Condemnation - Day 3

We've already established that we are declared guilty by God.  The standard is perfection and we find that standard simply described in Exodus 20, the ten commandments.  If we have committed even one crime against the law, we have failed and are therefore guilty.  That guilt has consequences.  What is the sentence? What is the punishment? 

Paul says in Romans 1:32, "...they deserve death..."  Paul is describing our culture and the condition of the human heart in chapter one of Romans.  Because of our depravity, our desire to rebel against God, Paul says that we deserve death.  God says to Adam, "...for when you eat of it, you shall surely die." 

The punishment for our crime, our guilt before God, is death.

That death is describe through the Bible in three areas:
1.  Death Physically.  For Adam and Eve and the rest of humanity, are now subject to physical death.  Everyone will die some day.  Death is a stench in God's nostrils that He will end some day.  But until then, everyone will experience a physical death.

2.  Spiritual Death.  God is spirit and in order for us to communicate with God we must have a spirit to have that connection.  According to scripture our spirit is dead because of sin.  Since our spirit is dead, we have no ability to have a personal relationship with God.

3. Eternal Death.  The bible calls this place Hell.  Because we are guilty, we will spend eternity in Hell.

What is Hell like?  Lot's of people want to explain what Hell will be like.  The best way to understand Hell is to look in scripture for God's perspective.

Read Luke 16:19-31 or click to view http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+16%3A19-31&version=NIV (Click back arrow on browser to return here)

Sounds terrible doesn't it?  We've been accused of crime.  We've been told the evidence and declared guilty.  Now to top that all off, our punishment is Hell.  Sounds terrible.

Is there any good news?  Yes, there is.  His name is Jesus.  Tomorrow we will talk about that hope we have in Him.

As you finish, take a moment and pray for our Teen Ministry.  They need us to stand up for them and pray for them.  When you see one of our teens from church, let them know that you are praying for God to do great things for His Kingdom in and through them.

God Bless!