Thoughts On Hell (part 3)

Hell is a place of eternal conscious punishment. Unredeemed sinners, Satan and the fallen angels will forever experience the tormenting wrath of a holy God there. There will be no relief, no break, no end, and no hope. There are those who would say that sinners are cast into hell and experience its torments, but only temporarily. Either they will be annihilated or they will be paroled after serving a finite sentence. But the punishment of hell is not corrective purgative or rehabilitative.

Hear what Jesus said.

(Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46 ESV) 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world... 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels... 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Jesus used the same word - “eternal” - to describe the punishment of the wicked as He used to describe the “eternal life” of the righteous. The punishment of the wicked is as “eternal” as the “life” of the righteous.


Now tell me, doth this offend you?

Thoughts On Hell (part 2)

Somehow Christians have gotten the idea that the fear of hell is an illegitimate motive for fleeing to the Savior. It is not. It is to save us from hell that the Savior has come.

QUOTE: Arthur W. Pink

Concerning the eternal punishment of the wicked there are few, it seems, who realize the vital importance of a ringing testimony to this truth, and fewer still who apprehend the deep seriousness of what is involved in a denial of it. The importance of a clear witness to this doctrine may be seen by noting what a prominent place it holds in the Word; and contrariwise, the seriousness of denying it is evidenced by the fact that such denial is a rejection of God’s truth. The need of giving this solemn subject a prominent place in our witness is apparent, for it is our bounden duty to warn sinners of their fearful peril and bid them flee from the wrath to come. To remain silent is criminal; to substitute anything for it is to set before the wicked a false hope. The great importance of expounding this doctrine, freely and frequently, also appears in that, excepting the Cross of Christ, nothing else so manifests the heinousness of sin, whereas every modification of eternal punishment, only serves to minimize the evil of it. (Arthur W. Pink, Eternal Punishment)

Thoughts On Hell (part 1)

For many the most objectionable doctrine of the Bible is the doctrine of hell. Even among professed Christians there are those who deny that it could really be eternal. Most Christians have never heard a sermon preached on hell. Preachers and teachers today avoid the doctrine of hell at all cost.

The reason seems simple. In a day when men “will not endure sound doctrine” (Second Timothy 4:3 KJV) and preachers prefer the acclaim of men to the pleasure of God, sound doctrine in general must go and the most difficult doctrines must go first. Hell is clearly one of the most unendurable doctrines. But it is certainly the teaching of the Bible.

We do not want to be among those who “will not endure sound doctrine.” We want to know, understand, believe, and proclaim the whole counsel of God. Even the most difficult doctrines.

Now tell me, doth this offend you?

Incarnate Mediator

Christianity is nothing if it is not historical. Christianity is all about a Person; a real Person. A man! He was a man who lived in history. He lived at a particular place. He lived at a particular time; “when the fullness of time had come” (Galatians 4:4 ESV). He lived in a particular way. A man! He was an utterly unique man - a man like no other man, yet a man.

God the Son became a Man. Jesus possesses from all eternity the nature of God. He is equal to the Father in power, knowledge, self-existence, and holiness. In every way the Son is equal to the Father; “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15 ESV). God the Son in His Deity is spirit. He is eternally the WORD of God. He never ceased to be all that the Father is. But in the course of human history - at a particular place and time - He assumed a second nature. He became a Man. He did not become half Man and half God. He never lost a single attribute of Deity. While He never ceased to be 100% God, He became a real Man. He became a Man in every sense, only without sin. From eternity He was one Person with one nature. At a particular moment in history He became one Person with two natures. He is the God-Man. He is not a mixture of the divine and the human. He is 100% God and 100% Man. He is the WORD become flesh.

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

All of eternity past looked forward to the events that began when God became Man. And all of eternity future will look back on the Incarnation of the Son of God as the greatest event in the history of mankind. The events that began with the conception and birth of Jesus Christ stand as the ultimate demonstration of both the justice and the mercy of our great God.

Jesus remains the God-Man. In His glorified state He forever retains His Humanity. This qualifies Him to be our Mediator.

(First Timothy 2:5 ESV) 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

As Mediator, Jesus can represent men to God because He possesses our human nature. Jesus can represent God to men because He possesses God’s nature.

“God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4 ESV). “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14 ESV). God became a Man. The importance of this doctrine cannot be overstated. All Christian doctrine hangs on the fact that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. It is because of the Incarnation that we can know God. Had God not pitched His tent among us we could not know Him.

What an amazing thing that the God of creation would condescend to live among His creatures. Jesus lived the life of a man on earth for nearly three and a half decades. Think about it. He played. He laughed. He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52 ESV). He worked. He taught. He loved. He healed. He prayed. He wept. He died. He rose again! His life has had a greater impact on the world than any other person or event. The events of one Passover weekend at the end of His life changed the world forever.

Now tell me, doth this offend you?