As I write this, former Iraqi dictator and mass murderer Saddam Hussein was executed just a few hours ago. While watching the news off and on in the hours and minutes leading up to his death, I kept reflecting on the fate of this man and the biblical reality of hell. Saddam was not at all prepared to meet his Maker. Any religious duties he carried out during his time on earth mean nothing now. He went to the gallows clothed in unrepentant sin and now faces the judgment of the One “who dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). There is absolutely nothing more terrifying in all the world. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Jesus said in
Scripture teaches that hell is the fate not only for brutal dictators like Saddam but also for all who have sinned against God. It is easy for me to think, “Saddam deserves hell for all the blood on his hands.” As true as that is, I must remember that I too deserve God’s punishment in hell for all the ways I have rebelled against and dishonored Him in my thoughts, words, and deeds.
In my last post, I pondered the (unpopular) attribute of God’s wrath on sin and how it stems from His absolute holiness. The biblical text I focused on was
Now let us turn to the most astounding and precious message that will ever be proclaimed.
I just want to focus on one particular verse in the New Testament that sums up so succinctly the glory and wonder of the Gospel:
“For our sake He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
When I heard this verse preached (perhaps for the first time) in a sermon about three years ago, God began to open my eyes to see the Gospel like I had never seen it before. This Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, in whom there is no sin, took on flesh to dwell with us—and not only to dwell with us, but to become our Substitute through the suffering and humiliation of the cross. As Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ helped to illustrate, the physical suffering Jesus endured was more horrendous than we can fathom. But far more dreadful for Jesus was drinking the cup of His Father’s wrath as He suffered and died on
Let us herald this Gospel and take it to the nations, that more and more people from every tribe, language, people, and nation would trust in the wrath-absorbing, substitutionary work of Christ Jesus in their place and embrace Him as their supreme Joy and Treasure.