A Done Deal?

Have you ever watched the show "Deal or No Deal?"  At the beginning of the show, a contestant picks a case without knowing the contents.  Hidden within the case is an undisclosed amount of money.  To play the game, other cases must one by one be opened.  The "bank" will make offers to buy the case the person has chosen.  If revealed cases contain large amounts of money, the offer will be very small.  Conversely, if the large amounts remain the offers from the bank become more and more lucrative.  The whole game hinges on the fact the contestant does not know the amount contained within his case.  If he knew that little bit of information it would completely dictate his every decision.  There would be no stress or hard decisions to make.  If you knew your case contained $200,000, you would never entertain an offer for less.  It would be relaxing to play the game because you know how it will end!

There is no shortage of people in this world whose lives resemble a game of "Deal or No Deal."  Even as the person playing the game does not know exactly what is in their case, most people live a life of uncertainty.  They are not sure what happens after life on earth.  They are not certain there is a God, heaven, hell, or absolute truth.  They do not even know if they have a soul!  It is sad when people are content to remain agnostic when God has provided absolute truth in the Bible.  People can be deceived to think, "Since I'm not sure about these thing I don't believe anyone could be sure."

Life is not a game because there is much more than money at stake.  What we believe and how we live in this life determines where we will spend eternity.  All men will either spend eternity in the joyous, glorious presence of God in heaven or in everlasting torment in hell.  What if I was to tell you that we can know what case we're holding?  There are even professing believers who are not entirely certain they are ready for death.  The Bible informs us we do not need remain in suspense concerning the certainty of our salvation, nor should we!  1 John 5:11-14 reads, "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."  One of the reasons the scriptures were written was so we might know that we have eternal life, and that eternal life is only found through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.  Heaven cannot be earned but is a gift received by the grace of God.  On the flip side, we know that the wages of sin is death.  The soul that sins shall surely die (Ezekiel 18:20) and be separated from God for eternity.  Praise God that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD!

Are you worried that you might not be headed for heaven if you died tonight?  Why continue to live with uncertainty, fear, and worries when God has provided assurance through the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?  Lay the words of Jesus Christ to heart as He speaks in John 3:16-18:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."