A man pleaded guilty to 25 counts of murder and rape. By law, he faced 25 life sentences or death. If you were judge, which would you impose? If the judge let him go free, would you consider the judge "good"? Of course you wouldn't. You would consider a judge like that bad, possibly evil.
Yet, the thing many hope will save them will be the thing that guarantees they will receive eternal punishment for their sins against God. What will ensure they receive eternal justice? God's goodness. Just as the sun is hot to a degree we can't begin to imagine, God is good to a degree we can't imagine. Moses asked to see God's glory, but God said no one can see His goodness and live, just as no one can get too close to the sun (Ex. 33:18-20).
The bible describes God's perfect goodness as "holiness" and "righteousness." Because God is good, He must impose justice upon all sin. God cannot let evil go unpunished.
I met Jeremy and Beth this week. They assumed they would be fine on the Day of Judgment, because "God is good," said Jeremy with Beth nodding in agreement. However, when I explained the analogy of the judge letting the serial murderer-rapist go free, they quickly saw the flaw in their erroneous assumption about God's goodness and where they deserved to spend eternity.
To try to help them understand the difference between God's goodness and what we consider "good," I explained how Jesus explained it to His disciples (Matt. 5-7). As we went through God's law together as explained by Jesus, they began to see they were just as evil deep down inside and just as guilty as the serial murder-rapist. We all are.
Jesus said not only are we murderers if we actually kill someone, but also we're in danger of eternity in "the fire of hell" as guilty murders if we even call someone a name in anger (Matt. 5:21-22). We think we're pretty good because we haven't killed anyone. But Jesus said we're guilty murderers in God's sight if we even call someone a name in anger. How many times have you called a person a name in anger or even thought it in your heart? More than 25 times, I'm sure. That makes us serial murderers in God's sight, according to Jesus.
The same is true of adultery and rape. Jesus said it's not just the act of adultery or rape that violates the 7th Commandment, "You Shall Not Commit Adultery." Even looking at a person with lust in your heart is the same as adultery or rape in God's sight (Matt. 5:27-30). How many times have you looked at another person with wrong thoughts? More than 25, I'm sure. That makes us serial adulterers and rapists in God's sight. And that's just two of the 10 Commandments that summarize God's moral law. Jeremy and Beth realized they weren't as good as they thought when judged in the bright light of God's law and God's definition of goodness.
I then explained to them that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Heb. 9:27; see also 2 Cor. 5:10). All of us will face God and the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment. God and Jesus are "righteous" judges, good judges who will judge all people according to what they have done, even the "secret" things, with perfect impartiality (see, e.g., 2 Chron. 19:6-8; Eccl. 3:17, 12:13-14; Ps. 7:11; Ps. 50; Rom. 2:15-17; 2 Tim. 4:1).
Jeremy and Beth acknowledged that if judged by God's standard they would be found guilty, and if found guilty they would not deserve to be rewarded with heaven. They understand they would deserve eternity in hell, because their sins against God, like ours, are not few, but countless (Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 6:9-10).
I then explained that God is not just a God of Justice, but also He is "rich" in mercy, not willing that any should perish (Eph. 2:1-10). Because of His great love for us, and seeing there was nothing we could do to save ourselves from the judgment and justice to come, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins for us so we don't have to pay for them ourselves (2 Cor. 5:21). I asked them if they believed that. They said they did.
Good, I said, then you have a choice to make. Will you repent? I explained to them what repentance means, crying out to God for forgiveness of all your sins, past, present, and future, and turning to follow Jesus on the narrow way of life. Jesus said we must repent and believe (Mk. 1:15; Matt. 7:13-23).
When you choose to repent and you turn to follow Jesus, you will be born again, I explained, a new person in Christ with a new heart that wants to follow Jesus and will follow Jesus (John 3:3-16; 2 Cor. 5:17). I urged them to repent before it's too late. The greatest news is that we can know with certainty that our destiny will be heaven if we will repent and believe (1 John 5:11-13).
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