Beyond Common Sense

One of the saddest, most dramatic scenes from  Ronald F. Maxwell’s  film, “Gettysburg,” is General Pickett’s return to General Lee after the Battle of Gettysburg. Lee commands Pickett to rally his troops, and Pickett shockingly tells him that they are all gone. It was Lee’s final attempt to end the war, which it did but at a great cost. Perhaps, as a believer, General Lee thought that God would intervene as He did for David with Goliath, or as He often did in Israel’s battles.

That decisive battle reminds me of our enemy’s attempts to destroy true Christianity. We don’t know when the final battle will be, but how often have we heard that Satan will ratchet up his attacks because he knows his time is short?

What does that have to do with Annihilationism?

That’s how I view the new interest in the not-so-new doctrine of annihilationism: the belief that hell is not eternal, but unbelievers will be punished for a set time before their bodies and souls are annihilated. And, does it matter what we believe? As a follower of Christ, I do not want to propose anything that will cheapen the price Jesus paid for my sins on the cross. Jesus saved me from ETERNAL damnation and gave me ETERNAL life at a cost so great, no human can completely understand it. We live in time—our finite minds cannot comprehend eternity. When we try to put that term in our clock-driven days, we come up with all sorts of false doctrines. Annihilationism is just one example.

That day in the little town of Gettysburg, Lee’s strategy was to throw everything he had at the Union Army. That is what Satan seems to be doing today. He is attacking the church—the collection of all truly born-again believers—from every side:

• Slaughtering believers in Africa, Asia, and South America
• Watering down true worship
• Stretching “Christian Liberty” until there is no external difference between the saved and the unsaved to showcase the internal change
• Splintering the church further and further

Aren’t you thankful the battle is the LORD’s? We will never face what General Pickett faced. Praise God for His infinite mercy and wisdom! Knowing that the final battle is the LORD’s and He will be victorious gives peace and comfort in dark days. He knows. He saves. He is our Rock. Hallelujah!

“And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren'” (Luke 22:31-32, NKJV).