01/14/2025 – “If Our Loved Ones Are in Hell, Won’t That Spoil Heaven?” By Randy Alcorn
https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Mar/26/if-our-loved-ones-are-hell-wont-spoil-heaven
Comments:
It is hard for any christian, particularly those who live to a ripe old age, not to be faced with angst over this question. The church can identify saints, but no one can say who is in hell. The thief on the cross next to Yeshua (Jesus), was assured by Yeshua that he would be with him in paradise that very day! Randy emphasizes this as well.
So, for those future believer loved ones still with us now, we do not save, we are mere messengers. For the glory of God, we must continue to witness relentlessly, not only close loved ones, but strangers. I perceive my bride of 34+ years as being further down the sanctification trail than me. But she sometimes suggests to me: Give up the blog Jimmy, no one is reading it! Well, my mission is to pray, trust, and obey. Look at Isaiah & Jeremiah, as just two mentor warrior examples. Who was listening to them?
I pleaded with my beloved younger brother Robbie: “Do not leave this earth without accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior!” He died around six months later suddenly in 2008 with a massive heart attack down in Argentina. He immediately went into a coma when struck, that he didn’t come out of. But the story goes, that when his beloved bride Patricia stepped into the room, he noticeably came off the table ever so slightly. She came to Christ, after his death. She shared with me that she was convinced that she would see him again in heaven. Who is to say? “Hope that is seen is not hope.” Just trust the LORD and obey! The LORD wills our greatest joy, centered in Him. Therefore, obviously, God loves us more than we love ourselves.
Recently, a beloved friend shared with me that hell, separation from God is an unfathomable frightening thought. Even Christians don’t take into account that everyone is created in the image of God, noted by Randy. And we don’t take account that even “non believers to death” benefitted from God’s “common grace” while they were here. Not so in hell obviously.
I remember the value we placed on Nancy’s maternal grandfather’s Bible, with hand scratched notes in the margins, looking as if they were drawn across a ruler and underlined. It was a witness! So, what if I get called before these grandsons even get out of middle school, a fairly likely scenario. Would they too look into our blog? It is not all about family, we are called to witness to stranger future christians as well. But it occurred to me, what if I left each grandson a log of how they locked into Kingdom truths as early as four months. My younger grandson saves his biggest smile when we sing to him: “Jesus loves me, this I know.” It’s amazing, I’ve never met an atheist young child! No joke, our grandsons may even scour through our men’s blog or our bibles to scope out handwritten notes on the margins. So His message from us, as mere messengers, lives on past our death in that scenario. No?
I appreciate brother Randy Alcorn. I am so thankful for his book: “Heaven”. He doesn’t dodge hard questions. They are too hard for our brains for we cannot comprehend the Lord’s unfathomable holiness; power and love. Just pray, trust, and obey! We fear the Lord and nothing else…
Soli Deo Gloria!