When still living in SOCAL, Disneyland offered free admission to birthday-people! So on Laurie’s birthday (October 29th), we went. Many of the attractions and rides were decked out in Halloween scariness: spooks, spirits, and skulls abounded! On some of the rides, I couldn’t shake thoughts of the terror beyond the grave that awaits people who reject Christ Jesus, the only One who can take away our sins against a holy, just God, sins which continue assigning people to an eternity of tormenting terror.
It’s well known that Jesus talked more about hell than heaven. The horrors that lay beyond the grave are graphically spelled out in the New Testament, the gospels in particular. Hell simply must be avoided at all costs. Jesus’ willingness to suffer as He did on Calvary’s cross demonstrates this truth.
Why is there a hell anyway? In simple terms, God is just. All wrongdoing will be “paid for” so to speak by consignment, for all eternity, to the place of torment, called in the Bible hell. Again, the details of the suffering are specified in the Gospels (use a Bible concordance to look up all references to hell if you want the details).
The only way of escaping such horror is to believe Jesus satisfied God’s wrath against sin; that He died in our place, paying the penalty for our sins (eternal separation from God — inescapable, unending torment).
I’m astounded at how prolific images of skulls have become in our day, symbols of death with apparently little serious thought given to what death and existence beyond the grave really is. “Gospel” means Good News — triumph beyond the grave, not terror; triumph for all who receive God’s pardon through faith in Christ alone.
Are you prepared for what lies beyond your death and burial? Just as surely as you are reading these words, your death is inevitable — are you prepared?
Paul sums up the good news of the gospel in I Corinthians 15:3-6: “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.”
Believe this and there will be no terror for you beyond the grave, only triumph over death and sin’s consequences!