When it comes to matters of eternity, we know that God desires that no person has to face an eternity apart from Him in hell. In fact, God has done everything to rescue the world from sin. He sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place, and He did everything to spread the message of the hope available through Jesus Christ.
As Jesus taught one day in Luke 16, He explained that God has gone to great lengths to reach the lost by telling a story. This story was about an unnamed rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man spent his life focusing on the things of this world rather than embracing a relationship with God (verse 19). Lazarus did not have earthly wealth, but he had stored up eternal wealth and had a rich relationship with God. As a result of how they lived their lives, Lazarus spent eternity in heaven while the rich man spent eternity in hell (verses 22-23). In this parable, the rich man was in torment (verse 23). He talked to Abraham in this parable, begging Abraham to send Lazarus to His father's house to warn his family so that they would not also spend an eternity in torment like him (verse 27). In response, Abraham said, “Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote…[and] if they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (verses 29-31). This response is full of meaning. You see, God sent prophets to the people of Israel throughout the Old Testament, and He even gave them the words of the prophets in the Old Testament, like the book of Isaiah. Even more, God had sent Jesus, who would soon die on the cross and rise from the grave, conquering sin and death. Even after rising from the dead, Jesus made the point in this parable that many would still not believe. God had gone to great lengths to reach His people. It was up to them whether or not they would believe in Him.
My friend, God has done everything to make Himself known to us. He gave us His word. He has sent people, other followers of Christ, to tell us about the hope that can be found in Christ. He sent His one and only beloved Son to die on the cross for us and rise from the grave. What a God we have who stopped at nothing to rescue us, even when it meant sending Jesus to come to earth, die on the cross, and rise again. He is worthy of all of our trust.
God has done everything to reach our lost and hurting world. He deserves all of our praise and worship as a result. Make plans to worship Him this weekend by joining us at one of our weekend services and bring a friend! We look forward to seeing you there.
Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’
7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. 15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. 17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned.
18 “For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
19 Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. 20 At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’
27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
