A Loving God and Eternity

Matthew 25:31-46 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” New International Version (NIV) https://www.biblegateway.com The scriptures speak clearly of existence after death-people will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. Yet many individuals consider this truth inconsistent with other facts about the Lord. While their objections are understandable, the Bible provides the answers:    HOW CAN THE LORD BE GOOD IF HE LETS SOME PEOPLE SPEND ETERNITY IN HELL? God is love (1 John 4:8), and He doesn't want anyone to live without Him (1 Timothy 2:4). According to HIs plan, every person can turn from sin and receive the Savior, enjoying His presence both now and throughout eternity. Some, however, reject Jesus Christ and live apart from Him all their days. Unless they change that tragic decision, their separation from divine love will continue eternally.    WHY WOULD GOD CREATE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS, KNOWING THEY'D NEVER TURN TO HIM? To some, this seems unloving. Yet God so values our free will that He won't force anyone to go to heaven against his or her will. Doing so would amount to creating robots who are unable to truly respond, love and worship.    AN ENDLESS PENALTY SEEMS UNFAIR, ESPECIALLY IF A NON-CHRISTIAN NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL. As long as unbelievers are alive, the heavenly Father goes to great lengths to keep them from eternal punishment-except He won't violate their free will. He gives enough time and evidence so that nobody has a valid excuse for rejecting the one path to salvation (Romans 1:20).    Jesus wants you to spend eternity with Him. So do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? Stanley, Charles F. "A Loving God and Eternity." In Touch: Daily reading for devoted living. Atlanta: InTouch.org. September 2019, page18.