Of late I have heard references referring to
finding ourselves on the right side of history…
Here is an allegory that should help us
understand the intention I wish to highlight…
A group of people gathered with eager
anticipation as a young woman deep in the throes of labour, works her way
painfully through the process of her brutal birth spasms, in spite of the
anguish she now faced and with a clad-iron resolve she was determined to follow
through with a natural birth. Whilst her parents linger in the cold dull
passageway of the Maternity Ward in the deep south of Johannesburg, and as her
father had lived through the Second World War a thought flashes vividly through
his mind, “hospitals always have death written all over their walls”, and then
the reality of what was happening kicked in, “but not this time!” his thoughts
had now become vocal causing his wife to turned to him, “What”? “Never mind” he
muttered, how could he bring up death when they expected life? As this was a
very happy juncture. There were endless opportunities for this new bundle of
joy. The man was filled with glee and was to soon be a granddad! But not yet
for there were still many uncertainties, would his daughter and the unborn
child come through without any complication? Therefore he continued to pace up
and down with great intent hoping that all would be well with the apple of his
eye for she was but a young lass, barely seventeen. It was an anxious moment
and yet it was compressed by excitement. “Is it a boy or a girl”? An exciting
thought all had already considered, wanting to be the one who could gloat and
say I told you it would be a boy.
Then it happened, they heard it, a babies
cry. It was rather comical as they simultaneously look at each other and laying
aside the hospital policies, instantaneously they all rushed into the room to
examine the miracle. Maybe this baby boy would be the next president or the
next greatest prodigy with a golf club in his hand. The potential endless and
full of promise! Words like “cute” and “he is beautiful, he looks just like
you” travelled from person to person filling the room with chatter, the
overtones of joy fanned across the room bringing smiles to all. And then
something outside of the norm happened God allowed them to see into the future
as He commanded time to travel forward. Their joy suddenly turns to shattered
heartache; a horror filled vision now became their reality and they were all
privy to it; death, misery and total darkness engulfed with unquenchable flames
potentially awaited not only this little newborn baby but all of mankind and
God in His mercy had shown it to them.
The reality of it was that all of mankind has
been condemned already. We all stand guilty before a Holy God and Hell with all
its fury is our destination. It is mankind’s lot in life. Try as we may to
build Arks like in the movie 2012 or the series Salvation as we rally together
as one united nation, trying with paramount resolve to avoid the inevitable,
the destruction of this planet as we know it, which will eventually happen. The
same fate awaits us all. An eternity of horror personified! They had seen it
and there was no denying it for God had shown it to them.
The joy that filled that delivery room was
now filled with regret and the remorse of this accidental conception, conceived
outside of the bounds of wedlock was now forgotten. Although they were practicing
Catholics and they had done everything in their power to conceal their sin
removing the ridicule that would come upon the family if it became public
knowledge had now dissipated as there were far more pressing issues on hand. If
only this little boy had never been born was the thought of consensus and then
it dawned on then, but what about us? Doomed for eternity! It was no longer an
idea that some jarhead had shouted from a street corner; “repent for the end is
near”! God had revealed the truth to them and they had seen the end, they now
understood the ramifications! They had grasped it for God had shown it to them!
As they limply made their way back to the vehicles they had arrived in. The
drive back to their homes was filled with silence and remorse for they were all
devastated by the reality of it all, once so oblivious to the secrets of hell
but now “eyes wide open” to what was just over the horizon. “Stop the car”, the
father demanded on the fringe on the highway, it was a perfect position, the
car had come to rest in a blind spot, and he thought that they might be lucky
enough to be taken out of their misery and be steamrolled by a passing truck.
What was a man to do? What is a father to do? Climbing out of the car the man
began to frantically pace up and down with strides of hopelessness; he then looked
up and saw a humongous clump of sand that had been sifted from a gold mine
shaft and with his gaze locked onto it he called out to it, “KILL ME”! He had
finally understood that he was “condemned already” and there was nothing he
could do to save himself or his family nor his newborn grandson. It was a
hopeless situation!
“CONDEMNED ALREADY” was and is the state of
mankind and will remain their lot in life if they do not respond to the only
lifeline available…
Pay very careful attention as it may just
help you understand the magnitude of your predicament and rescue you from it.
The Apostle John a spokesperson on behalf of God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob penned these words a long time ago; “Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of
God.” (John 3:18)
How on earth did mankind arrive here? Here
was a man who had now understood his fate, he was in total despair, crying to a
hill to fall on him and snuff the life from him. And then it happen, God
mercifully took pity on him and took him back to the beginning to help him
understand…
He now stood in the midst of a beautiful
garden surrounded by absolute tranquility, a vast contrast to his previous
vision, perfection personified with harmonic melody from all its wildlife
wafting on the back of a gentle breeze bringing great comfort to him and those
in the garden. “Is this how it all started” he thought? He knew it to be true.
At first he grappled with the contrasting visions and if this is how it began
why does it end with such destruction? Walking through paradise he passed a
lion lying down next to a lamb, they seemed extremely content with their
surrounding and there was no aggression evident. His stride then came to an
abrupt halt and he saw a woman conversing with a serpent, a creature that he
was unfamiliar with, it looked like a snake but it stood upright on its legs,
it hissed with a choral lyric to its voice, he could now hear what was being
said, “Did God actually say?” the serpent whispered. And then it dawned
on him what was about to happen. “Stop he shouted, get away from him”! But she
was oblivious to his cries and continued to peer deeper into his trickery
unaware of the deception that was about to take place. If only she knew what
she was actually doing, dooming my new born grandson to an eternity of total
hopelessness, “wake up you foolish woman”, he shouted even louder this time,
but to no avail, the lure had worked and she was now lapping up every word.
Satan had ensnared her and there was no escape, he had won and defied God! That
day he won a fight but he will never win the battle, praise God!
Mr. Harry Casual (the man) finally
understood that it was because of this event that all of mankind has been
doomed. Our great grandmother to the power of who knows the actual
number, God Knows, I most certainly don’t! It was all her doing! But what
of our great grandfather, he wasn’t deceived and yet he followed in the
sin of his wife. As selfish as his decision may well have been the reality
of it all is the pair of them doomed all of mankind to fall under Gods
condemnation. Happy-go-lucky (the man) then saw God commission two cherubim’s,
angels like creature with flaming swords commanding them to guard the tree of
life, forbidding sinful intent to eat from it. Death had now been their
sentence, their foolishness had eternal consequences and their eternity with
God had been snatched from them; resulting in God banishing them from paradise
as they knew it. The penalties were dismal! For the first time they saw thorns
sprout out amongst the flower eventuating their folly.
As he stood at the foot of that mound of
that Sand Hill just off the highway the man having seen the end
and the beginning of time finally understood why all of mankind had been
doomed. The prize of God’s creation, mankind had rejected Him and yielded to
the voice of another created being, the serpent that is the devil. It finally
made sense! The sin of one man had blinded all to the realities of life and the
bigger picture with the warriors of hell keeping us all from the truth. Driving
us to be engulfed with daily activities and giving very little thought to the
hereafter! Sending us into a spiral filled with our own opinions and with zero
recognition for the creator of the heavens and the earth. Flip, dissect, analyze,
or do what you want with the reality of the truth and we must all eventually
arrive at the same conclusion; we all justly deserve what is coming, JUDGEMENT!
Some will still cry, “That is unfair”, but it is what it is! He knew it to be
true for God had shown it to him!
It was then that the man contemplated
running into the oncoming traffic, for what else was a man to do? But before he
could actioned that thought a voice from heaven shouted, “STOP!” God then took
him into a time of Roman rule and he saw a man crucified to a cross with the
onlookers jeering at him, “if you are God save yourself” they mocked; whilst
others cursed insults at him and spat upon him. It was here that the love of
God became apparent to Mr. Potentially Hopeful (the man); God’s love had
compelled Him to provide a lifeline for mankind; "For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life.” (John
3:16) – A
love inconceivable to our characters and yet God punished His only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Lord was disciplined on behalf of sinners,
WOW! In other words Mr. Thankful (the man) finally understood that although he
was the sinner, someone who was without sin had paid the price for his sin. His
mind now flashed to all the other religions of the world and the little he knew
of them helped him finally understand that they could not help him as God hates
sin and will deal with it and no one outside of the covering of Christs
sacrifice will escape His judgement. If we are tried for our sin and found
guilty of breaching even one of the smallest of God laws we will face His
punishment. Hell will be our eternal destination.
Why do we need to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Because he alone paid the penalty for sinners and forgives all who
repent of their sin and believe on His finished work; He paid the fine and that
now frees us of our sin. The fine has been paid and it has satisfied God.
“Jesus in my Place”! But never forget that Jesus Christ the Lord spilt his own
blood so that we could go free and escape the looming devastation that awaits
the devil and his angels.
Therefore reject the offer on hand and you
will end up in that devastating place it is as simple as that. This is the end
for those who reject God’s free grace offer, please pay very careful attention to it and do not be swayed by the foolish
opinions that those professing to be wise present with no factual evidence.
Some say that we are part of the cycle of evolution and that our genealogy
started with the ape-man; think it through it, use your God given brain, if
that be true, why have we not found millions if not billions of those fossils?
The answer is obvious, it is a LIE! Here is the end of the story for those who
reject this glorious God given offer; “Then I saw a great white throne and him
who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place
was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book
was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the
books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were
in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged,
each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15) – Therefore it is clear that there is
a book with registered names in it known as the “book of life” and the only way
any individual can avoid the upcoming fate is if their name is recorded in it and
the only way for this to happen is by repenting and accepting the Lord Jesus’
sacrifice on behalf of your sin. It is as simple as that!
What will you do with the mercy that God
has offered you?
“For
"everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
I beg you call upon Him and repent if not
you will end up on the wrong side of history.
Signing off
Tyrone
