1 Peter 4:4 – 6 “Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. That is why the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”
His friends were shocked! Jimmy (not his real name) had been one of the wild bunch frequenting the bars in Charleston, WV, getting into fights, and doing drugs. Jimmy had even wound up in prison for a brief stretch because of his drug dealing. But while in prison, Jimmy had had an encounter with Jesus Christ that had totally transformed his life. Now Jimmy’s friends were shocked, amazed and outraged! Who did this guy think he was? Mr. “Holier than Thou?” Mr. “I’m better than you?” Mr. “Holy roller?” Things got so bad that Trevor finally had to break off those friendships. Jimmy began attending a local church, where he found love, acceptance, and encouragement. Once or twice, Jimmy tried going back to the bars, but nothing was the same and he stopped.
Yesterday we considered the quote from Blaise Pascal, a seventeenth century French mathematician and philospher. Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
Pascal was absolutely correct when he said this. All around us, you can see people attempting to fill that God – shaped vacuum with all kinds of things – money, power, fame, sex, drugs, music, videos, pornography, gambling, or even work. Nothing can substitute for God.
We are each given a life to live as a gift from God. But there will come a time when God will ask each of us what we have done with his gift. On that day, how will we answer?
The verses about the dead refer to the possibility that after Jesus died and before His resurrection, He descended into hell, where he preached to those who had died before His coming as a man. This was to allow even the dead to have the opportunity to accept or to reject Jesus as the Son of God. In his second letter, Peter tells us that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
God is a God of love, but He is also a God of mercy and justice. The mercy of God is demonstrated by the many ways in which God has revealed Himself so that men may know Him and worship Him. But God is also a God of justice. At the end of time, we will have to answer for the way we have used God’s great gift of life. By ourselves, none of us is good enough to earn our way into heaven; our only hope is salvation through Jesus Christ. But even those who believe on Jesus will still have to answer this question: how have you handled God’s great gift of life?
PRAYER: Father God, forgive us for wasting your gifts! Forgive us for living for ourselves and not trying to follow you. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that it is only because of Jesus’ death and resurrection that we can claim any hope. Help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
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