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| Is this what happens when you die? |
One of the most provocative things that Jesus Christ said during his ministry in ancient Israel came during an encounter with a man He invited to follow Him. When the man explained that he first had to bury his recently deceased father, Christ replied: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:60)
That sounded extremely callous to a lot of folks who wondered why Christ wasn't willing to allow the poor man to at least attend to his father's funeral arrangements before he joined the Lord on the road.
Furthermore, what did Christ mean when he told the grieving man to let the dead bury the dead? Christ used a rhetorical device to explain that a person can appear very much alive and yet still be dead. How's that? Because that person is dead in his or her sins and thus cutoff from God.
And so, death equals separation. When death occurs, the spirit separates from the physical body that it inhabited. But spiritual death occurs long before physical death. That type of death is caused by sin and it separates the human being from the Holy God who created that person to have fellowship with.
That explains why Christ told a Pharisee named Nicodemus this: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) Nicodemus had no clue as to what Christ meant and this was his response: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (John 3:4)
Christ meant that unless we are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead, we are dead in our sins and separated from God.
What happens when we truly confess Christ as Lord and accept His payment for our sins? God's Holy Spirit enters our hearts and gives us a brand new life that restores us to Him. That's the only way to eternal life. There is no other way. Christ said it best: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the (Heavenly) Father except through me." (John 14:6)
No one can be born again through religion, baptisms, church membership or good deeds. No one can be born again through adherence to religious traditions, church doctrines, sacraments or donating copious amounts of money to charity. And no one can be born again into eternal life by any other name, other than the name of God's one and only Son Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter said it best: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
What that means is this: All the world's religions do in fact lead to the same destination, and that destination is hell. And hell is not only populated with the spirits of wicked people, but also with the spirits of religious leaders and their followers who spurned Christ to follow the empty and hollow traditions of men.
Is hell a real place? You bet it is. And it's a horrible place. It's horrible beyond human understanding. If you've ever had a terrible nightmare, then hell is even worse than that. And if you've never confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then hell is where you're headed.
Christ mentioned hell quite often during his ministry in Israel. But why? Why didn't the Son of God keep it positive by expounding upon the beauty of heaven? Why did He speak about hell so frequently? Because hell is a hideous place where God doesn't want anyone to go. And Christ wanted everyone to understand that.
Then why does God send people there? Why doesn't He just close the place down? Because the spirits of those who died in their sins cannot dwell in heaven: "Nothing impure will enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's (Jesus Christ's) book of life." (Revelation 21:27)
If you haven't accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you're dead. That may sound funny because when you look in the mirror, you see someone who's alive and well. But when God looks at you, he sees a dead person who's hanging by a thread over the fires of hell.
That explains why Christ told a Pharisee named Nicodemus this: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) Nicodemus had no clue as to what Christ meant and this was his response: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (John 3:4)
Christ meant that unless we are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead, we are dead in our sins and separated from God.
What happens when we truly confess Christ as Lord and accept His payment for our sins? God's Holy Spirit enters our hearts and gives us a brand new life that restores us to Him. That's the only way to eternal life. There is no other way. Christ said it best: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the (Heavenly) Father except through me." (John 14:6)
No one can be born again through religion, baptisms, church membership or good deeds. No one can be born again through adherence to religious traditions, church doctrines, sacraments or donating copious amounts of money to charity. And no one can be born again into eternal life by any other name, other than the name of God's one and only Son Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter said it best: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
What that means is this: All the world's religions do in fact lead to the same destination, and that destination is hell. And hell is not only populated with the spirits of wicked people, but also with the spirits of religious leaders and their followers who spurned Christ to follow the empty and hollow traditions of men.
Is hell a real place? You bet it is. And it's a horrible place. It's horrible beyond human understanding. If you've ever had a terrible nightmare, then hell is even worse than that. And if you've never confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then hell is where you're headed.
Christ mentioned hell quite often during his ministry in Israel. But why? Why didn't the Son of God keep it positive by expounding upon the beauty of heaven? Why did He speak about hell so frequently? Because hell is a hideous place where God doesn't want anyone to go. And Christ wanted everyone to understand that.
Then why does God send people there? Why doesn't He just close the place down? Because the spirits of those who died in their sins cannot dwell in heaven: "Nothing impure will enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's (Jesus Christ's) book of life." (Revelation 21:27)
If you haven't accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you're dead. That may sound funny because when you look in the mirror, you see someone who's alive and well. But when God looks at you, he sees a dead person who's hanging by a thread over the fires of hell.
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