[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during October 2020]
“There’s another soul for whom Christ died.”
“Who? Where?”
“There, in front of us.”
“But there are dozens of people here. In fact, it seems like the whole world is here.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t mean ALL of them?”
“That’s what it says in John chapter 3 ‘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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’”
“Whoever means anyone, right?”
“Yes, and eternal life means going to heaven.”
“Seems like heaven has to be a pretty big place, with all these people expecting to get in.”
“You might well think that, but there’s a problem.”
“Which is … ?”
“The same passage also says ‘Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.’ Condemned means no heaven.”
“Seems quite straightforward. Believe and you get to go to heaven. So why do so many people miss out on the promise of eternal life?”
“Variety of reasons. Some haven’t heard about Christ, some don’t think that He’s relevant to them, some have more urgent things to do first. There are even some who have made a considered decision against accepting eternal life.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“The same chapter tells us ‘Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.’ So maybe they are ashamed of their deeds but don’t want to change.”
“Seems foolish to let pride condemn you. I’m looking forward to going to heaven, I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life.”
“Not yet, you haven’t. What are you going to do in the meantime?”
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
