Completely Ready

Reward or Reprimand

We all see good and bad in the world.  If there is a “God,” then it’s only right that God should “reprimand” bad people while “rewarding” good people. Our consciences consistently affirm this idea, and all sorts of religions acknowledge the principle in some fashion.

The Bible speaks about the “reward” being heaven, and the “reprimand” being hell.  If there’s a chance that the Bible has some truth to it, and since it speaks of hell a real place, then each of us should ask a very important question:

Am I good enough to go to heaven?

The way to find this out is to examine yourself against the Law that God gives us in the Bible, also known as the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are found in the Bible, in Exodus chapter 20. Let’s look at three of the ten commandments for starters:

• “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Jesus Christ discussed that commandment and distilled it to its simple truth: “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.'” (Matthew 5:37.) Have you ever told a lie? If so, then you are a liar. That might sound harsh, but ask yourself, how many lies do you have to tell to be a liar? If you caught me telling you something that I knew wasn’t true, what would you think of me? You’d think I was a liar. There’s no magic number, “tell 9 lies and you’re OK, but the 10th time — bang, you are now a liar!” All it takes is one. Now here’s the really bad news: the Bible warns us (Revelation 21:8) that all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire, which is the second death! You may not think deceitfulness is a serious sin, but God does.
• “You shall not steal.” Have you ever taken something that belonged to someone else? It may or may not have been a big item. Like lying, there’s no magic value or quantity that must be stolen in the sight of God before you’re labeled a thief. Just one stolen pen from the office, one piece of candy from a sibling, or one stolen cookie from a cookie jar, and you are guilty of being a thief! And if you are a thief, there’s bad news—according to the Bible you will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:10).
• “You shall not murder.” Likely you are thinking, “I’ve never killed anyone, so I’m OK on that commandment!” But did you know the Bible warns that if you hate your brother, you are a murderer at heart (1 John 3:15)? The Bible describes God as so holy, and his justice is so thorough, that He even looks at the thoughts of your heart when He judges you under His Law. Have you ever murdered, according to God’s thorough justice?

How did you do on these three of the Ten Commandments? If you are reasonable, reflective human being, you may now be recognizing for the first time the truth that God revealed for mankind to understand — that you are really guilty of breaking His Law! And not just once, but over and over both in your heart, and in deed.

And remember, there are still seven other Commandments that we haven’t touched upon here, but which hit us in the same manner when we compare ourselves to them.  You can see them all in Exodus chapter 20 of the Bible.

But am I really that bad?

If God judges you according to the Ten Commandments, will He send you to heaven or to hell? Before you give a quick answer thinking that God is forgiving or that your good works outweigh your bad, think about a court of law…  Continue

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An inescapable destiny…

Imagine finding out that a man you trusted had lied to you, stolen from you, and even murdered your best friend! The police catch the perpetrator, the court finds him guilty, and now, before issuing his sentence, the judge asks if he has anything to say for himself. This smooth-talking man replies to the judge, “Your honor, I admit I’ve done some bad things, but keep in mind, I’ve done a lot of good things, too. I helped [your name] and [your friend’s name] quite a bit before those less pleasant things happened. And even you, your honor… I sent chocolates to your home as soon as I found out you were handling my case – I’ve heard you like chocolate! Plus, I visited that church you go to, your honor. And since you’re the treasurer there, you must even know that I gave a rather generous offering recently! Your honor, I know you’re a forgiving person, so I was thinking, don’t you think my case would be a good one for you to just forgive and forget?”

Only a corrupt judge would forgive such a lawbreaker. In fact, the criminal’s suggestion that he gave to the judge’s church or did some other “good” thing for the judge would likely be taken as bribery and add to the criminal’s punishment! Jesus warned that God, being very angry with sinners, will round up all lawbreakers and throw them into the “fiery furnace,” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42). If you are a lawbreaker before God, the Bible makes your destiny frightfully evident.

Does this concern you?

From what the Bible says and from personal experience, I know that some reading this will think it all nonsense; others will think I’m saying generally good stuff, but being too strong on the whole “breaking God’s Law” thing; still others will accept that they are lawbreakers before God, yet go on believing they can do more “good” things and will sort it out on judgment day when they stand before God.

The Bible says there is only one way for a person to get this problem worked out with God. God, knowing we could not ever wipe away our guilt as sinners (lawbreakers of God’s Law), came as a person, Jesus Christ. Although He lived a holy, sinless life, never breaking God’s Law at all, He was punished for our sin. He was executed in a brutal, criminal’s death that we deserved, being nailed to an ancient Roman cross of crucifixion — believed to be the most excruciatingly painful way to die that mankind has ever conceived.

The Bible prophetically described this hundreds of years before it happened in Isaiah 53:5:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

To understand what Jesus did for you on that cross, imagine you are a rebellious son.  You lied to and stole from your father, murdered your mother, and then were caught and found guilty. The law now says you must be executed, and the people in the courtroom have little pity because you’ve been so bad. Yet imagine the father now approaches the bench. He discusses an ancient law that says an innocent man can die in another’s place, and the guilty be set free. He declares that he will die in the place of his son, because of his love for him. The innocent father is willingly taken away to be executed, and the guilty son can now go free.

Crazy, isn’t it? But it is the very kind of love that God has for you, one which led Him to sacrifice Himself to make it possible for you to be set free from the consequences of your sin – eternal punishment in hell. What then must you do to let Jesus Christ save you from your waiting punishment? Continue

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How can you escape hell and get to heaven?

The answer is to receive the payment Jesus Christ made for your soul. This payment is free; you cannot earn it. God has made a merciful payment, but the opportunity for mercy only exists while you are here in this life. After you die, you will be standing before Him in His court of judgment (Hebrews 9:27), either with Christ having substituted for your place… or not! In that day, as with the guilty criminal fruitlessly trying to bargain with the judge, there will be no further opportunity for mercy (Matthew 13:47-50, Matthew 7:24-27).

Jesus said receiving the payment here in this life is a very simple thing to do. He told a parable of a guilty man who He said, “standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.” (Luke 18:13-14.) A humble sinner’s prayer is all it takes.

But having said this, please don’t be deceived into receiving Jesus’ payment lightly. Like the guilty man in that parable, receiving the payment Jesus Christ offered could cost you everything in this life. Jesus gave us an incredible warning of what the costs could potentially be (Luke 14:26-30,33):

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ … So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

For your own sake, as you face this decision about accepting God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ, be sure to consider the cost. Many hypocrites have claimed, “I believe in Jesus Christ,” but the lack of eternal fruit from their lives (see Mark 4:19) showed otherwise to God, and sometimes to other people.  Be sure that the things of this world are not so dear to you that you would choose the eternal fires of hell in exchange for a few decades of living for yourself in this life.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 3:19)

I’m Jay van Achterberg, the owner and president of Solution Innovators. Our company is pleased to share with you whatever is to your benefit. We have been helping our clients evaluate and successfully meet their IT readiness needs for over 18 years, and would count it a privilege to help prepare your business for disasters as well.

If you have technology needs, our company can likely help you. But regardless of what your technology needs might be, I urge you to personally consider the Bible’s warning of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). My deepest desire is that you are “Completely Ready” for when your life in this world ends and you find yourself standing before God on Judgment Day. If you have any questions about any of this, I welcome the opportunity to talk with you about it.

Thank you for reading, and may God bless you as you reflect on these things.

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