Ransom for Many (Lent 30, 2023)

If a recent look at the comments to Franklin Graham’s post on Twitter are any indication, Satan (who wants as many traveling buddies to hell as he can get) …well, he’s going to have plenty of company.  People seriously, arrogantly, and loudly proclaiming that they think that hell is going to be better than heaven … if earthly “Christians like Franklin Graham” are heaven-bound. 

Wow. If only they knew how much they’ve diminished both heaven and hell by that assumption.  Imperfect people from earth will be headed to both eternal destinations, but only the ones in heaven will have been forgiven as Image-bearers … and that’s only because Jesus had the mindset of serving.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Furthermore, every Twitter tweeter is imperfect, but they miss this important point: imperfect Christians on earth will be transformed to perfection in that day because Jesus was the ransom for many. 

1Thessalonians 5:9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Many Image-bearers will be ransomed, but sadly and importantly, not all.
Therefore, think about it: 
Hell—and only Hell—will be the eternal abode of the forever imperfect.

Focus for Lent: Gratitude for Jesus’ paying the price for our sin. Repent and believe this Good News.

Questions for further thought:

If Christians are as bad as these Twitter tweeters claim, why won’t they be in hell?  There are two answers here.  (1)  First, how about that amazing grace of God in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?  And (2) if they’re not as bad as tweeters’ claims, what does that say about the Twitter tweeters and their presumptions, prejudices, and predictions?

Repeat after me: Hell is not an eternal dance party with salsa music.  Hell is not an eternal dance party with salsa music… 

What makes people think hell is not so bad?

Prayer: Lord God, please forgive us for believing any delusions our adversary hints about hell. On the affirmative, help us to teach Hell exactly as You portray it in Scripture.  Forgive us for thinking that imperfect people should be enough to keep us from the greatest gift You could ever give: Your Son Jesus Christ.  He paid the highest price to give us eternal life with You, not because You play favorites or we’re anything special, but because You are gracious.  Remind us that Your Image in humanity sets us apart within Your Creation. We, having been created for Your glory, will see Your love magnified, over again, as part of this beautiful Image in us.  We praise You that we are wonderfully made and lovingly redeemed. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.