Never Underestimate the Unrelenting Love of God

Matthew 19:26b (TPT)
“… But what seems impossible to you is never impossible to God!”

A pre-teen asked the question of his Sunday School teacher, “How will I be happy in heaven if I know someone I loved didn’t receive Jesus and is now in hell?” Tough question, no easy answer. Believers need to be ready to answer such a question. As children of God, we need to remember we have the DNA of our Heavenly Father – who is the God of Hope (Romans 15:13). So, in answering that question, our response should always be one of hope.

A starting point would be to say that nobody knows what happened in the last moments of the person’s life. We can only know what we saw in the life of a person, but we cannot judge his heart. A well-known minister of the gospel relates the experience of a minister who was asked to speak at the funeral service of a member of a small community where everyone knew everyone else. This man’s reputation was one of being mean-spirited, angry and hateful – a person who had no interest in knowing anything about the life he could have in Jesus. The minister spent most of his time preaching a “hell, fire and brimstone” message, warning that the same fate awaited those in the congregation who followed in the departed man’s footsteps. Shortly after the funeral, this minister was strongly rebuked by the Lord – not in an audible voice, but through a strong unction within his spirit. The Lord told the minister that he had no idea whether or not that man had gone to hell, and, He did not appreciate him saying the things he had said about this man. And, after the rebuke, the Lord told him that in fact, the man had accepted Christ, seconds before his spirit and soul left his body. How could this have happened when his whole life was one of contempt for spiritual matters? The Lord said that the man’s heart had turned to Him as a result of a grandmother who had prayed for him throughout her life. Her prayers had indeed been effectual (James 5:16b), and in his last seconds of life, her grandson’s heart was softened and he saw his need for a Savior.

Secondly, we can help by focusing on the goodness of God and His overwhelming desire that none would perish (2 Peter 3:9). Couple that with John 3:16, and God’s willingness to give up His only Son to allow man a chance to be reunited with Him, and you will help the person create a scriptural image of hope in his mind. It is important to remind ourselves that God wants people saved more than we do, and, it is hard to imagine that He is any less unrelenting in His Love for a person in the last seconds of his life than He has been since the day life began in the womb.

Finally, we need to share with others that we have a part to play in the eternal destiny of our loved ones. Like the praying grandmother, we should speak into and over the lives of those who are resistant to the message of the Gospel. We should declare over their lives that they have “eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that cry out to Jesus.” We need to remind our unsaved loved ones that should they face death suddenly, they need only to cry out His Name. Whether it be a long life that is at its end or a sudden-death occurrence, we need to believe that because of our prayers and intercession, their hearts will be ready, and their cries will be sincere. The Word makes this promise to those who do… And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21 NKJV). 

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