Quest 17
Do I deserve to be punished?
Do I deserve to receive the wrath of God?
Do I deserve hell?
These questions bear directly on the most significant event in the life of Christ between his birth and the cross – the Transfiguration.
First let’s consider the questions about punishment, God’s wrath, and hell . . .
In 2001, a Gallup poll found 71% of Americans believe in hell. In 2016, 64% believed in hell. So about 2/3 of Americans believe in hell.
The word, hell, is found 12 times in the New Testament. Jesus used the word 11 of the 12 times. For example, Jesus spoke about the danger of going “to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:44).
The Apostle Paul gave this grim assessment about the members of church before they came into the church (Ephesians 2:1-3) - And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Christians might think they deserved hell, but not anymore. What did you do to un-deserve hell?
Now, what does this have to do with the Transfiguration?
The Transfiguration was a meeting, and our problem was on the agenda.
1. Where was the meeting held? - And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. (Mark 9:2)
2. Who attended the meeting? And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. (Mark 9:4)
3. Question: Why have Moses and Elijah leave their heavenly home and come to earth? Why not just have Jesus go to Heaven and meet them there? They came in their heavenly attire, and Jesus had to put on heavenly attire to meet them (Mark 9:3) - And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
4. This was not a meeting of three CEOs – the CEO of the Law (Moses), the CEO of Prophecy (Elijah), and the CEO of the New Covenant (Jesus). This was not a meeting of three equals. God made that crystal clear (Mark 9:5-8) - And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. In answer to the question of the divinity of Jesus, he is the Son of God.
5. The agenda explains the location and the attendees (Luke 9:30-31) - And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. They were talking about his sacrificial death for us, which is culmination of the Law and Prophets
6. We deserve hell, and there was only one person at the meeting who could do anything about that.
God punishes sin (Ezekiel 18:4) - The soul who sins shall die. God will re-create the earth. There will be a new Heaven and new earth. He will not have it polluted by sin again.
Question: How does God balance his justice in punishing sin and his love for us? God in the flesh paid the price for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin.
7. We deserve hell, and it was clear that his death for us was on the agenda (Mark 9:9-10) - And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.
Moses died peacefully and God himself “buried him in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6).
Elijah was taken to heaven directly (2 Kings 2:11) - And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Jesus was going to die an agonizing, painful death (Luke 23:46) - Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
8. We deserve hell but we don’t have to go there.
We can have what we don’t deserve (Romans 5:8-9) - God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Or we can have what we do deserve.
If we didn’t deserve hell, this meeting would never have taken place.
Is it time for you to schedule a meeting with God before your departure?
