Eternal Winter?

I’m cold.  And I’m ready for spring.  I am tired of driving on the slippery snow and being squished in my driving lane because piles of snow crowd the sides of roads.  If it snows one more time, I’m not sure my shoulders have strength left to heave the snow onto the mountains beside my driveway.  Will it ever end?

It is March in Nebraska, but Sunday the news reported that we set a record for its “lowest high temperature” on that day in history, topping at 9 degrees (previous record set in 1978 and tied in 2002).  Will I ever feel warmer?

In February the local newspaper announced that, “Omaha’s February was the snowiest and one of the coldest on record.”  We received 27 inches of snow in February, setting a record, which was previously at 25.4 inches in 1965.  Will spring ever come?

My older boys are really into the Narnia movies these days.  I think it is interesting and fitting that Narnia under the white witch’s rule is frozen.  What if it was winter forever?

The feeling of no hope is dreadful to me.  I know spring will come in Nebraska sooner or later.  I literally choked up with tears the other day when I saw a flying V of geese soar past!  Come back birds!  Will I see more signs of spring?

I feel dread when I imagine an eternal winter.  It is dark with gloom and no light.  It is cold and isolating; people are staying inside, social plans are cancelled, fun outdoor fellowship is non-existent.  What if hell is more like winter than we think?

I read a headline on a tabloid at Target: “How I Escaped From Hell”.  The subtitle described an actress who escaped from an abusive relationship.  I am so glad she escaped, and I know abusive relationships can be horrendous and life-shattering.  But Hell?  Is that really hell?  Can we ever escape from hell?

The words kept ringing in my heart: “Escape from hell.”  How sobering to face the cold truth: There is NO escape from hell.

I have quoted Hebrews from memory dozens of times, but I don’t recall ever seeing, until now, the connection between 12.25 and 2.3:

Hebrews 12.25: “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks, for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”

Hebrews 2.3 “...how shall we escape if we ignore [neglect] such a great salvation?”

ESCAPE.  We all want to escape.  Escape from winter by flying south.  Escape from reality by binging on Netflix.  Escape from . . . .  What do you want to escape from? 

Whatever you and I want to escape from, let nothing be more urgent and vital than our desire to escape in the sense we read about in the Bible.

What does the Bible want us to escape from?

Job 15.30 “He will not escape the darkness...”

Jeremiah 11.11 “I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape.”

Genesis 7.7 “And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.”

Matthew 23.33 [Jesus speaking to religious leaders]: “You snakes!  You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” 

Luke 21.36 “Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Psalm 68.20 “Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”

Let’s make a list, based on the above verses:

“What the Bible wants us to escape from”:
--darkness
--disaster
--destruction of creation (by flood...or fire; see Heb. 10.27)
--being condemned to hell
--all that is about to happen.
--death

I read this list, and my heart is heavy.  This is not a popular message.  We do not like to look at these truths from the Bible.  We want to close our eyes and close our Bibles. 

What about Winter Weather Warnings?  We are glued to our news reports and weather apps to find out, “Will school be cancelled?” (I can say I am checking!).  “Will we need to stay home?”  “Should we get more groceries in case we get stuck at home?”

We prepare for winter weather, but are we prepared for what is to come?

1 Thessalonians 5.2-3  “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

Will we heed the warnings?  Will we pay attention to the news reports of the Bible?

Hebrews 11.7 “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”

Or will we ignore the warnings?

Hebrews 2.3 “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?”

Hebrews 12.25 “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks, for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”

Jeremiah 11.7 “From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying ‘Obey me,’ but they did not listen or pay attention:  Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”

I am heavy-hearted to think that some reader may be inclined to put God on trial:
“God, how can you bring death, destruction, darkness and disaster?”

But in truth, we are on trial, and God is Judge.  It is God’s kindness, and tolerance and patience that causes him to give us this truth in advance and warn us, so that we CAN escape, WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME.
Romans 2.3-4 “So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

Escape from what?

Judgment.

Whose Judgment?

God’s.

Why are we judged?

SIN. 

Romans 2-3 is chilling!  I have spent more than a year storing up Romans chapters 1-3 in my memory and heart.  I challenge you to read them, and even join me in memorizing those chapters.  What I have learned is incalculable.  God’s Word sends soul shivers, but it also lights fires!

This is what it melts down to: 

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God...
There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3.10-18

To the stubborn and hard-hearted (who is likely not even reading this far!), I say to you: fear God, before it is too late.  For you I pray, "God melt this heart by the light of your truth."

To my religious friend, who has [false] assurance of escape from God’s judgment based on your religious works I say to you: your works will be burned up in the fire, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” Isaiah 64.6.  Only the work of Jesus and His righteousness in our place can save us!  Turn to Jesus and find escape!

To my friend who says hell is only for the sons of darkness or the really evil, let me urge you, please read the Bible in full.  Please let the Holy Spirit shine the light of truth in your heart.  I ache for you to know that the doctrine of sin may feel dark, but it makes the doctrine of Christ shine more beautifully.

To my friend who says there is no hell, you are ignoring the weather warnings, but a storm is coming.  Review the story of Noah.  (See also Matthew 24.36-51).

To my friend who is angry at God, feels hurt by God, or does not like the picture of a Judging God, I say to you, please see his kindness and love!  “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us...because of his mercy.”  Titus 3.4-5.  I ached in my own suffering, but I learned that it was a kindness because God is sparing me from eternal suffering.  Join me in faith and hope in his kindness, love and mercy, I beg you!

And to my friend, my brother or sister in Christ who says, “Yes, and Amen” to every word written in His Word, I say: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” (Heb. 12.28-29)

What does Eternal Winter look like?  Cold is a metaphor for relational distance between people.  For example: "The love between them grew cold," or "He gave her a cold and icy look," or "He gave her the cold shoulder."  In that sense, hell is cold:

2 Thessalonians 1.8-9 “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”

We can never shovel our way out of hell.
BUT JESUS has warned us and provided a way of escape from the eternal winter:

Hebrews 9.27-28 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;  and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Hallelujah!  Oh Lord, let us not ignore such a great salvation.  You, O Sovereign Lord, are a God who saves!  From you comes escape from death!  Hallelujah!

Will you join me and the spring birds in singing His eternal praises?!

(I invite you to view my song from Hebrews 12:15-29).