Thursday, November 8, 2001
I'm lucky they don't make me wear a nametag when I go to see our dentist. See, he doesn't see me all that often. It's not that I don't need to see him; it's not that I don't pay for it when I put off seeing him. Oh, I'll get around to it--later. Now, don't you think we all have this tendency to avoid appointments that may be unpleasant? Sure we do. And, in most cases, you can put off--even cancel--meetings that you don't want to have. In most cases.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "No Postponements, No Cancellations."
In our word for today from the Word of God, God announces an appointment I have - and you have. Hebrews 9:27, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." God makes it very clear: we have an appointment with our Creator--or, as the old-timers used to say, to "meet our Maker."
Now that final reality is something that, well, we'd rather run from than face a lot of times. One alternative idea we hear a lot about these days is reincarnation. Of course, that's not really a new idea. Reincarnation proposes that we can escape this day of reckoning indefinitely through this endless cycle of starting over. Of course, the only One who knows for sure what happens beyond death is God Himself. And He leaves absolutely no room for us going around again when He says it's man's destiny to, "die once and after that to face judgment."
When God talks about us facing judgment, He says you and I will have to account to Him for our life - a life that, according to the Bible, has been lived outside our Creator's plans. In God's own words, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Nobody has lived up to God's standards. Everybody has the death penalty of sin to deal with.
That's why so many people become religious and try to do good; we hope we can somehow pay off our sins. But again, our way of getting ready for our appointment with God is useless. The Bible says that at the time of judgment, "Every mouth will be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous (that means right with God ... qualified to go to heaven) by observing the law" (or doing all the right things).
There's no way you can pay your sin-bill with your religion, your generosity, or your goodness. The only way this eternal bill could be paid was by God's eternal Son, Jesus Christ. The next verses say we are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 9:28). The payment we're trying to make with our goodness was already made by Jesus when He took our death penalty on His cross. The only question God will ask you when you keep your appointment with Him is, "What did you do with My Son?"
Years ago when prairie fires would sweep across Indian lands, Native Americans would literally fight fire with fire. They would actually set a fire in a trench around their village. When the prairie fire hit the already burned area, it stopped. The principle of stopping the fire was simple: the fire cannot go where the fire has already been.
The fire of God's judgment for the sinning we have done has already fallen on His Son at the cross. If you put your trust in Jesus to be your Savior from your sin, your judgment is canceled. The fire cannot go where the fire has already been.