Daily Bread - NOV/05/07

2 Thessalonians 1: 8-9 - In a flame of fire giving vengeance to the ones who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His strength.

It could not be possible to imagine a more horrifying place than hell. It is a place where the soul and the body never die but are constantly in the tortuous throes of the most agonizing death. The eternal death of hell has no mercy, no compassion, no hope of ever changing but is continuous and forever. It is a place where God's presence does not exist and where only the blackest darkness of a hopeless forever is engulfed in flames and agonizing screams of the tormented. It is a prison where there is no rest, no water, no pardon, and the dwelling place of every evil and wicked thing that has ever existed (Matthew 25:46; Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:44, 46, 48).

The only possible way that anyone could ever begin to understand why a loving and merciful God would create such a place of eternal destruction and torment in His wrath is to understand how God feels about sin. The concept of sin in the mind of men at best is something that God does not like but is an irresistible and undeniable opportunity for pleasure. Yet God views sin and death in the same category. To God, sin is the most hideous acts of injustice against the sanctity and security of life. God does not see sin as a human failure that arises out of human frailty but the acts of high treason against the life that He has given. I am certain that God feels the same way about sin that men feel about hell: repulsive and unimaginable.

God who is not willing that anyone suffer the judgment of hell - which was created for the devil and his angels - sent His only begotten Son so that we could be set free from the dominion of death and sin (Hebrews 2:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; Romans 8:2). The realm of death is the demonic realm that claims every person (Romans 5:12,17; 1:32; 6:16,23; 1 Corinthians 15:22). In the realm of death, the fruits of death are the acts of sin that dominate the lives of men. It is because of sin that people go to hell - whether they are believers in God or not. Jesus came to deliver us from the dominion of sin and the dominion of death so that death would have no claim on us now and throughout eternity. He delivered us from the power of darkness so that we would no longer commit the acts of sin that have for their just penalty, death (Romans 1:32; 2:8-9; 6:21,23; Romans 7:5; 8:13; James 1:15; 1 John 3:4- 10; Galatians 5:21). The gospel that Jesus preached was one that was uncompromising: "if your eye offends you, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not that your whole body should be cast into hell (Matthew 5:29; 19:9; Mark 9:47). Do not be deceived! God will not be mocked: whatever you sow you will reap. If you sow to your flesh you will reap corruption, but if you sow to the Spirit you will reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8). There is a penalty for sin! It does not matter what church you go to or how much you say you believe; sin must cease. God has made a way through Jesus Christ our Lord. Will you accept His way? Be certain that as surely as it is appointed unto every man to die, it is also appointed that you will then face the judgment: and the penalty for sin is death (Hebrews 9:27). Today, lay hold on Christ Jesus and the power and authority that He has given to us to overcome every form of sin.

Be blessed,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org