As pastors, we get the opportunity to talk to lots of interesting people.

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It is surprising to us that when it comes to the question about Heaven or Hell... many people:

1 - Don't ever stop to think about life after death

2 - If they do, they assume that they will be going to Heaven (because they're basically a good person). 

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We CAN have the assurance of Heaven, but (according to God)

our confidence in Heaven can never based upon us being 'good people.'

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Did you know that being a 'good person' does not earn you a place in Heaven?

Our standard of what 'good' looks like is much different than what God's standard looks like. ​

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We may think that we are good because we pay for someone's groceries, or shovel the snow off someone's sidewalk (hello there fellow Canadians). Sure that is practicing kindness (righteous deeds)...

...but that does not make us good.

 

The Bible tells us;

"We are all infected and impure with sin.

When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags."  

(Isaiah 64:6)

 

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In our measure of goodness, we may be the very best in all the world, but the truth is,

when we measure goodness by God's glorious standard, we are not 'good people'..

not even one of us is 'good' or even does 'good':

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"There is no one righteous, not even one"

(Romans 3:10-12)

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"The fool says in his heart,
   “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
   there is no one who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
   there is no one who does good,
   not even one.

 (Psalms 14:1-3)

 

(Hang in there - STAY WITH US... let us explain some more.)

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Also..(either silently or out loud)

IF you genuinely want to know God, take a moment to ask God for His help to understand Him.

A simple prayer like this is easy:"God, Help me understand You, If You and Heaven are real - I want to know You!"

(This small act of humbling yourself is a necessary FIRST step in understanding God's love - James 4:10)

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Back to 'being good'. 

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As a Righteous Judge, God judges our 'goodness' on the basis of His Moral Law, not upon our idea of morality or upon our generally good behaviour. God's Law was given to humanity through a man named Moses... perhaps you've heard of the 10 commandments. 

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Even though there's just a list of 10 commandments, it can all seem like too many things for us to remember (are we alone in thinking that?) - but regardless of how many you can list...(gold star) we can guarantee that you have broken AT LEAST one of God's commandments (gold star not so shiny any more - lol). 

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Ever told a lie?

If you answered 'no'... then you are obviously lying...

and if you really don't believe you've ever told a lie - than you are lying to yourself - YIKES...

(...lying to ourselves is called deception, and it's more common than you may think.)

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If we break even ONE of God's commandments - we have broken His standard of 'goodness'. 

We have ALL fallen short of obeying God's commandments perfectly... and that means that you

(and the both of us) are all guilty of breaking GOD's LAW. 

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Have you ever broken a law on Earth? If you've ever broken the law, you'll know that there is a consequence for your violations. If you steal, or speed, or murder someone, you are required by the law to pay a fine, or pay a penalty (of jail time and/or community service etc).

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Now let's talk about God's 'perfect Law' - The 10 Commandments:

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There will be a day when Jesus Christ returns, and when He returns

there will be a GREAT JUDGEMENT DAY where every person will answer for the life they lived.

 (2 Corinthians 5:10, Acts 17:31, Hebrews 9:27, Matthew 12:36). 

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Just as an aside, Jesus birth was prophesied hundreds of years prior to His birth (it already happened).

His death was prophesied hundreds of years prior to His death (it already happened).

His second coming and sequential 'Judgement of the world has been prophesied... (it WILL happen). 

If prophesy is interesting to you, check out this video that Sharon made:                                       

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If you go before God, the Perfect Judge and argue, "I don't deserve Hell because I'm a good person",

that can't and won't stand up in God's 'court' of law. Every Judge rules according to the laws of their land.

God judges us according to the requirements of His law.

 

The bad news is that we have all broken God's Law...

the GOOD NEWS is that Jesus came to mercifully pay our fine. 

Jesus paid the penalty of our 'sin' (or disobedience toward God's perfect law). 

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ARE YOU STILL TRACKING?

STAY WITH US. 

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Let's think like this:

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 If you have 100 unpaid and overdue speeding tickets - you likely wouldn't expect to go into a courthouse and argue for their penalty to be erased because you are a 'good person'... would you?

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If you did this, you would be appealing to the Judge's MERCY to forgive you of your massive fine.   

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In order for justice to be fulfilled, however, the fines can't simply be forgiven.. they must be 'justified', the tickets need to be paid. A just judge understands that the requirements of the law must be fulfilled, but a merciful judge may provide another means by which they can be paid. Perhaps a judge practicing 'mercy' would allow the you to work off your fine over the course of 10 years and community service,

however because a peaceful society requires 'justice' to rule - the judge must still require

the 'justification' of the law to be fulfilled. 

 

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God describes Himself as BOTH merciful and JUST. 

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"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
   love and faithfulness go before you." - Psalm 89:14
 

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice. 

Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18

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God made a way for your penalty of sin to be BOTH forgiven (because He is merciful)

and FULLY justified by the requirement of His Law (because He is Just). 

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God (Being Triune- 3 persons in ONE) sent Himself in the form of a man born of a woman. 

Jesus was born to Mary (a virgin who conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit). 

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Jesus was fully God, but he humbled Himself (It's like He put handcuffs on Himself). 

He forsook and limited His own power by being carried by a woman and being born as a man. 

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Who, being in very nature God,

[Jesus Christ] did not consider equality with God 

something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

(Philippians 2:5-8)

 

 

Jesus left His throne in Heaven,

and humbled Himself to GIVE HIS LIFE AND BLOOD for OUR sin problem. 

Jesus came to die for you and me and offer the gift of salvation to anyone who would receive Him.

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"For the wages (earnings) of sin is death,

but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

-Romans 6:23 (bracket additions, mine)

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BUT WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?

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Maybe you've heard that Jesus died for your sin,

but you don't really understand why He HAD to die. 

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In God's Law, the penalty for breaking His law is so serious and grievous to Him,

 that the only thing that can satisfy His anger against His law being broken, is death.

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Every time a person sins, the result (or wages) is death.  

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In the Mosaic law, God gave instructions to His people, to regularly sacrifice an animal to cover (or atone, or make justification) for their sin. The blood of this animal was offered as a 'sin offering',

and this act would allow God to remain close to His people. There are still many modern day Jews (and others who follow the Mosaic law) who continue to regularly make sin offerings to God as a means to fulfill the requirement (Leviticus 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30). You may also be familiar with the famous story in the Old Testament where God sent 10 plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Exodus chapters 7-12) and the final plague was the most severe; God wanted to make a clear distinction between HIS people and those who refused Him. All households in Egypt that did not cover their doorposts with the blood of an 'unblemished male lamb'(Ex 12:5), would experience death in their household (You can read more Exodus 11-12). However, every household that was covered by the blood of the lamb was safe from the plague of death that would affect every other household in Egypt. Death would 'pass over' each household that applied the blood of the lamb to their doorposts.  JESUS is the personification and prophetic (or Gospel glorious) picture of the "Passover" lamb..

 

"Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us."

1 Corinthians 5:7

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(Just as an aside, Historically - Jesus was crucified and His blood was offered DURING the annual Jewish celebration where the Egyptian 'Passover' was commemorated). 

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That is just some beautiful God-glorious poetry right there!

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God made a new way and a new covenant with the blood of Jesus, in which Jesus became the PERFECT sacrifice that would repair ALL that had been broken. He came to correct what had been broken, once and for all so that no more sacrifices would be needed; 

 

 

“Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!." - John 1:29

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God did this, because He loves the world and ALL that He has created.

Ummm.. if you're still reading >>> That means YOU (Psalm 145:9)

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

 that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already

because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

John 3:16-18

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 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 

It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." 1Peter 1:18-19

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Now you know WHY Jesus had to die. 

He was the JUSTIFICATION... and perfect propitiation to justify the penalty of sin.

Our sin earned us a penalty of sin, but Jesus PAID our penalty IN FULL! 

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He was the perfect lamb, His precious blood atones for the sin of all humanity. 

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Our Merciful God, humbled HIMSELF and came down to Earth - born as Jesus Christ

(Emmanuel - God with us) and then our God paid the death penalty that we were due to pay. 

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The justice and wrath of God has been forever satisfied, no more sacrifices are necessary. 

BUT - There is a condition:  Jesus blood ONLY protects and covers THOSE WHO receive it and APPLY it to their own lives. So.. you can choose to accept Jesus payment of your sin, or not... the choice is yours. 

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the gift of Eternal LIFE - the gift of Jesus' atoning blood...

...or accepting the consequence of breaking God's law - and taking our rightful penalty of 

death and eternal separation from God and all that is good. 

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SO WHY DOES GOD'S ANGER AND WRATH BURN WHEN WE BREAK HIS LAW?

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No - it's not because He is an angry and furious God... actually

...it is because He LOVES US SO MUCH!

Have you ever seen a mother bear robbed of her cubs?

YOU HAD BETTER WATCH OUT! She is furiously protective of her children.

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Sin is what separates us from God, and although NOTHING can separate us from God's love (Romans 8:39), sin does separate us from God. Sin clouds our clarity of vision to see God, it is what destroys us and tempts us to disobey God. Sin darkens our understanding, it causes us to doubt God's goodness and His love toward us. SIN ROBS US from our relationship and love toward God. It promises 'more' and then leaves us fooled, disappointed and often ashamed that what we chose - isn't satisfying to our SOULS.

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God is also HOLY (perfect, worthy, majestic and glorious) He is so glorious, that looking at Him would be similar to looking straight at the sun... we can't do it - we would be blind. Sin makes us a fragmented picture of God's glorious image He created us to be. We cannot walk with Him and talk with Him unless He veils Himself.. or condescends to us (Like He did as Jesus Christ, God incarnate). Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree that God commanded for them to refrain from eating, sin has been brought into the world (Romans 5:12).

 

Since this day, God has longed for what was stolen from Him - to be returned and restored. He has longed for His relationship with humanity and all of creation, to be made new once again. He has continually sought after people who would be loyal to Him, and whom He could show Himself loyal to on their behalf. God banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden - not because He did not want to BE WITH THEM (because He desperately DID want to be with them). It is because He did not want His children to live eternally - separated BY THE SIN that had now entered into humanity and the whole of creation.

 

Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden - Genesis 3:22-23 

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GOD STILL LOOKS TODAY FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE LOYAL TO HIM​

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All throughout the Bible, we read a documented love letter of God longing to be with His people. "I will be there God, they will be my people" has been God's repeated desire for thousands of years. God has longed for a LOYAL people. In the Old Testament we read the record of a man He found who was loyal to Him, a man He called 'friend' and named Abraham (Isaiah 41:8). Abraham obeyed and trusted God, even in a civilization where trusting God made you look like a fool. He wanted to be a loyal friend, and he listened to God's instruction. (Genesis 12:1, 4,15:6). Because of Abraham's loyalty - God made a covenant with Abraham. He promised to make a 'GREAT NATION' from the line of Abraham (even though his wife was barren and unable to have children). Well LOOOOOOOOOONG story short, God kept His promise and Abraham's linage became known as a nation of people -'Israel'. God gave very clear instructions for what His chosen people needed to do (have you ever read Leviticus?), so that He could remain CLOSE to them, but although the Israelites got really good at following all the 'rules'... their hearts turned away from God in multiple ways. God did not give multiple laws and instructions to the Isrealites because He wanted a circus.. NOT AT ALL... He told them exactly what to do so that HE (A HOLY and PERFECT GOD) could come and be in their midst. They treated His glory as though it was ordinary... they turned their trust away from Him countless time. God compared their disloyalty to Him as just as devastating as a marital affair is to us (read the book of Hosea).  His people continually turned away from Him and chose to serve other Gods, the SIN that was inside of them - continually turned their hearts and minds away from God. Even though they outwardly obeyed instructions.. they didn't really love God.. (SIN .. can you understand why it makes God furious? Do you understand His wrath against what steals and destroys what He loves?)

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BUT God never JUST desired for His people to be good at following 'the rules'...

that was never His intention. God have never just sought to have 'robots'... 

If compliance was all that mattered to God - there would never have been a tree that He commanded us not to eat from. He DESIRES that we CHOOSE Him - He desires that we TRUST Him - He desires that we LOVE Him with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength. He desires that we see Him rightly... because when we do - we cannot help but to love Him in a way that demands our whole being - body and soul. 

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He has LONGED for relationship with the people He has created. 

He made a way to destroy the sin that separated us, and one day when He returns - there will be a NEW Heaven and a new Earth (Revelation 21), and everything that was broken WILL be restored.... FOREVER.

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God wants YOUR heart.

God wants YOUR eyes.

God wants YOUR time and attention.. because He loves you.

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You may not even know it, but 

YOU were created to want Him too!

Your heart was created to beat for Him. 

Your eyes were created to look for and to Him. 

Your time on earth has been given, for you to choose Him...

So that you may have life HERE on this Earth and in the new Heaven and Earth to come. 

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If you have read this far, friend... God is knocking on the door of your heart. 

He wants to reveal Himself to you. 

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When Jesus came, He made a NEW covenant (Matthew 26:28)

The Old covenant was with Abraham and His linage and based on the Mosaic Law...

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the NEW covenant is for ANY one who will be a loyal friend - just as Abraham was.

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The NEW covenant is one where all our sin is already atoned for and forgiven.

We can now be close to God, because He sent His Spirit to live inside of us. 

 

We are adopted as children of God, born again by the Spirit of God (John 3).

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"But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir." - Galatians 4:4

 

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"But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles*, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.  But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root." -Romans 11:17-18 *(a gentile is anyone who isn't Jewish)

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