Such a clickbait title. I know. But it is something that has gotta be talked about.
As I began to think about the words I have written for you guys over the last couple of years, I realized I have never talked to you guys about the very real place called hell.
Yes. That is where we must start. Hell is real. The Bible is the Word of God, and every word in it is true. And the Bible, well, it says hell is real. Matthew 13:50 describes it as, "...the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
So, if it is a real place, then who goes there? Surely, just the people this world considers "bad," right? No. The people that go there are the people who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Notice I didn't say those who know about Jesus; I said those who know Him.
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15.
Right now you're probably thinking, "wow Leslie, thank you for this encouraging post today. I am feeling awesome after reading this." Don't worry, I am so happy to tell you that the story doesn't end here. It doesn't end in eternal pain, torment, and separation from God. All we must do is place our faith and trust in Jesus.
Jesus said that unless someone was born again, they could not see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). So, what is being "born again," what does it mean? This is where the encouraging part of this post comes in. I had to start off with the hard stuff because see, to truly understand grace, we must first understand why we need grace.
We need grace because at the core of who we are, we are sinners. Before we come to know Jesus, we are dead in our sin and headed for a horrible, horrible place called hell. God was so grieved by this, He could not stand the thought of us having to go there without there being another option. So, in His sovereignty and mercy, and most importantly His love, He sent Jesus.
Jesus was born of a virgin and walked this earth and lived a perfect life. He never sinned, not once. Then, He was nailed to a cross where He was mocked, spit on, pierced, whipped, and crucified. See, we deserved that. We deserved the nails and the spit and the whips and the scorn and the suffering. It should've been us because we disobeyed God. But instead, God Himself took our place. Then, He was laid in a borrowed tomb and rose from the grave three days later.
He now sits at the right hand of the Father and will someday return to take those who belong to Him to Heaven with Him. Not those who went to church sometimes or had cute Instagram posts of their Bibles or had Christian friends or family. It will be those people who have been born again, whose names are in the book of life.
As my friend Keerthana says, "Faith is not an aesthetic. It's about your eternity."
So, as much as I hate to say it, if you are reading this and have never been born again, or saved (I am sure you have heard that word somewhere before), you are on the pathway to destruction, the pathway to hell. But God has provided another way, a way to eternal joy and peace with Him.
There is a big difference between knowing Jesus and just knowing about Jesus; in fact, it is the difference between life and death. Jesus knew there would be people who would claim to be Christians but would not actually be saved, "Not everyone who saith unto Me, 'Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). What is the will of the Father? For you to be saved.
I tell you this because I love each person reading this right now. And I love your soul. I want to see you in Heaven, and I want us to walk the streets of gold together and to look upon the face of God together. I want you to experience the peace of God right now in your life. I want to see you set free from the chains and bondage of sin. But even more than I do, God wants that for you too. So much so that He became a man and died for you.
That is why Jesus died: so you could be saved.
This sounds urgent because it is. Any of us could die today, tomorrow, next week. Jesus could return tonight. We don't know the future. All we can do is be ready for it to come, and the way to be ready is to receive Christ as your Savior. The way to 'get saved' is to admit you are a sinner and confess your sins to God, believe in your heart Jesus is the Messiah and died on the cross for your sins and rose from the grave, then confess Him as your Lord. (The ABC's of Salvation as my church likes to call it: Admit, Believe, Confess). Once you have made this decision, tell someone! Tell everyone you know, tell me! Reach out to me, and I will celebrate alongside you that your name is now in the book of life.
I know this post was lengthy and blunt, but there is nothing more important than where you are going to live for eternity. Praying for all of you, my beautiful readers. You are so loved by me, and even more by Christ.
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13.
