Just for Kicks :-)

Why is Hell Just That... Hell?

How many people really have ever wondered why the place that Christianity has traditionally called Hell is just that... Hell? It's not something that I've ever particularly desired to spend much time thinking in depth upon and I think most people would echo similar sentiments. Hell is something that is not very pleasant to dwell upon and as a result, we don't spend much time focusing on it. However, if we would take a moment to examine why Hell is a place of torment, we might be surprised with what we learn.

I take as my starting point 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 4:6. "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is spirit." "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Paul makes it explicitly clear that the transformation in the life of a believer comes as a result of SEEING GOD! As we look through scripture this truth is confirmed as we examine the lives of various people who had encounters with God. Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Apostle Peter and the Apostle John are all examples of this. Their lives were transformed as they gazed upon the beauty and glory of the Lord such that they were drawn to him and transformed. This transformation is ultimately God's work but the means he uses is the delight and satisfaction that come from seeing God as He truly is. Therefore, although much more could be said of this by way of proof, we understand that seeing God truly with spiritual eyes is to delight in him. The very joy of eternal life comes not in living forever without dying but living forever without dying in a state of sheer, ever increasing bliss because of the presence of our Father God!

There will come a day when all men will be resurrected and stand before God in judgment and worship. As Paul tells us in Philippians 2:10-11, all men, not just Christians, will worship God at the last day. I take this to mean that all men, Jew or Gentile, Christian or Non-Christian will come to see the full-glory of God in all its delightful, satisfying radiance. Now, imagine catching a true glimpse of that which you finally realize is the true satisfaction of your soul. For a moment you are able to worship it and bask in its glory and then, you are suddenly whisked away and completely shut out from that which you finally realized is your satisfaction. I think that would be the greatest torment for any human being to endure! The Bible describes Hell as a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth". What better the cause of this weeping and gnashing of teeth than for a soul to realize that it had done the greatest offence of scoring the Glory of the God of the Universe. It's likely Biblically that this is not the only torment of Hell. It's very possible that there may be literal, physical torment of flames. It's very possible that a soul may be embittered and tormented by it's own darkness as every last shred of Common Grace is removed from it. But I believe that greater than anything else man can come up with, the greatest torment is to be totally shut out from the glory, light and benevolence of God.

The thought of this eternal torment of a human soul is not a very encouraging or delightful subject to spend much time thinking about. However, it does highlight something very precious that we have as believers. The extent of the miseries of a soul suffering for eternity in Hell is the exact opposite of the extent to which we will delight and grow in delight in God for all eternity! While the absence of the glory and presence of God is the greatest torment a human soul can experience the presence of God's glory is the supreme and most sublime delight that we will experience. At the moment, we experience God's glory and presence in a way that can not even come close to the extent we will enjoy God in the New Creation. Praise be to God for this!!

Pervasive Depravity

Katie and I took our Pastor and his wife (Brian and Chandra Howard) out to dinner tonight. By the way, this is a great thing for people in the church to do, especially if you pastor has kids at home. As we were discussing the counseling ministry that our church is beginning to start up, he made a very interesting statement. He said that the more he talks to and counsels people, the more he truly believes that very few people even in the church have their act together like they would like people around them to believe. It's easy to go through life believing that most people live good lives free from the kinds of gross sins that are looked down upon by the Church and Society in general. However, we know biblically and practically speaking that this certainly isn't the case. The Bible teaches that men are totally depraved and who are we kidding (and harming) but ourselves to let this sin remain hidden. Now, that's not to say that we should go about proclaiming and parading our sin for everyone to see. However the public confession of sin is something that is very healthy in the church. It is a sign that the Spirit has been working through the Scriptures to bring people to conviction. More than that, for true believers, it is a sign that we are truly trusting ourselves to the Grace of God and the transforming power of His Spirit working to reveal His irresistable Glory. As believers, we all struggle to relate to God on the basis of Grace and not on the phantom concept of works righteousness. Trusting in God's grace means that we won't fear the illumination of our sin but rather rejoice that God has already dealt with it on the Cross of Christ and that His Holy Spirit is working to root that sin out from our lives to enable us all the more to enjoy making much of God!

Homiletics and Preaching Part 1

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
- 1 Corinthians 1:17

As someone who aspires to the preaching ministry, this is a passage which has scared me for a long time! The implication that Paul is stating in this passage is enormous if we would but take a moment to really think about what He is saying. Essentially, it boils down to the fact that if he (or, I assume, any other preacher) preaches the gospel "with words of eloquent wisdom" then the ability of the cross to save is totally removed! So the responsibility of the preacher and the implications for HOW HE PREACHES are absolutely staggering. So then it would befit preachers to understand exactly what Paul means here or else run the risk of totally destroying all that they set out to do in preaching ministry.

This passage is set against the background of the intellectual Greek world. The city of Corinth was very near in proximity to Athens, the historic center of Greek intellectual and artistic culture. Oration or public speaking was one of the common facets of Greek life. One could always hear philosophers debating or giving speeches on a given topic in the market place, the center of Greek life. Many Greek orators were impressive in their ability to use rhetoric to influence an audience towards their perspective. This is something with which the Corinthian church would have been very familiar having spent their entire lives immersed in this culture which practically worshipped this kind of intellectual prowess.

Therefore, as the gospel was entering the Greek culture or any culture for that matter, it would have been very tempting for evangelists and pastors to preach using this very well crafted, rhetorical style of speaking in order to most effectively stir their audiences to action. This is what I believe Paul means when he speaks of "eloquent words of wisdom". So, it is this eloquent, rhetorical preaching which Paul says will "empty the cross of Christ". But how exactly is it that preaching in this way removes the cross' ability to save?

Let me offer two similar but different scenarios. First, a man comes to town preaching the gospel. His style is very polished, his homiletics are impeccable and he does all "the right things" that a preacher should do. He pauses at all the right critical junctures and lilts his voice at all the exclamation points. His preaching stirs many people in the crowd to action to do what he is urging them to do, namely repent. Now, if an observer were looking on to this scene what would he attribute the amazing response to? Well, of course it would have to be attributed to the remarkable rhetorical and homiletical ability of this man. He is his great speaking ability was able to move the crowd to accept and believe the position he was advocating. In our second scenario, a man comes into a town preaching the gospel. His appearance is not the neatest or cleanest and his speech is not very impressive. However, as he preaches the gospel, the audience is rowsed, convicted and many people are converted. In this second scenario, who would get the glory? From a human standpoint, it would be hard to attribute such a remarkable response to the work of this unimpressive person. The only real explanation for this would be to attribute it to the working of God and His Spirit. In this case, he gets the glory!

I believe that this understanding calls for us to radically think through the process of preaching and the homiletics which accompany that act!