The sun is setting. Some day it will be your last.
You’ve heard it before. The rock star shouts, “This could be heaven or this could be hell”.
The Sure Deal
We have a decision to make here. We have a sure deal for us – just down the road a ways. No way you’ll miss it.
Definitions for “Sure”
having a mind that is free from doubt
impossible to avoid or evade
not likely to fail
There are two deals, actually. They are both sure deals. The Bible tells us to choose one or the other. Which will you choose?
See: Two Roads to die for
Is this you?
PREFERENCE #1: Salvation in Christ is a sure thing – living eternally with a good God.
For me – NOT an option, just can’t handle this. Don’t care to take that offer.
PREFERENCE #2: Eternity without anything from a good God – is a sure thing.
For me – yep. That is my preference, this second choice. Give me Hell.
Really? Well… I guess I understand. That is the road you’re on now, right?
Life, taken down to its basics: is like a simple game show. The million dollar question is:
Heaven or Hell
Which deal is sure for you? Take only one. Will it be Heaven, or will it be Hell? Both are real places, sure deals.
You are the only one that determines which is a sure thing for you. “God is pro-choice” …when it comes to eternal life. (But not when it comes to abortion.) God is asking you to choose Him. But He’s given you free will. What will you do with that?
Only two choices. Your choice sets what your day in court will be like – in front of God. It will be either your reception or your rejection by God. Your decision now for That Day – will have an eternal consequence.
This is just around the corner, you know? Are you ready? Are you reading-up on it? Will you really be satisfied with this choice you have made – to be rejected by God?
Jesus said, I am the way. His offer is sure. We can count on Him. After all – He is Creator God.
5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.“
– John 14:5-6
Will it be Heaven,
or will it be Hell?
*1 Sure Thing for Followers of Jesus
The good things to come for those who follow Jesus: they are unimaginable because it will be “out of this world”! The good things will overflow – from a totally gracious God.
The result will be…
“(v7)…to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence]…
“(v9)…Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him
[who hold Him in affectionate reverence,
who obey Him, and
who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed].”
– 1 Corinthians 2:7b-9
*2 Sure Thing for those who reject Jesus
The world also offers a plethora of “sure” deals – with so many ways to live your life. But the Bible tells us that if we continue the world’s way, walkin’ downtown Broadway – we are heading towards His uptown Judgement Hall.
Arriving there! Your welcome home to Hell will be a sad day. A very sad beginning moment in eternity for you. God has divided eternity… and you are on the wrong side.
The Sure Way of Jesus
The Way of Jesus is a much better offer that Jesus makes. What He promises to us is eternal citizenship in Heaven. If we want to end up there in His Kingdom – then we “must be born again“. Jesus said,
Do not be surprised that I have told you, ‘You must be born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].’ – John 3:7
Failing that (getting born again), failing Jesus’ challenge, we merely continue down our road to eternal darkness. Nothing special to do. Just be yourself and live without concern about your eternity. Just skip on down Broadway, “just kicking down the cobblestones“. You’ll reach the end of your road soon.
31 It is a fearful
and terrifying thing
to fall into the hands of
the living God
[incurring His judgment and wrath].
– Hebrews 10:31
Man’s ways are definitely not His ways. And He has told us clearly what is expected of us.
God’s Message to the World
Age of Grace: Luke 11:27-28
Age of Law: Deuteronomy 30:6-20
NOTE: In the OT times (Old Testament), God required man to be under the Judaic system of Law, keeping rules. But now, since Christ’s resurrection, we are under a New Covenant. We are blessed with the age of grace – much different, but same result.
What will not stand…
In that Judgement Day,
my right and wrong “as I see it”,
my “it’s okay to be impure” attitude,
my excuses for fornication,
my boyfriend-girlfriend sex,
my “sexual preference”,
my same-sex sex,
my fetus farming science,
my baby killing abortion choice,
my “the ends justify the means” way of life,
… will not stand in the Court of God.
-Source: Being Christian
See: | Why on earth will God accept you, a sinner? |
| God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners – no exception |
| Blessed by forgiveness by the Hand of God our Savior |
| What God asks of us in the Bible |
Be maturing
God’s way is warning believers: be maturing daily in your faith…
…[growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity]. 14 So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit].
– Ephesians 4:14
It’s just too easy, “the simple way”, to just take it as it comes – and not get serious about life and death and God. And not “give a twit” for what He wants from us.
God acknowledges your choice. He never forces Himself onto you. IF you choose to relegate Him to a minor part of your way of life (or totally non-existent), He may give you over to “a depraved mind“. And, bummer of all bummers, you may never recover from that.
– Source: What are you filled with?
So, what’s it going to be – for you?
Are you living a meaningless life? Do you want to live with eternal values in mind?
* Scene One. A totally terrifying realization: opening your once dead eyes and finding you have fallen into the very real hands of the Living God whom you blasphemed and rejected, and He is about to sentence you, for eternity, as a consequence for how you lived on earth. What horror.
Or:
* Scene Two. Wow. Extreme ecstasy – joy. 1 What a totally serene and joy-filled thrill, seeing Jesus’ welcoming you with, like, a bear’s smothering hug, saying, “Welcome to the gates of heaven. Come on in!”
And he said to him,
‘Well done, good servant!
Because you proved yourself
faithful and trustworthy
in a very little thing,
you shall [now] have authority
over ten cities [in my kingdom].’
– Luke 19:17
FOR MORE:
“Plans for peace and well-being”:
“For I know
the plans and thoughts
that I have for you,’
says the Lord,
‘plans for peace
and well-being
and not for disaster,
to give you a future
and a hope.”
– Jeremiah 29:11
God is intolerant of unfaithfulness
Deuteronomy 4:24
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; He is a [a]jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; He is a [a]jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].
BibleGateway Footnotes:
Deuteronomy 4:24 I.e.
[a] intolerant of unfaithfulness
Failure to repent
Failure to repent
results in
keeping God’s damnation,
and missing-out on
God’s compassion.
Hosea 13:14 AMP
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)?
Shall I redeem them from death?
[a]O death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent].
As the footnote (a) says about Hosea 13:14: “The apostle Paul brings this passage to mind—but with a change of meaning made possible by the resurrection of Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
54 And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever).
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hell by God …a series about Hell
There is a broad road that says heaven but goes to hell
2 Saved by grace – Through grace and sheer mercy
Welcome to the show, What’s Beyond The Door! The stakes are gargantuanly humongous!
The one-off offer Jesus makes to everyone
Does it matter what you believe?
Jesus said, “Good answer! Do it and you’ll live.”
Entrance Granted into the Eternal
I didn’t choose a religion . . . I chose a way of life that healed my spirit
The Absurdity of Life without God, by William Lane Craig.
Read more: https://www.reasonablefaith.org
“The God to whom I belong and whom I worship”
The Mystery of the Gospel has been revealed
Significance – what Jesus gives us
What God asks of us in the Bible
Why on earth will God accept you, a sinner?
God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception
Blessed by forgiveness by the Hand of God our Savior
God forgives sins by His Holy Holy Justice
Right on the edge of trusting Him forever
Footnotes
-
Ecstasy: “an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.”
“there was a look of ecstasy on his face”Similar:
rapture
bliss
elation
euphoria
cloud nine
seventh heaven
transports
rhapsodies
joy
joyousness
jubilation
exultation
heaven
paradise
delight
the top of the world.
an emotional or religious frenzy or trance-like state, originally one involving an experience of mystic self-transcendence.
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