“The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”
I’ve heard it phrased this way: “Hell is God saying, ‘As you wish,’ to the one who has said to Him, ‘I want nothing to do with you.’”
Since God spoke into existence the substance of everything we can see in the world today, rejecting Him means rejecting everything that He has provided.
It means being in a place where there is no light. Because without God, there is no light.
Rejecting Him means there is no land and sea, there are no stars, there are no plants or animals or other humans. There is no beauty, because He created beauty. There is no joy, because joy comes from His Spirit. There is no peace, or love, or kindness.
There is no life. There is only existence devoid of anything God created or provides. Even the hopes and dreams that arise from having eternity set in our hearts vanish when God grants someone their desire for independence from Him.
In America, we place tremendous value on independence. Some might suggest that we have idolized it, or that our quest for independence is inspired by the enemy of our souls. When we compare the pursuit of independence, both individually and collectively, to the wisdom found in God’s Word, we see the concept is diametrically opposed to the dependence God requires of His followers.
Simply acknowledging God’s existence is not the same as following God or of declaring His lordship over us. Romans 10:9 tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Such a declaration encompasses the idea of Jesus not only having command and control over our lives, but being the source of our sustenance. Acts 17:28 declares, “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” And Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
We are dependent on God for our next breath, for our heart to beat one more time, for the food we eat, for our faith in Him, for every single thing we have.
I’ve heard it phrased this way: “Hell is God saying, ‘As you wish,’ to the one who has said to Him, ‘I want nothing to do with you.’”
Since God spoke into existence the substance of everything we can see in the world today, rejecting Him means rejecting everything that He has provided.
It means being in a place where there is no light. Because without God, there is no light.
Rejecting Him means there is no land and sea, there are no stars, there are no plants or animals or other humans. There is no beauty, because He created beauty. There is no joy, because joy comes from His Spirit. There is no peace, or love, or kindness.
There is no life. There is only existence devoid of anything God created or provides. Even the hopes and dreams that arise from having eternity set in our hearts vanish when God grants someone their desire for independence from Him.
In America, we place tremendous value on independence. Some might suggest that we have idolized it, or that our quest for independence is inspired by the enemy of our souls. When we compare the pursuit of independence, both individually and collectively, to the wisdom found in God’s Word, we see the concept is diametrically opposed to the dependence God requires of His followers.
Simply acknowledging God’s existence is not the same as following God or of declaring His lordship over us. Romans 10:9 tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Such a declaration encompasses the idea of Jesus not only having command and control over our lives, but being the source of our sustenance. Acts 17:28 declares, “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” And Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
We are dependent on God for our next breath, for our heart to beat one more time, for the food we eat, for our faith in Him, for every single thing we have.
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