The Gift

 

If someone gives you a gift and you don't open it, it just remains a package wrapped in colourful paper. It only becomes a gift when you open it, appreciate it, and perhaps say thank you to whoever gave it to you.

A box that has not been opened is not a gift.

God gave us the gift of eternal life. Let us consider this:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

He so loved us ... loved us beyond measure and compare ... that He gave His only Son for us. Can you imagine that? Would you give your only son as a sacrifice for others?

But there is a condition to God's gift of His Son. "... that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." We need to accept this gift of eternal life by believing in Jesus as the Son of God.

Many people have heard of Jesus and put Him at the back of their mind. Didn't give Him another thought. That's like having an unopened gift somewhere in the house. They could not care less about it never mind appreciate it and be thankful for it.

To accept God's gift of eternal life we must believe in Jesus. 

The quote from John 3:16 says plainly that those who do not accept the gift will perish. Read it again carefully.

Those who do not believe in Christ shall perish. By that, it does not mean that when they die their soul will die too. No ... every soul is immortal and will go on for eternity. By perish, it means here that the soul will go on living in the absence of God.

If Heaven is spending eternity in the presence of God, then Hell is existing in the absence of God.

Now I know that some of my readers will mock and laugh at what I say. Never mind. The gift is still there should they care to open it and be thankful for it.