What Does The Bible Say About Hell 3 | Is It Legit?

We are finishing a series here at Cross Connection called "What Does the Bible Say About Hell?" We are looking at how Jesus describes it and what He has to say about it. Today, we're going to be answering the question: Is it right? Is it just that God would send people to hell? So, open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 18 and follow along with us. God bless.

It was considered by some to be the most terrible decision of a generation, the most unfair decision of a generation. As a result, a legitimate portion of our nation was divided on the legitimacy of the ruling. Was the ruling fair? Many questioned whether or not the 43rd President of the United States, George Walker Bush, would be able to lead the nation. Why was that? George W. Bush lost the popular vote in the nation by more than a half million votes.

Yet, even after losing the popular vote, he narrowly won the Electoral College when the 25 electoral votes of Florida went to him by an incredibly narrow margin of only 537 votes out of the 6 million that were cast in that state. This immediately triggered a recount, and then another recount. The Supreme Court of the state of Florida ruled for a third recount. You remember pregnant Chad and his dear close brother, hanging Chad?

After all of that, for more than a month, people in our nation went back and forth, wondering exactly what the outcome would be. The U.S. Supreme Court had to step in, and on December 9th, 2000, they ruled in favor of George Bush in Bush versus Gore. How many remember that whole fiasco? It doesn't seem that long ago, but if you think about it, it's been 15 years. I mean, time goes by really, really quickly.

But at the end of that, there were many people in our nation of a certain political persuasion who considered George W. Bush, and even called him, the illegitimate president. According to them, the decision was unfair. Now, recognize that according to the law, the decision was completely legitimate. However, in the way that it all played out, they looked at it and said, "This just seems unfair."

Over the last few weeks here at Cross Connection, we've been studying together a challenging topic. Quite frankly, a lot of churches never touch this subject; they stay as far away from it as possible. It is like the third rail in teaching, in the Scriptures. If you know anything about the third rail, you know it is the electrically charged one on the subway. You want to stay far away from the third rail. As a result, many people try to avoid this topic, but nearly everybody has an opinion on the topic of hell.

What we've been trying to do here is not to consider what people's opinions are on hell. Instead, we've been focusing on the doctrine as it concerns hell. What is the teaching of hell? For that, we've been going to the source: Jesus. Jesus is the definitive expert on any topic that He chooses to speak about, and it just so happens that He spoke quite a bit about this topic—hell.

According to Jesus, as we have seen, hell is a very real and devastating place of punishment for those who die in unrighteousness. It is a terrible place where the unrighteous live in conscious torment. In that place, they remember their former life but are unable to return to it. Not only do they remember their former life, but they are also aware of those who are in a better place than they are, yet they cannot cross over to it. Furthermore, they are there desiring to be comforted in their torment, but they are unable to receive any form of comfort.

When we consider what Jesus has to say about hell, it is striking and sobering. It should challenge us; it should hit us. Although we did see last week that there are some aspects that seem to lessen the severity of hell, even when you consider that it may be a place with levels of punishment and varying degrees of punishment based on one's actions, the reality remains serious.

Varying degrees of sin in this life may be true, and that might lessen the sharpness of the doctrine of hell. There are some who, reading the Scriptures, see that at some point far in the future, this place called hell of torment will be cast into a place of annihilation and destruction, and those who are there will not, for eternity, be experiencing perpetual conscious torment. That might be in the Scriptures, but whatever way you look at it, it doesn't diminish the reality that hell is a terrible place. It is a place that you want to avoid at all costs.

When Jesus speaks about hell, He speaks in a way that really brings out the terror of it. He uses poetic language, talking about weeping and gnashing of teeth. He says it is a place where the worm does not die, and there are all kinds of interpretations about what that means, but whatever the case, it doesn't sound good. It is a place where there is fire, darkness, and separation from God for eternity.

As we've been considering these heavy truths from the Scriptures, we looked last week at Jesus' teaching in Matthew chapter 7, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. We saw there that good works are more important in this life than just the way that you look. People can hold up an appearance, but we saw that it's the heart and the good fruit that comes from the heart that says more about the character of an individual. Are they righteous or are they unrighteous?

In Jesus' day, there were very religious people who looked really good. If we had seen them around today, we would have said, "Man, that is the most holy person I've ever met." Yet Jesus called them hypocrites. He said that their righteousness, their goodness, was only skin deep. They had a facade, but it wasn't genuine; it wasn't real. He cautioned them, saying that there would be more judgment for them on the day of judgment than for others who might be considered by us to be sinners.

Jesus told the story about a Pharisee who went and prayed at the temple. As he prayed, he said, "God, I thank You that I'm not like that wicked sinner over there." It was that wicked sinner who said, "God, forgive me because I'm a sinner." Jesus said it was that one, the one who asked for mercy, who went away justified that day—not the righteous Pharisee, not the one whom everybody would have looked at and said, "That guy is a shoo-in for eternity with God in paradise."

The teaching that Jesus gave is challenging, because not only did He tell us that good works matter, but He also emphasized the importance of humility and genuine repentance.

Works are very important in revealing the fruit of a person's heart, but Jesus also said many religious people will go to hell. Many religious people, like that Pharisee in the story, will end up away from God for eternity. The most striking part of Jesus' teaching in all of the passages on hell, particularly in Matthew chapter 7, reveals that most people go to hell. This is a point that hits us like a ton of bricks when we think about it: most people go to hell.

Since I mentioned that last week, I received several emails and a couple of calls from people in the church who wanted to talk with me about this point. They did not reach out because they disagreed with it or because they didn't see it in the scripture, but because it hurts to even think like that. Yet the scriptures reveal, particularly in Matthew chapter 7, that it is very hard to find anything else in this passage. In verse 13, Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." There are many who go in by it.

This is not a truth that we like. No one likes that truth. Most people go to hell; many go in by this wide path to destruction. I would say that we should have a hard time with it. It shouldn't be something that we rejoice in—that many go in by this wide path to destruction. None of us like that truth, but our liking or disliking it does not diminish the reality of it. I would even suggest to you that God doesn't like that truth. God does not like it that many people, created in His image and made in the likeness of Him to show forth His glory, end up not glorifying Him in righteousness but instead revealing the glory of His justice and His wrath. God doesn't like that.

You may ask, how do I know that God doesn't like that? The prophet Ezekiel gives us some insight. In Ezekiel chapter 18, God speaks, asking, "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" He goes on to answer the question, saying, "For I have no pleasure in the death of any that die." Speaking about a punishment, a death that is eternal, God states, "I have no pleasure in that."

There is this picture that some people in pop culture have promoted, suggesting that God gets some sort of sick, twisted glee from seeing people judged and cast into hell.

That's not what the scriptures reveal. God says, "I get no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Again, in Ezekiel chapter 33, verse 11, God reveals, "As I live," says the Lord God, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Three times in Ezekiel, He reminds us, "I have no pleasure in this. I do not rejoice in it; I do not find any sort of glee in the fact that people are judged, that people are punished."

Of course, someone might ask, "If that's the case, why doesn't God do something about it?" Well, He did. He did. In fact, today is a celebration within the church. Most people think of next week, which is Easter, the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but this day is also a celebration. It's called Palm Sunday. Has anyone heard of Palm Sunday before? This is the day when we, the church, rejoice in "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

This is the day that we celebrate Jesus entering into Jerusalem for the last time to be examined, to be judged, and to be crucified on Good Friday, which we'll be celebrating together. I hope you can join us at noon on Friday as we worship together. We are celebrating that God sent forth His Son at just the right time, in the fullness of time. Galatians chapter 4, verse 4 says, "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman under the law." Why? To redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Why would God do that? Well, John chapter 3, verse 16, the most translated and probably the most memorized verse in the Bible, states, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." God gets no pleasure in the death of even the most wicked person that dies.

Yet, the Bible reveals many times in the Gospels that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. In fact, that passage in Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 32, where it says, "I have no pleasure in the death of the one who dies," is immediately followed by God saying, "Therefore turn and live. Therefore, repent and live."

We saw last week, just briefly, in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 9, that "the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but He is patient; He is long-suffering."

Toward us, not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance. God's desire is that all people would turn and live, that all people would come to know the truth of who Jesus Christ is, and that they would receive the grace and the gift of what Jesus Christ has done.

So, point number one on your outline, if you have your sermon guide handy, is that it is God's desire that no one would go to hell. I will grant that on this point, there is a whole lot of debate among Christians in the church. I don't necessarily know why there's a big debate about this point, that it's God's desire that no one would go to hell, but there is. At face value, that's exactly what 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 9 says: God is not willing; He is not desirous that anyone would perish. He does not take any pleasure in the death of the one that dies and goes to this place of torment. He does not want people to go to that place.

So, people ask, why doesn't everyone then go to heaven? If God desires everyone to go to heaven, if God desires that no one would go to hell, why doesn't everybody just get in? I would suggest to you, and we don't have a lot of time to go into it in depth today, that the answer to that question is simply this: the nature of God and the nature of man requires that there be punishment, that there be a judgment. Because God is just and man is sinful. The nature of God—the justice of God, the holiness of God, the righteousness of God—requires that, in light of the nature of man, the fallenness, the sinfulness of us, we were conceived in sin, as the Psalms say. Every single one of us is born a sinner; this is what the church has referred to as the doctrine of original sin.

God desires to deal with that, and He did deal with that through Jesus. Yet, wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. It's a sad reality, but it's a reality nonetheless. Many, and perhaps most, people go to hell. The question then is, is it fair, is it just, is it legitimate that many people would go to this place of judgment? There's a large segment of people, just as there was in 2000 here in our nation, a large...

A large segment of people question the legitimacy of what happened in the courts in 2000. There is an even greater segment of people, throughout the world, who question the legitimacy of the idea that many people go to hell. Is it right? Is it fair?

When you start to think about the topic of hell, people immediately ask the question: What about the unreached people? If you look in your bulletin this morning, you'll notice that at the bottom, on the right, it says "Prayer for the Unreached People." There is a group of people that live in Algeria, the Zeidan people, numbering 231,000, and they are 0.00% evangelized. That's a lot of zeros. There is no one reaching out to these people. This is the year 2015, and there is nobody reaching out to them.

Of course, someone will ask, what about the unreached peoples? Not just the unreached peoples of today, but what about the unreached peoples throughout the last 5,000 years or more? What about those who never had an opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ? They do not have any availability of a witness of the gospel. What about those who never knew and never will have an opportunity to know?

What about the mentally handicapped? What about those who cannot understand due to a mental disability? They do not have the ability to comprehend this. What about children who die at a young age? What about not just the children who die young, but also babies who die in infancy? What about those who are miscarried? What about those who are stillborn? What about those who are aborted? Millions upon millions are aborted every single year in the world. What about the souls of those individuals? What if they die? How will God deal with that? Should God not be just?

That was the question of the father of our faith, Abraham. Back in the book of Genesis, chapter 18, would you turn there? It is the first book of the Bible. If you do not have a Bible, raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Genesis chapter 18, I am going to ask you to stand. We will begin reading today at verse 20. Genesis 18:20.

Little background before we read it: Abraham was called by God, and he followed God by faith. He brought some family along with him, one of whom was his nephew named Lot. At a certain point in their journeys together, they realized that they had so much stuff that there was some contention between Lot's servants and Abraham's servants. So, they parted ways, and Lot chose for himself a really perfect place for raising sheep and cattle down in the southern part of the nation.

It's interesting because if you go there today, it doesn't look like a good place; it's just barren desert. However, apparently thousands of years ago, it was a nice, lush valley. Lot planted himself right next to the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. Has anyone ever heard of those places before? The wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah was great, and ultimately, God said that He was going to go and deal with it. But before He did, He had a little conversation with Abraham.

In Genesis 18, verse 20, the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come up to me. And if not, I'll know." Then the men who were with the Lord turned away from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood before the Lord.

Abraham came near and began to intercede, saying, "Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose that there are 50 righteous within the city. Would you also destroy the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous that are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous should be as the wicked. Far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

Father, I pray that you would speak to us through this passage of Scripture. Give us insight and understanding about who You are and how You work. Lord, transform us by the renewing of our minds, we pray. For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, "Amen." You can be seated.

As Abraham hears about God's plan of judgment, which is heavy, he knows very well what God...

Abraham is saying, between the lines, that he is going to go down there and see if it is as bad as he hears it is. It would appear from the text that the one who is telling God in prayer how bad it is, is Lot, who lives down there. He is praying, "God, it's bad down here." So, God says, "I'm going to go and check it out." Abraham knows how bad it is and understands what is going to come as a result of the great wickedness in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which have forever been used as an illustration of judgment.

When Abraham senses the weight of what it means to be the judge over every individual, he is compelled to intercede. He asks God, "What if there are 50 righteous people that live down there? Will you destroy the righteous people with the wicked? This can't be. Be it far from you to destroy good people, righteous people, innocent people, without knowledge. Far be it from you to destroy them with wicked people." Abraham understands if God is going to destroy the wicked people. When you talk about hell, people often get all tied up about it; nobody has a problem with someone being destroyed if they are wicked. For example, when you mention Hitler, people say, "Yeah, destroy him. Get rid of him." Nobody has a problem with that. But it is the possibility of someone who is not as wicked that raises concern.

So, Abraham continues, "God, what if there are 50 righteous?" God replies, "I will spare the entire city for 50 righteous." As you read the story, you see that 50 is a lot of people, especially since Sodom is a pretty bad place. Abraham then asks, "Suppose there are five less than 50, 45 people?" God responds, "I will spare it for 45."

Abraham says, "Lord, forgive me. Sorry for stepping in here. What if there are 40?" God replies, "I will spare it for 40." Abraham continues, "How about 30?" God says, "I will spare it for 30." Abraham then asks, "What about 20?" God responds, "I will spare it for 20." Finally, Abraham inquires, "Suppose there are just 10 righteous people, 10 innocent, good people? Suppose just 10 should be found there?" God answers, "I will not destroy it for the sake of 10."

At each step, as Abraham interacts with God on this point, God reveals, point number two on your outline, that He is more just than my sense of justice.

God is more just than my sense of justice. I have a certain standard of justice, and every single one of you does too. If you don't believe that you do, just remember what happened the last time you saw someone fly by you on the 15 and cut you off. What was your first thought? Where's the cop? You have a sense of justice.

When you hear on the evening news that someone is going to court because they've molested a child, what's your first thought? Judge them. Stick it to them. Why? Because you have a sense of justice, a standard of right and wrong. You say that person is vile and wicked, and they should be judged. You wonder, where did you get that? Did you come up with that on your own? Do you think we just manufactured that over billions of years, millions of years of evolution? We came to some place.

There is a great book by C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man. I just finished reading it again a couple of days ago, and it touches on this same point. Where did that sense of justice come from? Is it just social engineering that gives you this standard? When you see something wicked, you say that needs to be judged. No, that came from God. You are created in the image and likeness of God, and you have that standard of justice because He created you with it.

At the end of the day, I must trust that He ultimately is just. Why? Because He created us with a strong desire for justice, a sense that we are created in His image. He gave it to us; it came from Him. He is just. Therefore, He created us with a desire for justice. Not only did He create you and me with a desire for justice, but He also requires justice of us.

The prophet Micah, in Micah chapter 6, verse 8, says, "He's shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you." The first thing is to do justly, to do what is right. You have a desire for it. He created you to do justly, and He requires it of us. Not only does He require it of us, but He also reveals Himself to be just. When He says, "This is who I am," when He introduces Himself to you and to me, He says, "This is who I am."

Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 4 states, "He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all His ways are justice." For you and me, a couple of our ways may be just, but for Him, all of His ways are justice.

Not just in Deuteronomy chapter 32, but also in Isaiah chapter 11, we find important truths. I want you to turn there, as this passage speaks in terms we understand—courtroom terms. Courtroom dramas on TV are some of the most popular shows. Why is that? Because people love justice.

Do any of you remember the white Ford Bronco chase in 1994? That was the year we moved into this place. The televised case marked the beginning of Court TV, which has been profitable ever since. Why? Because we love justice.

In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 3, speaking about Jesus, the Messiah, it says, "His delight is in the reverence of God." He delights in those who revere and fear God. He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears. Instead, with righteousness, He will judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips, He shall slay the wicked.

Do you see what's happening here? He will not judge by the sight of the eyes or the hearing of the ears. How many of you have been called for jury duty before? You probably love that experience, don’t you? When you sit down in the courtroom and get selected, the judge begins to talk to you.

"Listen, jury," the judge says, "over the next few days, you're going to be seeing evidence and hearing testimony. We will ask you, a jury of your peers—12 of you—to come up with a decision based on what you see of the evidence and what you hear of the testimony. You will decide the guilt or innocence of this person, and you will have the opportunity to judge whether or not they will be incarcerated or punished based on what you see and hear."

How many of you know that in our justice system, which is arguably the best in the world today, sometimes our justice system is unjust? We judge by the seeing of the eyes and the hearing of the ears, and we know that.

Sometimes what we see and what we think we hear can deceive us. That level of justice, although the best in the world today, is insufficient. What does God say? He does not judge by the seeing of the eyes or the hearing of the ears; He judges with righteous judgment. Why is that? He judges the thoughts and the intents of the heart. He knows what no one else knows, even some things you don't even know about yourself. He knows that. The heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can know it? The very next verse in Jeremiah 17:10 says, "I, the Lord, search the heart." He knows the heart.

He says, "I will not judge with the seeing of the eyes nor the hearing of the ears, but I will judge with righteous, just judgment." Why then do we assume that He is unjust? Why do we question His justice? I would say it is because there is such injustice in the world that He created. Because there is such injustice in this world, we question His justice. However, we need to recognize that this world, which has fallen under the curse of sin, is not a reflection of His glory. It is not a reflection of His justice. He hates injustice and loves justice. Isaiah 61:8 states, "I, the Lord, love justice."

Churches like yours love justice. We love justice. We want it to be done. If we love justice, we should love God because He is perfectly just. In a world of injustice, where there is a lack of fairness, He is perfect. All His ways are justice and truth. He emphasizes this again: "For the Lord loves justice and He does not forsake His saints."

Why do we question the justice of God? It is because of our propensity and inclination to fail and to be unjust. We project our own failings onto Him, thinking, "He must be like us." However, the Scriptures repeatedly tell us that God is not like you. You have been created in His image, and there are aspects of you that still carry the residual image of God. Yet the reality is, He is not like me.

God is not a man. He cannot sin. Though we project our failings and our injustices onto Him, He is completely just. So how should we respond? What then is the answer?

When we think about the unreached person, the child that dies, the baby that dies, the stillborn, and those who are mentally handicapped and cannot hear or make a decision, we must consider what our answer should be. Point number three is that God is just and will maintain justice in judgment. He is just, and He will maintain justice in judgment.

When we look at what the Scriptures reveal, if we take these things to be true, then we need not worry or question whether or not God will do right as it relates to people who die. We don't need to question whether He will be just when He deals with that person. He knows their heart, while we will never know their heart. This is why some religious, good people will go to hell. What you and I thought was good—the seeing of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, the lifting of hands, the saying of a prayer—may not be enough. We see these actions and think, "You're in." But we must pause and recognize that there is more to it than meets the eye.

At the end of the day, I can trust in the justice of God. I can say that He will deal with that person in a righteous, holy, and perfect way. However He deals with it, we will ultimately say, "That's perfect. That's right."

What will happen to those who die without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, or to the child that dies, or those who are miscarried? I may not understand every perfect detail about how God will deal with it, but I know this: God will deal with it perfectly. He will deal with it perfectly.

Now, all that said, we need to recognize that most of these questions are directed against the justice of God. When you're talking with someone who doesn't know Christ, and they challenge you with questions about the Scriptures, they often pick something specific to question.

What about the pygmies in Africa? Well, nobody even knows who they are. What about those people that live in Northwest China? Understand and recognize that this is a diversion. I would suggest that it's a distraction by the enemy. The person saying it doesn't even realize that this is the enemy trying to get their eyes off of the truth, trying to get their eyes off of themselves in light of Jesus.

What about them? We're all prone to do that. God says, "Adam, did you eat of the tree that I told you not to eat from?" Adam responds, "It was the woman." Eve says, "It was the serpent." Just passing the blame along. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says to Peter, "You're going to die by crucifixion" in a very poetic way. Peter looks at him and asks, "What about him? What about John?" We all do that.

I taught junior high ministry for four years, and I guarantee you that every single time I would say to a junior higher, "Hey, Billy, what did you do?" after seeing them do something they shouldn't have done, the response would be, "Wasn't me. What about him?" We're prone to do that. It's part of our sin nature.

What about that guy? What about those poor pygmies in Africa? What about those poor people in Northwest China? It is a distraction. It's a diversion from the bigger issue, the bigger question at hand at that moment: What have you done with Christ?

How many of you have flown on a plane before? At the beginning of the flight, as you're pulling off the taxiway, they show you a little video. They used to have people stand in the aisles with a seatbelt, demonstrating how to put it on. In the unlikely event that we lose cabin pressure, a yellow mask will fall from the ceiling above you. Make sure that you securely put on your mask before you help anyone else. Let's deal with you first, because if we don't deal with you first, you have no ability to help that poor pygmy in Africa.

Open your Bibles to Luke chapter 13. We're going to finish with this.

Jesus is doing what Jesus does. He's teaching, healing people, and answering questions. People are coming to Him, challenging Him about some of the current events of His day. They ask, "What's going on in our nation? All these bad things are happening."

In verse 1 of Luke 13, there were present at that season some who told Jesus about the current events. They said, "Did you see what I saw on Fox News? Some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices." These poor, righteous Galileans were just going to offer sacrifices, and that wicked governor Pilate of Rome killed them unjustly. They questioned Jesus, "What are you going to do about this? We think you might be the Messiah."

Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you no. But, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

They continued to press Him, asking what He would do about the injustice of that wicked governor Pilate and those poor people. Jesus acknowledged the bad news, saying, "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish."

In verse 4, He posed another question: "How about those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them? Do you think that they were worse sinners than all the other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

This brings us to point number 4 on your outline: unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

People often ask, "But what about those poor people who never heard?" The answer is to get saved and share the gospel with them. Trust that God is just and knows what He is doing. He will be completely righteous in how He does what He does, far more righteous than we can even imagine. He is always more just than our sense of justice, and all His works are justice. He is perfect.

What about injustice? What about those poor people?

In the end, what will you do? My prayer as I approach this series, knowing that it would be challenging, is that God would give us a renewed passion for His grace. At the end of the day, the fact that you and I are saved is unfair. God's justice should be put on you and me, and yet He put His justice on His Son, in your place and in my place.

I was listening to an atheist a few years ago. I like to listen to atheists from time to time. There was a well-known atheist, Christopher Hitchens, and my heart went out to him. I was very heartbroken when he died of throat cancer a few years ago. He said his number one issue with the Christian faith is the substitutionary death of Jesus because he believed that it is not fair. This is interesting; his number one issue with the Christian faith was the substitutionary death of Jesus, that Jesus died in your place. According to Christopher Hitchens, and he had a real strong sense of justice that he got from God, if it is true that God is going to judge sinners, then we all should be judged. It is not right that He put that judgment on His Son. But He did.

My prayer, through this knowledge of the judgment of God and the justice of God, is that we would have a renewed passion for the grace of God. None of us deserve what we've received, and all of us deserve judgment. Not only that we would have a renewed passion for the grace of God, but also that we would have a renewed passion for the lost people in this world who need the grace of God. Amen?

So would you stand with me as we close in prayer and ask God to do that in us? Lord God, thank You for Your Word. It is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. I thank You that You are perfectly just. As it relates to eternal things, judgment, punishment, hell, and destruction—these are all heavy matters—and You will be totally just.

Righteous in the way that You deal with it. God, I pray that You would help us to both know that and hold on to it, that You will be perfectly right in Your dealings. Help us to trust in You and to proclaim the goodness of Your glorious grace to all that we come in contact with.

We ask it in Jesus' name. All God's people say it.