by Pastor John Kim

To the LBC family and friends!

Jonathan Edwards Resolution #55
Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. (July 8, 1723)

Remember the story “The Christmas Carol where Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future? That is the picture that comes to mind when I think of this resolution. Imagine having a chance to see what our future would be like if we continued on the present course of how we lived. For some there would be the great anticipation of seeing a seen at the throneroom of God in heaven, united with Christ face to face, to receive a glorified body that has been fully freed from the remaining vestiges of sin and to know that eternal life is to be fully enjoyed in the presence of God. What joy there would be! To no longer be held back from being able to experience full and perfect intimacy with God, completely sanctified and holy because sin has been fully eradicated so that we might receive the fullness of our salvation and be in perfect harmony with God. I look forward to such a day. All those who truly love Jesus Christ and follow Him long for such a day. It is the great and living hope that we look forward to that helps us persevere and endure through the trials and tribulations of this life. If we were to actually get a glimpse as Scrooge did, how would it affect how we lived today?

The same would go if we were to get a peek at what life would be like in hell. The Bible describes it as a place of unimaginable torment and suffering. It is to pay the full consequence for having rejected the grace of God through Jesus Christ and to have rejected His Lordship. This would be more in line with the last scene that Scrooge has with the ghost of Christmas Future. He sees his grave and sees the consequences of all this actions upon others and it brings great terror to him to the point where he just asks for a chance to change. When Scrooge wakes up, he realizes that he has been given that opportunity and you see a totally different man. Would it be the same if God were to give a glimpse of the terrors of hell to a person? I would hope it would. That’s why we must not be shy in proclaiming the realities of hell and the tragic consequences of rejected Christ because the Bible makes it very clear that hell is a very real place and will be filled with eternal torment as a just punishment for those who have rejected a holy God.

Why does Jonathan Edwards have this kind of a resolution? Because it a certain sense, it is to remind him of the clear division between how one should live if you were to truly understand the realities of heaven and hell. You can’t simply dismiss it or treat it as some kind of fairytale story. For the one who truly loves Christ and desires to follow Him, it is the reality of heaven that awaits him and the terror of hell that drives him to the Savior because the understanding of what the consequences of sin ultimately are, that is, total separation from God for eternity.

I think this is a very valid resolution for everyone to consider. As you look at how you live today, do you live in light of what you know the Scriptures to say about the happiness of heaven and the torment of hell? Does it cause you to rejoice in the life that you have been called to live, even though there is suffering and tribulation in this life, but to know that to lose our lives in this world will be worth it all because it is for Christ? Does it cause you to have a heavy heart for the lost, for those of your family and friends that do not know the saving grace of Jesus Christ, that if they were to die today that they would face eternal condemnation for their sins and that they need to hear the truth of the gospel? Do you look at this world and realize that it is not the final destination of anyone who is living – that there are only two destinations and they are heaven and hell and is it something that really is urgent to you to represent as a Christian in terms of living out a gospel-centered life? Oh that we would be more mindful of heavenly things than earthly things (Colossians 3:2). Oh that we would love Christ more than the things of this world (1 John 2:15-17). Oh that we would live in light of eternity day by day, knowing that at any point we can enter into eternity and we will have to give an account to God as to how we lived.

May you consider this resolution carefully as we still are at the beginning of the new year.

Grace and peace,
Pastor John