Hallelujah Or Hell-A-Lujah?

There is nothing good about such a reality. Nothing.

It seems to me that too many Christians turn the “hallelujahs” of Rev. 19 (the only place in the New Testament that the word is used) into “HELL-a-lujahs!” in chapter 20. They find glee in the death of the wicked.

God does not.

• Ezekiel 33:11 says, “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!”

• 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “…God our Savior … wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

• 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Question #2: Is Jesus’ tone regarding hell your tone?

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT HELL WE THINK ABOUT RETRIBUTION; WHEN GOD THINKS ABOUT HELL GOD THINKS ABOUT REDEMPTION.

Sometimes we forget what saving people from their sin cost the Savior. IT COST HIM HIS LIFE! He was not here to make sure that everyone got what they deserved. Jesus came so we could escape the wrath to come. All of us … ALL OF US. Not just a select few or “the best of the worst” of humanity … ALL OF US!

Jesus spoke of hell and spent his whole life pleading with people to repent and follow Him so they could escape damnation. Jesus is not looking forward to the time when he divides the sheep and the goats. Jesus isn’t longing to “tread the winepress of God’s wrath” (Rev. 19:15). If you read chapter 19 (and other places in the book) you will see that Jesus’ robe was dipped in blood; this is, consistently in Revelation, an image of the “slaughtered Lamb” who was our sacrifice on the cross.

Jesus has done all he can to spare humankind a dreadful end.

Not only did Jesus come to “seek and to save the lost;” to save mankind from judgment, that was His apostles’ mission too. Paul says, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race” (Romans 9:3)

Question #3: Does Jesus’ eagerness to help “whosoever will” escape damnation reflect your eagerness?

Jesus didn’t begrudge the thief on the cross. Jesus eagerly granted him pardon and paradise. Sometimes we, on the other hand, live as if humanity ought to have to “earn their escape.” We see deathbed conversions as a way to “cheat the system.”

God does not.

In Max Lucado’s book, “In the Grip of Grace” he gives this confession and insight:

You know what disturbs me most about Jeffrey Dahmer? What disturbs me most are not his acts, though they are disgusting. Dahmer was convicted of seventeen murders. Eleven corpses were found in his apartment. He cut off arms. He ate body parts. My thesaurus has 204 synonyms for vile, but each falls short of describing a man who kept skulls in his refrigerator and hoarded a human heart. He redefined the boundary for brutality. The Milwaukee monster dangled from the lowest rung of human conduct and then dropped. But that’s not what troubles me most.