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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Cause and Effect
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7,8—NIV)
There are two sets of outcomes of the manner in which we live the Christian life. One set of outcomes consists of rewards and punishments. The other set of outcomes has more to do with cause and effect. The two sets of outcomes are related but they are significantly different.
Cause and effect outcomes are hardly preached today but they are emphasized in the writings of Paul.
The first set of outcomes, rewards and punishments, has been part of Christian religious instruction from the beginning of the Christian Era. The idea is that we come to Christ so that we may be saved from Hell and enter Heaven when we die.
The New Testament clearly teaches that there is a Hell and there is a Lake of Fire, termed "the second death." The New Testament also mentions the outer darkness, lashes, being driven from the Presence of Christ, and becoming a "wandering star." These are the scriptural destinies of those who have not pleased God.
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1:13—NIV)
As far as Heaven being the goal of salvation, this is not scriptural. The scriptural hope is resurrection to eternal life and eventually participation in the new heaven and earth reign of Jesus Christ. The immediate hope is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the present earth. This was the hope of the early church, and it seems from the Epistles that the saints of those days believed the Kingdom would come in their day.
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (I Corinthians 1:7—NIV)
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (I Corinthians 4:5—NIV)
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you And give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (II Thessalonians 1:6,7—NIV)
Can you see in the above three passages that the hope of the early church was not that of going to Heaven but of the coming of the Lord to judge and destroy wickedness and set up His Kingdom on the earth? They believed the Kingdom would come to the earth during their lifetime.
Otherwise the verses would speak of the time we died and went to our eternal home in Heaven; or that the Lord would soon come and bring us to Heaven. There is no flavor of this kind of thinking in the Epistles.
We understand therefore that the Scriptures point toward the fiery punishment of the wicked and also toward the peaceful rule of Christ over the righteous, who will inherit the earth.
To be continued.