“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, {2} in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,{ 3} among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. {4} But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, {5} even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), {6} and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, {7} that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. {8} for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God”.
(Ephesians 2: 1-8).
These passages vividly depict mankind’s predicament before Jesus’ arrival. Humanity found itself ensnared in the web of sin, under Satan’s unrelenting grasp, a predicament that would ultimately lead us to share Satan’s fate in hell.
But we must remember hell was never intended for humanity. It was devised as a place of eternal torment for Lucifer – Satan and his fallen angelic cohorts, as declared in Matthew 25:41:
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”
Hell, a realm of continuous torment, traps the sinner in an unending inferno, an unquenchable lake of fire and brimstone. Picture an eternal sentence in a sulfuric sauna, heated to unimaginable temperatures, devoid of any respite, with not a drop of water to quench an insatiable thirst, and devoid of the relief of death from the perpetual agony. This is where Satan sought to lead mankind, enticing us away from God with this world’s transient pleasures and riches.
Yet, in His boundless mercy, God intervened to spare us this eternal doom through His beloved Son – Jesus, as recorded in Colossians 1:13-14:
“He (God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Jesus), 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins”
Jesus arrived in our world with a mission of salvation, to rescue humanity from this impending eternal destruction. On the cross, He vanquished our adversary, Satan, and declared victory over death (John 19:30). Our liberation from Satan was procured through Jesus’ sacrificial shedding of His own blood –
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins”
(Matthew 26:28).
The shedding of His innocent blood served as the ultimate atonement for our transgressions.
Jesus bore our sins, became sin for us, even though He was sinless, and paid the ultimate price – death – to enable us to be seen as righteous in God’s sight. In securing our freedom, Jesus also assumed our infirmities and illnesses and embraced poverty so that we, through His deprivation, might gain wealth.
Only the blood of Jesus can reconcile humanity with God. Salvation is only possible through faith in Jesus as the resurrected Son of God and by proclaiming Jesus as Lord –
”Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”
(Acts 4:12).
I sincerely hope you’ll reflect on your path, recognize the role of Jesus Christ in your life, and commit to following Him wholeheartedly; failing to do so will inevitably lead to the torment of hell. Acknowledging Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior grants you the divine privilege of becoming a child of God –
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”
(John 1:12).
So, I beseech you to reassess your actions, acknowledge Jesus Christ’s place in your life, and follow Him with all your heart; if you fail, hell will be the unavoidable outcome.
A life without Christ is a life destined for an eternal crisis!