Dec 11

Romans 5:1-12
Memorise Ezekiel 33:11
“I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked”

To answer this seemingly controversial question, we must first ask: What is the penalty of sin? “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23a). It        is eternal punishment in the Lake of fire. It is known in the world that “crime does not pay”. The most serious crimes like murder bring capital punishment, i.e. the death sentence. If we as human beings send criminals to jail or to death depending on the severity of the crimes they have committed, and yet do not see ourselves as being unloving or unkind for doing so, why do we accuse the thrice holy God of being unloving or unkind for punishing those who break His laws in hell? To accuse God of cruelty for sending sinners and law-breakers to hell is not only fallacious, but malicious. If we can punish criminals, why can’t God?

God is love, and it is precisely because He loves us that He sent His   only begotten Son—the Lord Jesus Christ—to die a most painful and cruel death on the cross to save us from our sins. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. Jesus paid the penalty of our sins on the cross to redeem us. He shed His precious blood on the cross so that our sins might be washed away. He died and was buried, but on the third day rose from the dead so that we might have life through His name.

God is love but He is also a God who is holy. The Lord is Saviour, but He is also Judge. Sin must be punished. And the greatest sin that anyone can commit is to reject Christ. The greatest sin demands the greatest punishment—eternal damnation in the lake of fire.

Yet, we know that God does not delight in the sufferings of people. The Scriptures tell us in Ezekiel 33:11, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live”. God desires you to live, to enjoy Him, to be in heaven! Hell indeed is a horrible and terrible place. It is a place of intense darkness inhabited by the devil and his demons. It is a place where tormenting worms do not die, and the fire cannot be put out. It is  a place of great pain and suffering where people will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. Dear teen, God has provided a way of escape – will you take it?

Thought: The only way out of hell and into heaven is the way of Christ.
Prayer: Lord, save me now!