A choice to be made

Gladys Hunt, in Don’t Be Afraid to Die, has this to say:

We are limited by concepts of time and space; we need an eternal point of view. Your reaction to death will be conditioned by your reaction to God. Those afraid of God are most fearful of death. They who know Him well seem to welcome the opportunity of being with Him. That’s the dimension that transforms death—knowing God.

If all we have said is true, then sorting out our relationship with God becomes the most important issue we face in this life, not only for our true enjoyment and usefulness in this life, but also for that which lies beyond the grave. And the sooner the better! Blaise Pascal astutely warned in Pensées, “Between heaven and hell is only this life, which is the most fragile thing in the world.” Longfellow once said:

It is not until time, with reckless hand, has torn half the leaves from the book of human life, to light the fires of human passion with, that [we] begin to see that the leaves which remain are few in number.

God has taken the risk of giving us the freedom to choose which way we will go. We can choose to go all the way with him, or we can face the future on our own. F. W. Robertson described this as “God’s terrible permission”. G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “Hell is God’s great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human personality.”

And if we wish to sort out our relationship with God we cannot ignore the person of Jesus. Religion can offer you a decent burial. Christ offers you new, abundant and everlasting life. He is the one who came into this world to share our humanity and to pay the penalty for our sins. He has overcome death on our behalf. It is he to whom we must give account on the day of judgement. Anglican scholar and pastor Michael Green, in You Must Be Joking, gives the following helpful illustration:

I should not fare very well if I tried to get to the moon under my own steam, however much hardware and rocketry was put at my disposal. I should need the skilled direction of an astronaut who had done it before. Without that, I should not stand a chance. That is why Jesus said to people who turned their backs on him, “I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sins; where I am going, you cannot come”(John 8:21). Does that sound hard? Not really. You cannot get to the moon unless you commit yourself to the astronaut.

Without the forgiveness that only Jesus can give, and the inward transformation of the Holy Spirit, none could stand in God’s presence. There will be no place to hide our sins there. C. S. Lewis pointed out in The Problem of Pain:

The joys of Heaven are, for most of us in our present condition, ‘an acquired taste’—and certain ways of life may render the taste impossible of acquisition. Perhaps the lost are those who dare not go to such a public place.

The eighteenth century preacher, Rowland Hill, put it this way: “If an unholy man were to get into heaven, he would feel like a hog in a flower garden!” And, as C. S. Lewis quoted George Macdonald as saying: “There is no hell with a little heaven in it, any more than there is a heaven with a little hell in it.” Nor can I take refuge in the false hope that there is some middle ground such as J. B. Priestly imagined in his book Delight:

As I am not good enough for heaven nor bad enough for hell, the territory in between ought not to be too disturbingly unfamiliar. So either way it ought to be all right and there is no reason why I should be afraid.

If, however, I want to settle things with God for time and eternity, there is something I must do. It is to acknowledge my need of forgiveness, as best I know how to turn from all I know to be wrong, accept Jesus as my Saviour and submit to him as the Lord of my life. If I am content to spend eternity without God, in spite of all the warnings as to what that may involve, then all I need do is—nothing! Imagine for a moment someone who has terminal cancer. As they lie on their hospital bed awaiting a certain end, a doctor comes in with some tremendous news. A drug has been discovered that can immediately reverse the effects of the cancerous cells and restore that person to health. He places a glass containing the drug by their bedside with instructions to drink it. Now, if that person is going to die, they don’t have to cut their throat, or blow their brains out, or jump out the window or assault the doctor or nurse. No, all they have to do is fail to take the medicine.

We are in a similar position. Because of our sins we are in a condition the Bible describes as “perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18). However, God has provided the perfect remedy for our condition in the death and resurrection of Jesus. I don’t have to be a murderer, adulterer, a thief or any “big” sinner to be lost forever. I may be the most respected citizen in town. But if I fail to come to Jesus and accept his offer, then there is no other cure for my condition. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (2:3).  It is for this reason that the Bible declares, “Everyone who does not have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God’s only Son” (John 3:18). The Bible also warns that by continuing to rebel against God’s claim on my life through “stubbornness” and an “unrepentant heart” it is possible to store up “wrath against [ourselves] for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed” (Romans 2:5). However, the good news is that even if I am a “big” sinner, Jesus is able to “save completely those who come to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25).

And it is not enough merely to give mental assent to the truth of the gospel. Selwyn Hughes, author of the very popular devotional readings Every Day with Jesus, put together some thoughts on heaven after he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1995. He has this to say:

I hope you won’t miss it. “Heaven can be missed by eighteen inches,” said one preacher. That is the approximate distance between your head and your heart. It is not what you know but who you know that matters. Make certain Christ is in your heart. I don’t know when I will get to heaven and you don’t know when you will get to heaven. But one thing is sure—when you and I walk in it will be the beginning of the happiest days of our lives. See you!

To quote Rowland Hill again, “Where you die—when you die—or by what means is scarcely worth a thought, if you do but die in Christ.”

I will finish with a delightful story told of the Christian apologist and humourist, G. K. Chesterton. His eccentricities often suited the stereotype of a slovenly, absent-minded professor. He would show up at a wedding wearing no tie and with a price tag on his shoes. Using any available paper, even wallpaper, he would scribble notes when ideas came to him, sometimes standing, oblivious, in the middle of traffic as he did so. Once he sent his wife this telegram: “Am in Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?” She telegraphed back, “Home.”

If you who are reading this booklet are uncertain as to where you stand in your relationship with God or your prospects for eternity, then why not come home where you belong and where you ought to be? You may find it helpful to begin by praying a prayer such as this:

God, I accept that when you created this universe and thought of me, then you had a great purpose for me which stretches beyond the limitations of this mortal life. Though I don’t fully understand all that you may have planned for me in this life or the next, I accept that you love me and sent Jesus to die for me in order that I might be reconciled to you and that purpose might be fulfilled.

 Thank you, Jesus, for your great love.

Lord, I am coming home. I am sorry for my sins. I repent of them. I now accept your forgiveness and submit my life to Jesus as my Saviour and Lord.

Come into my life and begin the process of moulding me into all you planned that I should be and directing me in the path you have chosen for me.

Enable me to accept fully all that you have done for me and to be open to all that you want to do. Give me the courage and strength to live worthily of your love and to follow wherever you lead, so that when I stand before you in person I may hear those words, “My Father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created” (Matthew 25:34).

                                                                                         Amen.

If you should make this kind of commitment, then dig into the New Testament which speaks not only of a glorious future for God’s people, but also about how we can begin to experience some of heaven’s joys in advance as we get involved with the One who planned it all. It also has much to say about how we can begin to store up treasure there in advance. Look around for others whom you can encourage on the journey also. 

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” Psalm 90:12

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16