Condemned Already

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." John 3:18

A Christian apologist was taking questions about God when someone asked him about free will. This is how he responded. "Ladies, is there anybody in here who's ever had a man pursue you and you did not want that man to pursue you; you did not want to date him? Anyone in here? Of course [hands go up] ... Okay ladies, suppose this man continues to pursue you and continues to pursue you. You say, 'I only like you as a friend.' Ladies, why don't you just take the knife, stick it in, and turn it [laughter]. Because every man in here has heard this; I like you, but only as a friend. Well, suppose that he continues to pursue you, continues to pursue you, continues to pursue you. And he gets to the point where he says, "Look, I love you so much, I am going to force you to love me! Can he do that? No, he can't do that. Love, by definition, must be freely given. So, if he truly did love you, what would he do? He would leave you alone. That's exactly what God does. He keeps sending us cards, letters and flowers while we're here. And if we keep rejecting Him, keep rejecting Him, He gives us up to our own desires. And that, ultimately, is what Hell is; Hell is separation from God. So, you're free in Hell.You can continue to reject God in Hell. But, you are confined to Hell. In fact, Hell is a quarantine of evil. And Heaven, of course, is being in the very presence of God. God loves you too much to force you into His presence against your will." One of the rejections often put forth by unbelievers is that they cannot believe in a God that will send someone to Hell for not believing in Him. This same Christian spoke of a debate he had with an atheist. The atheist said to him, "My mother was a survivor of the Holocaust. She lived an awful life. Somebody presented her with the Gospel and she rejected it. Is she in Hell right now?" It doesn't get any more direct than that. The Christian said, "I don't know where your mother is. I don't know if she made a profession of faith in her last moments. But, if she didn't, then God will not force her into His presence against her will. God is too loving for that." That is a good answer. When I heard the question the atheist asked, I thought to myself, what he is really saying is that I won't believe in a God that allowed my mother to go through hell on earth and then sent her to Hell because she didn't believe in Jesus Christ. He is not only judging God, he doesn't realize that the whole reason people suffer is because we, in Adam, rejected God and sin entered the world.

Everybody knows John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." In fact, it may be the most well-known words ever spoken in human history. But, how many people, especially unbelievers, know John 3:18? In this verse, Jesus clearly says that those who do not believe in Him are "condemned already." In other words, you may be physically alive and have not believed in Jesus Christ as your savior, but your "reservation," if you will, has already been made in Hell. Through His sinless life, death on the cross for the sins of the world and resurrection from the dead, to offer us the life of God, Jesus has done everything for us, except for one thing. He can't make you believe in Him. God doesn't send anybody to Hell. If a person ends up in Hell, it is their fault, not His. He has left the door to salvation wide open. All a person has to do is walk through it. But, many people don't want to. They have their own ideas about who God should be and how life should be. And because the truth of the Gospel doesn't match up, they reject it, to their demise. I could imagine the conversation between the atheist and God, assuming the atheist never comes to faith in Jesus, and his mother is not in Heaven. It may go something like this. Atheist: "How could You allow my mother to suffer so much in the Holocaust and then send her to Hell for not believing in Jesus Christ?" God: "How could you and your mother not accept My Son when He died for you, your mother, the Nazis and the entire world? I wanted You all to be here with Me, but you did not want to be here." Jesus said, "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).'" Hell was made for the devil and his angels, not for man! But, if you reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God has nowhere else to put you. The Apostle Peter wrote, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)." He clearly says that God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God doesn't want you to go to Hell, He wants you to change your mind about Jesus Christ and believe the Gospel. The suffering that we all go through, to one degree or another, is designed to get us to focus on eternal things; things above as the Bible calls it. Unfortunately, for some, they believe that life should not be one of suffering. And instead of blaming sin, they continue to reject God because they don't want His love. God will have given them exactly what they wanted and they will have an eternity to think about it.