The Beginning, the End, Suspense and the Sword of the Spirit

I don't like suspense. I need to know. Tell me how it turns out, then I can watch the movie, read the book, follow the game. I want to know the conclusion, the bottom line, the final score. I skip to the end of the book to see how it turns out. Why watch a prerecorded sporting event? It's the way I am 'wired' (Yes, you can also spell 'weird' with the same letters).

Most people are confused and polarized regarding spiritual things. Debates rage on Facebook, Twitter, texting, over the phone and face to face. Stones are thrown, literally and figuratively, over God, the origin of the universe, and heaven and hell. Why are origins and destinations such hot topics? If you can convince people of your version, those two bookends define everything else. They hold things in place.

God is not keeping us in suspense. He has revealed the plan and it is unfolding as He has decreed. This is what we see in Matthew 13:47-50. It’s about the fate and final destination of those who reject Jesus Christ. It speaks of the reality of hell, and the destiny of those who refuse to believe and be saved.

Heaven and Hell are hotly debated. Rob Bell’s recent book “Love Wins” suggested that the church has had it wrong for 2000+ years. Two upcoming books attempt to answer Bell’s errors. Mark Galli’s “God Wins: Heaven, Hell and why the Good News is better than Love Wins” and Francis Chan’s “Erasing Hell: What God said about Eternity and the Things We’ve Made Up” will hopefully be scripturally-sound answers to Bell's slippery "posing questions without declaring Biblical truth" approach.

We live in a culture that portrays believing the Bible as outdated craziness, but nonetheless objective truth must be given greater credence than subjective opinion. Nothing but the Bible, the Word of God will suffice. Do we believe God’s Word or not? The Bible will weather the test of time. It will last (Is. 40:8). The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, slices and dices everything. It defines reality. It all points to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.