| MONDAY | May 25 |
Heaven or Hell?
Not all people will be saved. Some will be eternally lost. Human beings have been created with a free will. Someone once expressed it like this: There are just two kinds of people—those who say, "Lord, Your will be done," and those to whom the Lord says, "I have to respect your choice; your will be done!" In the end, no one asked to be born. We're here only because we've been created without our consent. God offers us the hope of eternal life, if we choose it. If we don't, then we will go back to the nothingness out of which we came. It's in the end our own choice.
All humanity awaits one of two ultimate destinies. What are they? Matt. 25:46; John 5:29; Rev 21:1-4, 8.
Heaven is a reality. It is a place. It is where God lives together with the other members of the Godhead and a host of unfallen angels. It also is where we will live if we remain on God's side. When Christ returns and the first resurrection takes place, the resurrected saints will accompany their Lord to heaven, where they will remain for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6). After the thousand years a series of events will take place, culminating in the creation of a "new heaven" and a "new earth" (Rev. 21:1), where the redeemed will then live forever.
But hell also is a reality. The popular belief in a place where sinners will be tormented and burn for all eternity does not have biblical support. But neither has the popular idea that in the end all people are going to be saved. Those who reject the good news of salvation and refuse to be obedient to God will be judged and condemned, and will face a death from which there is no resurrection ever. Those who believe that all people will be saved argue that a God of love will not allow anyone to lose out on eternal bliss. They have a point to the extent that God is, indeed, love personified and wants to save all men and women. But tragically, not all people want to be saved. Christ could not have expressed it any clearer: " 'I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,' " but He also adds that " 'those who have done evil will rise to be condemned' " (John 5:24, 29, NIV).
It remains our choice. Heaven can be ours if we choose to believe in God and are willing to become disciples of His Son, Jesus Christ.
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