How did I end up in hell?  Can’t see what difference it makes, but I’ll tell you, if you really want to know…

One day, I received a summons out of the blue, with a Notice To Appear on a certain date and time.  I was not expecting that.  The timing wasn’t convenient for me, so I set it aside, figuring I’d deal with it later.  It may have ended up in the garbage. I’m not sure.  When I didn’t show on the appointed day, officers of the court immediately took me into custody.

As I stood before the bench, the Judge asked if my Advocate was in the courtroom.  He wasn’t.  Everyone waited in total silence while they called Him.  When He finally arrived, I didn’t recognize Him.  He didn’t seem to know me, either.  Anyway, He denied that He was my counsel and was excused from the case.  I was on my own, and that suited me just fine.  In fact, I preferred it.  The indictment was read. I told the court I understood the charges and would be representing myself.  How did I plead?  Innocent, of course.

Although I hadn’t given the matter any thought before that day and had absolutely nothing prepared, I managed to put on a pretty solid last-minute defense (if I do say so, myself).  I had some strong character witnesses and was confident I could create reasonable doubt about my guilt.  I even had an alternate theory of the crimes with which I was charged, including likely suspects.

I argued that it was folks who call themselves Christians who were really to blame.  After all, they believed in hell—I didn’t.  So, shouldn’t they have seen the trouble I was in and tried that much harder to warn me about this awful place?  I mean come on—it’s nicknamed “the Lake of Fire,” for crying out loud.  Christians, of all people, knew how to avoid it.  But few of them ever even mentioned it to me.  People who should have cared what happened to me but didn’t; people who had a God-given duty to warn me but neglected to do so—wasn’t all of this really their fault?  Shouldn’t they be the ones defending themselves?

Yes, I was a sinner, like everybody else (except Christ, that is).  And like everybody else, I refused to admit it.  No sin, no need for a cure.  No problem!  Christians saw the path I was on and understood that it led nowhere in the end but to death and damnation.  And yet, most still said nothing to me.  Why weren’t they in the courtroom, instead of me?

But the Judge wasn’t buying it.  I was curtly reminded that Christians were not the subjects of these proceedings.  I was the one on trial.  The responsibility for anything others may or may not have said or done was between them and God.  I was told that I may as well accept the fact that the sentence I was facing wasn’t their fault, it was mine.

Then, my character witnesses were disallowed.  The Judge ruled that the perjured testimony of my fellow offenders was of no evidentiary value, that it showed contempt for the court, and represented an intolerable waste of its time.  So, I took the stand myself, hoping I could sway Him, somehow.

Funny thing—every time I started to lie and alibi, and excuse myself, the Judge ordered my testimony stricken from the record and before I knew what was happening, the truth came spilling out of me all on its own.  I was forced somehow, to answer honestly.  That totally blindsided me.  Things went downhill fast for me after that.

I heard myself admitting that I knew my friends and relatives were liars like myself, and were utterly unqualified to give truthful, relevant testimony.   I also admitted under oath that the whole reason I’d called them was to try to obscure the facts, evoke sympathy and con the Judge into setting me free or at least, letting me off lightly.

To my shock and horror, I confessed to the Judge that it probably wouldn’t have mattered whether Christians cautioned me or not.  I wasn’t the least bit interested in what they had to say.

Was I stubborn, an unusually hard case?  Not at first.  At first, I was just confused.  I guess it’s because they started out by telling me the “good news” that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins.  I blew that off, quite frankly.

How come?  In the first place, it didn’t apply to me.  I was not some terrible person.  Nobody’s perfect but some are better than others and, I was certain that I was better than most.  I didn’t see why my little transgressions were such a big deal.  The Son of God quite literally crucified?  For my sins?  That hardly seemed necessary or like something a loving God would allow.  And “God is love,” right?

Secondly, the story didn’t add up.  It just wasn’t fair.  Jesus wasn’t a sinner—I was.  Jesus hadn’t earned God’s righteous indignation, I had.  Jesus didn’t deserve the death penalty, I did.  Yet He stepped up and volunteered to take the punishment my sins deserved?  God’s master plan to save me was to sacrifice His own Son?  Why would someone do that?  It didn’t make sense.

So, I said to myself, ‘I color outside the lines a little bit, every now and then.  So what?  Everybody does it.’  Ask a Christian to explain why even one tiny little sin is so bad, and they’re likely to tell you it’s because it’s enough to separate us from God, who can’t or won’t put up with it (too holy, they say).

That got me thinking.  Maybe a little distance between me and God is not such a bad idea.  I want my space—a little maneuvering room—so I can do what I need to, to be happy.  I’ve never felt that God (if He exists) understands what’s truly important to me or that He’d approve of some of the stuff I have to say or do to get it.

Couldn’t I have asked God for help on the close calls, the sticking points, the “grey areas?”  Sure, if I’d had any kind of relationship with Christ, to begin with.  But that isn’t what most of those who tried to “witness to me” talked about.  There was lots of interest in telling me about their religion, but not much focus on getting to know God personally, why I should want to, and what that would look like.  Again, my fault for not pursuing it.  I just wasn’t particularly curious about the whole thing.

I don’t know, maybe it mattered much more than I realized at the time, because rather than reading the Bible and learning what God says about Himself, I sort of made up my own ideas of what God was like.  My self-made (false) god kept me from developing any interest in the one true God who, as it turns out, is very real—just as the Lake of Fire is real—all too real.

What was by far the best part about having a god of my own making (even if he was make believe), is that he never questioned me, never second-guessed me, never judged me, never crossed me, never pulled rank, never challenged me, never made demands.  I had my liberty and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

But it came at an enormous cost.  It might be corny and it may be old-fashioned (I can hardly say it without blushing), but I was an idolater and didn’t realize it, daily blaspheming and offending my Creator.  My ignorance and those crazy imaginings turned out to be deadly and damning.

Satanic deception had fried my conscience and rendered it inoperable.  It blinded me to my true spiritual condition.  I never bothered to seek out the Savior, because I was unable to see the awful danger I was in.  Though my soul faced many perils, I could no longer sense the jeopardy.

But the consequences of self-delusion were even more terrifying.  I ignored God’s commands to repent of my sins because I’d convinced myself that I had done nothing from which I needed to turn away.  In my pride and self-love, I could not, would not humble myself and come to God for forgiveness.

I snubbed the outstretched hand of Jesus, that held the pardon He purchased for me with His own blood.  I didn’t care that He suffered, died on the cross and was buried that I might go free.  God offered me resurrection and eternal life as a gift, but I preferred continued rebellion, so that I could do as I pleased, without any “interference” from Him.

You’re shaking your head.  Look.  I didn’t invent that attitude.  It’s as old as Adam and Eve.  Psalm two?  No, I’m not familiar…Read some of it?  Sure, why not?  I’ve got nothing but time.

“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed [that is, Christ (Greek) / Messiah (Hebrew)], saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king [Jesus] upon my holy hill of Zion [temple mount, Jerusalem].”

(Psalm 2:2-6; written around the 10^th Century before Christ)

Well, now that is remarkable, isn’t it?  Break their bands apart and throw away the ropes.  That’s just how I saw God’s guidance and protection—as confining, restrictive, restraining.  I chafed under His care and protection.  I wanted to rule.  I resented His attempts to get involved in my life, His claims on me, His influence over me.  I never asked Him for anything except to stay out of my way.  He supposedly loves me, but who was He to tell me what to do?

But now I’m free.  Now I’m really living.  Bet you envy me, don’t you?  [At this point a towering wall of flame suddenly shot upward, drowning out the answer with a roar and terminating the interview.]

*****

For the record dear reader, the (true) God, the God of the Bible, is a God of righteousness (not happiness, self-indulgence and instant gratification).  This righteousness comes from God, not from our own efforts at keeping God’s law.  All such human efforts are doomed to failure, as the standard for earning the right to eternity with God in heaven is 100% perfection in thought, word, and deed.  Clearly then, we cannot save ourselves.  But God, in His mercy and compassion, had a plan to redeem and rescue us.  God loved the world so much that He sent His own Son as a sacrifice to atone for our sin and reconcile us to Himself.  The law doesn’t save—it shows us that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

It is by grace (undeserved favor from God) that we are saved, through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered, died on the cross for our sins (He had no sin of His own) and was buried.  God raised Him from the dead on the third day, just as God’s holy prophets declared that He would.  After His resurrection, Jesus ascended back into heaven, and we eagerly await His return to rule and reign on earth.

Approaching God His way, on His terms, brings life—not as compensation for good works, but as an unearned gift from God.  God makes this gift freely available to those who repent, believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and that God raised Him from the dead—those who confess Him as their Lord and Savior, trusting in Him and Him alone, for salvation.  To find out more, read on.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can transform you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  (Romans 10:9-10)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)