The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent. (2 Peter 3:9)
Let’s consider several significant concerns regarding resurrection.
- How can a loving God send people to hell? I would begin by saying that God has established the ground rules. That’s His sovereign right. As the Creator of life, His divine rule states that those who believe in His Son will have eternal life with Him. The believers will have the blessedness of heaven. Those who reject the message must face the punishment of that rejection.
- What about those who have never heard? Or, What about those who sincerely follow their own beliefs and their own religion? We must always be careful about stepping into the role of God. Only He knows the destiny of people. People you and I may think are in the family may not be . . . and vice versa. God alone knows the heart. He alone is the One who makes the final determination.
- What about deathbed repentance? Once again remember, no one on earth can determine with absolute certainty the eternal destiny of another individual, since God alone knows the heart. But who is to say no one can become a Christian at the end of his or her life? Remember one of the thieves on the cross? He had lived the life of a criminal, a thief. He had lived his entire life without Christ. But in his final breath he makes a statement regarding eternity, and Christ acknowledges it.
- What about the death of babies? It’s my understanding that small children who die before reaching a primary level of maturity (when they are able to reason with the basic issues of salvation and faith in the Lord Jesus) go immediately into the presence of the Lord.
- Is reincarnation valid? If there were reincarnation, I think Scripture would clearly refer to several deaths that the same soul passes through. But there is no such occurrence in Scripture. The Bible consistently refers to the death of an individual in the singular.
Now I have one final question for you, which only you can answer. Where are you going to spend eternity? Only you can answer that. Read it once again. I plead with you, do not go on until you have come to terms with this all-important question.
