hell – Wounded Butterflies

Why do we have a day called Easter? There is one constant in all of humanity across time: past, present or the future. People will lie, cheat, steal, cause pain, be greedy, and not show love. This is the state of every single person who has ever lived and ever will live, we are all born into sin. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).

Our state of being born as a sinner started with Adam and Eve when they made the decision to disobey God. As a sinner, we are all going to hell when we die because we fail to meet the standard to go to heaven. The standard is perfection. No human being, no matter how perfect they may think they are or you may think they are, is good enough to avoid hell. We are all imperfect. Mark 9:47 describes, “hell, ⁴⁸‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.” How then can anyone avoid living all eternity in hell, filled with unimaginable suffering?

It is quite simple. Believe in Jesus. He is the Son of God and came to earth to die for you and me. He became our sin. That means He was perfect and he chose to drink in our sin to then sacrifice His perfect life for you and me. Jesus willingly laid down His life on Friday, went to hell on Saturday to conquer hell for us and then rose to life on earth on Sunday, what we now call Easter.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to believe in Jesus. Our lives on earth are short, but eternity is forever. Once we die, it is too late – we are either going to heaven or hell. Help us to understand Your love for us and that You sent Your Son because You love us. You want us to be in heaven with You and the only way is belief in Jesus. Thank You for sending Jesus. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

In verses Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus provides a model for believers to follow as they pray. He is speaking to crowds that have gathered around Him as He sits and preaches. Jesus is sharing that believers are not to pray to draw attention to ourselves or to just say Christian phrases so we sound good. He exhorts us to pray differently. He then shares what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus says, “Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us this day our daily bread,
¹²and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.”

The third line, “Your kingdom come . . ” means that we are asking for and desire the return of Jesus. This is the cry of every believer’s heart, for our Savior to return and right all of the wrongs, take care of wickedness once and for all and to permanently remove the devil from the earth. For people who believe Jesus is the Son of God, this will be an incredible time, we will worship Him all together, in person forever. “He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

There is a tension with this portion of the prayer that we must consider. Once a person has accepted Jesus as their Lord, they will spend eternity in heaven, regardless of what they may do after they have accepted Him. But for those people who have refused to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sins, once Jesus returns, it is too late. They will spend eternity in hell, the Bible does not show the ability to change your choice once you are forever dead. That is why when believers pray ‘Thy Kingdom come’, we are filled with joy and peace in the promise of heaven. But we must not forget that Jesus left us here to tell as many people as we can about His love for them. He does not want anyone to go to hell, but the choice lies with each and every person. While we pray for Jesus’ kingdom to come, we should be busy telling everyone we can about it.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for showing us how to pray. May we share Your love with all people while we await Your return. In Jesus name we pray, amen.