John 8:21 – “Jesus again said to them, I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins; and where I am going you cannot come.”

We covered two of the great tragedies in our last devotional.  We considered the reality that People Die and that People Die In Their Sins.  Today, I want us to move forward as we consider the other tragedy to which I referred at the beginning and God’s Hope!  Now, let us move to the next two.

PEOPLE WHO DIE IN THEIR SINS WILL BE SEPARATED FROM GOD ETERNALLY

The reality is that if a person dies in their sins they cannot go where Jesus is.  He is in heaven and no sin can enter that city.  Tragically, I know many who know about Christ, can quote passages of scripture, and have heard more sermons than they can remember and yet are lost.  Hearing about Jesus or even knowing about Jesus is not enough, action is required.  We must repent and confess our sins and receive His forgiveness and experience the new birth.

In America, a person can hear preaching every day of the week.  You can turn on your radio, or television, or use the internet and hear gospel preaching 24/7/365.  You can have all the Christian books and periodicals you desire.  But if you do not hear His voice and repent (do a 180-degree turn and go the opposite direction) it, does you no good to hear.  Without Jesus, people die in their sins and those who die lost will remain lost for eternity.  Jesus said, “where I go you cannot come.”

I realize that is a morbid, bleak, and dark picture filled with gloom.  But thanks be to God it does not have to be because there is a solution.  Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and is knocking and if we open the door He will come in and transform us through salvation.

PEOPLE WHO DIE IN CHRIST ARE GOING WHERE HE IS

In John 8:31-32 we have the awesome words of our LORD, “Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, If you abide by my word, you are truly my disciples.³² And you will know the truth, and that very truth will make you free.”

God has looked down from heaven and provided a way of escape from the fires of hell providing a pathway for us to live in Him and enjoy the abundance of life here and hereafter.  Romans 5:9 declares, “Much more then, being justified by His blood, we shall be delivered from wrath through Him.”

We have the inspiring hope found in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to my Father except by Me.”  In John 14:1-3, He promised to prepare an eternal place for us and return to take us home to be with Him forever. 

The way of salvation is personal.  In John 1:12 we discover, “But those who received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God, especially to those who believed in his name;”  In 1 John 1:9 we find the path made clear, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Paul declared in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace that you are saved through faith; not of your doing: it is the gift of God:” God’s way to salvation is through the Door (Jesus) that we must walk through in accordance with His word.

Our lives could be pictured as boats adrift in a stream that flows over a huge waterfall.  We are nearing the edge of the falls, and someone throws us a lifeline from the shore, and another offers a line from below the falls.  Which do we choose?

The line from the shore is a sure answer to salvation but the line below the falls is a guarantee of eternal doom and destruction.  Life without Jesus is doom, but Life in Jesus is Eternal.  I pray that if you do not know Him, you will choose the lifeline He offers today.

God bless you as you enjoy this day in Jesus!