Bible Study Continued, Part 3 - Hell: What is its purpose and does God send people there? Are you sure of your answer? You may be surprised!
Jesus prepared a much better place for us where there's no more sin, death, sorrow, tears, diseases, darkness, or corruption. God hates sin, NOT YOU AS A PERSON. He is so very angry at Satan for his evil, deception, and the possibility of us losing our souls, he reserved hell for Satan alone and his followers. And as sad as it is, there are those that shall believe Satan's lies and decide they want no part of God, but to hate him, curse him, and laugh at, and mock Him. They made that choice, can you see that? Jesus turns absolutely no one away and there's not one soul on this Earth that has to miss heaven if they will allow Jesus to save them from the consequences and condemnation sin placed on us.
You might say, "Well, I'm not that bad! I don't deliberately sin, I'm not a sinner!" Then why....do we sometimes get angry and become forceful, conniving, liars, prideful, tearful, murderous, gosperers, rapers, ragers, thieves, tempted, lustful, sarcastic,hateful, braggers, deceitful, unforgiving, tormenting, fault-finding, unloving, jealous, revengeful, lovers of evil, calling good to be evil and evil to be good, lazy, adulterous, fornicating, judgemental, wishing ill on others, etc? Beloved, these are all traits of sin. God did not force us to be this way and he did not make us this way. Now we can understand, just why we need all need Jesus and why there IS sin in this world, and sadly, why we are responsible. What did we say about telling ourselves the truth? We can see the truth is, if we'll be honest with ourselves, that WE made those choices to sin... not God. We can be saved, and the truth shall set us free. God has absolutely no sin in His heart. It is not in His character to sin.
The truth is, we are spiritually blinded by our own sinful nature and from listening to the temptations Satan whispers in our ears. Are we not sinners, then? If I say I am not, I'm nothing but a liar. The truth is not in me. I am, you are, and the whole world has a sinful nature, and the only remedy for that, is the love and Grace of Jesus Christ, who forgives you and I of all our sins...erases them forever...and by the grace of God, no matter who you are or what you've done, God always forgives, and welcomes us with open arms into the Kingdom of heaven, He has prepared for us. Can't you see He rescued us?
God tells you the truth in His Word. There is no amount of sin that you could ever do, that would cause God, your own Creator, not to love you or abandon you. If I'm never humble enough to see my sins...if I never acknowledge them, then how can I repent of them? Don't believe the devil's lie that God is out to beat us over the head with our every sin, every time we sin! It's not like Jesus doesn't know us inside and out, even better than we know ourselves. We cannot surprise God.
He WANTS to save us, and every single time, the Bible says, that someone is saved, all the angels in heaven rejoice and sing praises! The Bible gives us a hint, that means thousands upon thousands of angels in heaven, Rejoicing over your decision to accept and follow Christ as your Savior. Can you picture that? Can you imagine the beautiful sound of Legions of Angels rejoicing throughout heaven over you? It's one of God's many promises and He always keeps His promises.
Never, ever, believe the devil's lie, that you have to do ANYTHING in order to win God's favor, or for God to love you and forgive you. That, my friends, is the biggest lie that Satan has ever told. God turns no one away, I don't care who you are. He ALREADY loves and favors you. That is what GRACE, IS! He would not have gone through all the agony and suffering of the cross, if he was out to condemn you. That has never been in his heart! His mission was to come and save you from the condemnation sin placed on you. Never allow Satan to convince you that God is against you in any way, shape, or form!
Tomorrow, Part 4 - God's utmost desire, is to have us all in heaven with Him, for eternity.
You might say, "Well, I'm not that bad! I don't deliberately sin, I'm not a sinner!" Then why....do we sometimes get angry and become forceful, conniving, liars, prideful, tearful, murderous, gosperers, rapers, ragers, thieves, tempted, lustful, sarcastic,hateful, braggers, deceitful, unforgiving, tormenting, fault-finding, unloving, jealous, revengeful, lovers of evil, calling good to be evil and evil to be good, lazy, adulterous, fornicating, judgemental, wishing ill on others, etc? Beloved, these are all traits of sin. God did not force us to be this way and he did not make us this way. Now we can understand, just why we need all need Jesus and why there IS sin in this world, and sadly, why we are responsible. What did we say about telling ourselves the truth? We can see the truth is, if we'll be honest with ourselves, that WE made those choices to sin... not God. We can be saved, and the truth shall set us free. God has absolutely no sin in His heart. It is not in His character to sin.
The truth is, we are spiritually blinded by our own sinful nature and from listening to the temptations Satan whispers in our ears. Are we not sinners, then? If I say I am not, I'm nothing but a liar. The truth is not in me. I am, you are, and the whole world has a sinful nature, and the only remedy for that, is the love and Grace of Jesus Christ, who forgives you and I of all our sins...erases them forever...and by the grace of God, no matter who you are or what you've done, God always forgives, and welcomes us with open arms into the Kingdom of heaven, He has prepared for us. Can't you see He rescued us?
God tells you the truth in His Word. There is no amount of sin that you could ever do, that would cause God, your own Creator, not to love you or abandon you. If I'm never humble enough to see my sins...if I never acknowledge them, then how can I repent of them? Don't believe the devil's lie that God is out to beat us over the head with our every sin, every time we sin! It's not like Jesus doesn't know us inside and out, even better than we know ourselves. We cannot surprise God.
He WANTS to save us, and every single time, the Bible says, that someone is saved, all the angels in heaven rejoice and sing praises! The Bible gives us a hint, that means thousands upon thousands of angels in heaven, Rejoicing over your decision to accept and follow Christ as your Savior. Can you picture that? Can you imagine the beautiful sound of Legions of Angels rejoicing throughout heaven over you? It's one of God's many promises and He always keeps His promises.
Never, ever, believe the devil's lie, that you have to do ANYTHING in order to win God's favor, or for God to love you and forgive you. That, my friends, is the biggest lie that Satan has ever told. God turns no one away, I don't care who you are. He ALREADY loves and favors you. That is what GRACE, IS! He would not have gone through all the agony and suffering of the cross, if he was out to condemn you. That has never been in his heart! His mission was to come and save you from the condemnation sin placed on you. Never allow Satan to convince you that God is against you in any way, shape, or form!
Tomorrow, Part 4 - God's utmost desire, is to have us all in heaven with Him, for eternity.
