or how difficult it is to do. It wasn’t by putting it into the bank (since the master does not refer to either of the two servants as having done that in verse 27). Somehow making five grow to ten was harder or more worthy than making two grow to four.
Thus it is with our daily Christian walks. We in America live in a nation that respects our right to believe in God, while our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia are tortured and killed for such. To some, a bountiful harvest of souls is given them when they preach or evangelize, while others spend their whole lives tending barren soil for one salvation. Some of us enjoy health and prosperity, while others face days and years of suffering and want. And like the three servants in the parable, we do not all equally apply our gifts to their full measure of service.
I Corinthians 3:10-15 teaches that our works in life, built on the foundation of our salvation, will be tested before the judgment seat of II Corinthians 5:10. Whatever endures will be returned to us, crowns awarded, and promises will be kept. But there will be some who are left with nothing. They may enter Paradise, but their enjoyment will be tempered by their lack of anything to enjoy, other than the presence of God and other believers.
Our challenge is to live our lives not seeking reward, but seeking to live up to our reward. We must strive to spread truth and slavation in our daily lives, in our daily worlds, in order to increase the kingdom and lessen the population of Hell. We must endeavor to use every gift and opportunity gien to us to its full potential for the purpose of God’s will and the manifestation of His glory.
