 | Pastor Bill Emmerling, Jr. is the lead pastor at Grace Place Pittsburg, meeting at the Homer Cole Community Center in Pittsburg. Ordained at Grace Place of Lamar, MO, Bill has a heart to see Godly men together lead their families for the glory of Jesus the Messiah. He has been married to the bride of his youth, Sharri, for 22 years and has two daughters and a son. Bill has earned a B.S. in Physics, a secondary teaching certification and studied Theology/Philosophy at Lincoln Christian Seminary. He may be reached at pittsburg@grace-place.org or by phone at 620-670-4510 |
Religion
2012-10-03 11:22:40
Who gets to go to Heaven?
A- To be direct, looking at these texts and the passages that surround them seems clear, "…how few there are who find it!"
However, behind many questions there is an unasked question, and I wonder if the true concern is about fairness. Perhaps one is questioning God's (Jesus') judgment in this matter. We live with a man-centered view of the world. Because of this we are often troubled by the thought that God would judge the 'majority' unworthy.
Remember, God is the ultimate authority on holiness, purity, goodness, justice, love and all other virtues. Not only did he 'make' them, He is the ultimate expression of them. He alone is the standard, and we in our rebellion cannot measure up alone.
We need only to look to Genesis 3 and see that Adam and Eve's rebellion against God's will represented us (also see Romans 3), just as Jesus' sacrifice makes us righteous/innocent before God (John 1:29,36; John 19), and His Resurrection proves his sacrifice was acceptable to God and gives us hope (Romans 6:5; Hebrews 10, esp v10 and following).
While many of us know John 3:16, we seldom read the verses that follow, and they are significant as well: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Because we are sinful by nature, we are already condemned. God must be just. This is why Jesus took on our punishment, in order that God would remain just while offering mercy and forgiveness.
While Jesus died for all [the many] (though not all accept his Lordship), he deals with each of us, wanting each of us to deal honestly with him. In Luke 13 he was asked about Galileans who were killed while making sacrifice, and of 18 who died in the collapse of a tower. Twice, His response was "…but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3, 5)
The ultimate question is "How will 'I' respond to Jesus?"
Will 'I' repent of my sinful nature and embrace him as the loving Lord of my life and enjoy the eternal life he gives?
Or will 'I' reject him, and insist on living life MY way and reap the results of it?
This is a decision that we must make, even if we ignore the question.
