Easter 2019

Duality Of God

God is love and God is a judge.

God’s Love

God loves us in a way that goes beyond complete understanding. It is an agape love. It is unconditional. It is based in His character not our behavior. God does not stop loving us because we behave poorly. God loves us because that is who He is and what He does.

God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Many people believe that God is a moral policeman that sits in heaven waiting on us to mess up so He can make our life miserable. It is quite the opposite. God desires holiness for us because it is the best for us. When we cannot attain to holiness He extends grace and mercy.

God loves us to a depth that is inconceivable. This is how much He loves us!

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Let’s not trivialize this passage of scripture by passing over it too quickly. Let’s meditate on this for a moment and put it into perspective. God gave that which He loved above everything else so that He could show you how much He loves you. This is a love that is hard to fathom. If we are honest with ourselves we can say we love one another with a tremendous love, but are we willing to sacrifice what is most important to us to demonstrate that love. God did when He sent Jesus to die so we could have a relationship with Him.

God’s love for us should never come into question. He has proven His love! We should not let our current circumstances be a determining factor of assessing God’s love for us. The cross is the determining factor.

God’s Judgement

Because God is Holy He must judge sin. A good judge would not let a murderer go free without any punishment. This would be an unjust judge. God judges sin. John Piper’s Desiring God ministry captured the reason God judges sin.

God is love, and God does all things for his glory . He loves his glory above all (and that is a good thing!). Therefore, God rules the world in such a way that brings himself maximum glory. This means that God must act justly and judge sin (i.e. respond with wrath), otherwise God would not be God. God’s love for his glory motivates his wrath against sin.

Admittedly, God’s love for his own glory is a most sobering reality for many and not good news for sinners. It is after all, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” ().

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for [a]his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

We are all held accountable for what we do here on earth. Some people live their lives like a credit card. I will do what I want to do today and worry about the consequences later. God will judge.

because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

We do not know when this day will come, but one thing is for certain it is coming. What will be your outcome?

Depravity Of Man

Apart from Christ there is no hope for man. All people are sinners.

23 for all [a]have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

So what is sin? Many people see it as being better morally than someone else. I haven’t killed anyone, cheated on my spouse, or been in jail so I must not be a sinner.

Billy Graham gives one of the most thorough definitions I have read. He says

Let me give you a definition of sin. Sin is any lack of conformity to the moral character of God or the law of God. We sin by thinking evil, speaking evil, acting evil or omitting good.

Sin is further defined in : “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (KJV). When we do something that goes against trust and faith in God, that’s sin. When we know something pleases God but don’t do it, that’s sin. And in we read, “Sin is the transgression of the law” (KJV). So sin is any violation of God’s moral character or His law. Where is God’s law revealed? In Scripture.

Dr. Graham points out that sin is not only the things we do that are considered sin, but also the things that we don’t do can be sin.

17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Inherited Sin

We sin because we have a sin nature. This has been passed on from Adam and Eve to every generation.

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—13 for [a]until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a [b]type of Him who was to come.

This is obvious as we look at little children. We don’t have to teach them how to be selfish, how to lie, or how to throw a fit when they don’t get their way. This is part of the sin nature.

Punishment of sin

There are both temporal and eternal consequences to sin. The temporal consequences of sin are the disciplinary consequences that happen here on earth. When you get caught stealing from a retail store, there is a consequence. When you tell a lie to get out of trouble you will eventually get caught and suffer a consequence. These consequences are for the purpose of keeping you from repeating the sin.

There is also an eternal consequence for sin. This is the judgment in the lake of fire.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose [g]presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and [h]books were opened; and another [i]book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the [j]books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if [k]anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

What we do here in this life determines where we will spend eternity

Determination Of Eternity

Heaven or Hell

Why would a loving God send anyone to hell?

This is a wrong question. God does not send anyone to hell. He just honors what they want. If a person does not desire a relationship with God on earth, then they will definitely not want to spend eternity with Him. God has given us what is necessary to have eternal life.

God has promised eternal life!

This is why we celebrate Easter. It is the empty tomb that is God’s signature on His promise of eternal life. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to Earth. Jesus lived a life without sin. He went to a cross that was meant for us. He was crucified on that cross for our sins. He took our punishment. On the third day He was resurrected from the dead. He has conquered Satan, sin, and death. He is coming back soon.

To have eternal life you must repent of your sins. (Confess and turn away) Trust that Jesus died for your sins. Ask him to be Lord of your life. (Submit your life to him.

CS Lewis rightly said, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it.”

What is your choice this morning?