God's Judgment and Doomsday

God's Judgment?

Every time there is a tragic event of some kind there will be those that attribute such a thing to God’s judgment for some sort of sin as if He is responsible for the violence. However, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden,  Eve responded to God’s questioning of her by saying, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate (Genesis 3:13).” If God were responsible for what Eve had done, why didn’t He correct her by saying, “No, Eve, you were not deceived, I made you eat the fruit”? He did not say that because He was not responsible for the actions of Eve or Adam. Both of them made a choice to act in opposition to what God had desired for them. It is no different when it comes to the attack on the Connecticut school. The killer committed the crime as an act of his own free will. It was not a judgment of God on anybody involved or the United States as a whole. I can say this because “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19).”  If God were judging man for his sin, then Christ’s death was incomplete and we know that not to be the case. Adam, Eve and the shooter chose to reject God. The first rejection resulted in sin entering the world; the latter resulted in the deaths of nearly 30 people, including 20 children. 

In order for God to give people the opportunity to accept Him and His offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, He had to allow people the ability to reject Him as well. The sins we commit are the expression of our unbelief or rejection of God. Thankfully, for us, the only sin God holds against us is the rejection of Jesus Christ as His one and only offer of salvation. “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me (John 16:8-9).” Most of us wouldn’t even think of committing a crime like what happened in Connecticut, but each of us commit sins every day. It is easy to sit in judgment, and rightfully so, on those in our society who engage in such terrible crimes. But, let us not forget that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” While the killer has stepped into a Christless eternity, let us be mindful that “whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him (John 3:36).” If you are rejecting Jesus Christ, you are rejecting God’s offer of salvation and His wrath remains on you. For those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as savior, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9).” 

Doomsday 

December 21, 2012, is “Doomsday” according to many people.  The most popular theory involves a supposed Mayan prophecy about the end of the world. There are also lesser known theories like rogue planets colliding with the Earth, planetary realignments and pole shifts. Now, it would be easy to quote Jesus Christ talking about no man knowing the exact timing of the End. But, we all know the passage and you don’t need me to say it again. However, for a significant amount of people around the world, today is the End. It is estimated that somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 people die each day. For many of them it is a literal “Doomsday.” Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” For all those people who die today, they will be thrust into the presence of the living God whether they like it or not. God may speak to them about how they lived and the things they have done with their lives. But, the only thing that He is concerned with is if they are spiritually dead to Him in their sins or spiritually alive to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. The former have been given an ominous warning from the pages of scripture; “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).”

Mayan prophecies, rogue planets, planetary alignments and pole shifts aside, there is nothing more frightening than the judgment of God and eternal separation from Him. However, for the latter, Hebrews 9:28 has a different promise; “To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Regardless of whether the “End” is called “Doomsday” or not, it is a glorious time for a born again Christian because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The world will not end today, but countless lives will. Are you prepared for your end? Do not let the folly of yet one more failed prediction of the end of the world distract you from preparing for your end. Instead of worrying about the end of the world, make today the day you secure your eternity by placing faith in Jesus Christ. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33).”