The Greatest Tragedy Ever
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” Romans 3:23-24
“I forgive you,” I said years ago to someone special to me.
“I don’t need your forgiveness,” the person responded. “I haven’t done anything wrong.” This couldn’t have been further from the truth.
That was one of the most tragic days of my life, but the tragedy was nothing compared with how those moments reflect the greatest tragedy in the universe. The relationship that could have been restored that day was not because the person would not acknowledge wrongdoing and receive my forgiveness which would have led to a resurrected relationship. The relationship remains broken to this day as relationships are when love, truth, admission of wrongdoing, and mercy are missing.
The greatest tragedy in the universe isn’t our broken human relationships that result from our refusal to admit our wrongdoing and receive one another’s love and forgiveness. It’s this. Every human is a sinner forever separated from God and headed for hell and the lake of fire because we as sinners can’t be in the presence of a perfectly holy, just, and righteous God. God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to the cross to pay the death, hell, and lake of fire penalty for our sins so that if we repent and believe in Christ as Lord and genuinely devote our lives to God and His ways by following Christ and learning to live according to what God teaches us in the Bible, we can be forgiven and have our broken relationships with God restored and be given a relationship with Him now and forever in heaven. What’s the tragedy? It’s that so very many of us are saying TO GOD exactly what that special someone said to me that day.
I don’t need your forgiveness. I haven’t done anything wrong. How many of us are refusing to acknowledge our sins, refusing to repent, refusing to acknowledge and receive Christ as Lord, and refusing to live for God by following Jesus? The greatest tragedy in the universe is that so many of us are refusing to receive God’s love and mercy and refusing to turn our lives over to Him and are headed straight for hell and the lake of fire to be in eternal torment forever apart from God.
There is no greater sacrifice than Christ dying for us. And no greater tragedy than when we pride-fully refuse to repent and turn to God. This world is coming to an end. Our time is running out. With evil, violence, and disease more rampant than ever, our lives are at greater risk than ever.
What if your next breath is your last? Do you understand you will spend forever apart from God in hell and the lake of fire if you deny your sins against God and refuse to live for Christ? Do you?