Once upon a time there was a very wealthy man. He built a luxurious banquet hall, and always kept it well stocked with delicious food and drink. But from the time he built it, he noticed fewer and fewer people came in to dine with him. Most did not want to pay the cost.
So the wealthy man went out and found Abe, and gave him a ticket good for unlimited visits to the banquet hall. He explained to Abe that all he had to do to keep the ticket was to honor the wealthy man, and treat others fairly. If Abe failed at any time to honor the wealthy man or to treat others fairly, he could bring a bull, and they would cook it together, and everything would be all right after that. Abe could share his ticket with other people, and they could have access to the great banquet hall, too, as long as they followed the same rules. If they broke the rules, they would have to bring a bull, a sheep, a dove--whatever they could afford. That animal would be cooked and shared between the wealthy man and his friend, and all would be right after that.
As time went on, Abe shared his ticket with his family and friends, and the number of visitors to the great banquet hall grew. The wealthy man was very happy. He was hopeful that all men would hear about the banquet hall, and come to get a ticket. But it was not to be.
Generations passed, and fewer people asked for tickets. Abe's descendants all felt entitled to the tickets, and hoarded them to themselves. Some of Abe's descendants didn't follow the rules, and didn't bring any animal to cook before the wealthy man. Fellowship was lost.
One day, the wealthy man's son came to talk to Abe's family. He said that many of them had stopped honoring the wealthy man in their hearts, and only paid lip service. He said they were wicked, and in need of a change. So the son said when he took over the banquet hall, there would be no need to bring animals to cook. And you didn't have to have a ticket, since the son would stamp their hands for free. All they had to do was ask him.
Well, the descendants of Abe were shocked. This was heresy! Many had passed their tickets down from father to son, from mother to daughter, for generations. And now this upstart kid says anybody can come to the banquet hall without a ticket? And no animals had to be cooked any more? Blasphemy. They took the Son and put him to death. They tried to go back to the way things had been.
But the son had a kind of insurance policy that would continue the great banquet hall forever if he died. He also had a great physician, who brought him back to life. Soon, all the other people of the world heard about the son. They were glad that they didn't have to be in Abe's family line to get to eat at the great banquet hall. They were glad they didn't need a ticket to get in, and they were glad that if they lost their tickets, they didn't have to cook animals to be admitted in again. Multitudes came to the son and asked him to stamp their hands. Now the whole world had access to the great banquet hall. And if they broke the rules, they were forgiven and welcomed in anyway.
Not too long after this, the people stopped getting their hands stamped. They knew that the son had given them access, and they said in their hearts, "He loves us so much he will let us all into the great banquet hall when we are ready." Some thought, "I'm a good person. I don't need a stamp on my hand to prove that I am good." So it goes that with every generation, some will do what is required, while others scoff, or wait for a better offer, or think they can get in on their own.
Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord desires of you--to know justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God." This was the gospel of the Old Testament, but it was history, and prophecy as well. The Law was justice; anyone who disobeyed was cast out. The sacrifice is mercy, leading up to the ultimate sacrifice of God's Son Jesus. After His death, no other sacrifice was needed. All have access to God through the death of His Son. But we must be humble before God. We cannot think of ourselves as deserving of heaven. We cannot be so arrogant as to think God will reason with us, will listen to us if we just explain how good a person we are, or how much we have done for other people. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
How, then, can we justify ourselves? We must know that God has given us three gifts.
First, God gave us the Law. If we follow the Law, and never sin, we can earn heaven. The Law shows us how great God is, and how far below His standards we have fallen. The Law is the basis of our justice system, and of our consciences. We innately know in our hearts when we have done wrong. It gives us our sense of guilt. But nobody likes guilt. Guilt is bad. We don't want to think about it. We want to think about good things, not go on a guilt trip. But the Bible says we must know justice in order to follow God.
Second, God gave us Grace. He didn't have to do anything after setting up the Law. If you follow it, you get in. If not, you're out. Simple. Elegant. And deadly. But because He desires fellowship with us, He gave us mercy. In the sacrificial law of Moses there was an alter called the Mercy Seat. He has always shown mercy. And in the fullness of time, He sent His Son to die a sacrificial death, so that we can enjoy fellowship with Him forever. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Third, God gave us free will. This, I think, is the reason He works so hard to redeem us. He could have made us all robots, or subservient minions who always are at His beck and call. But because He desires true fellowship, not a false programmed devotion, we have to be able to choose whether we want fellowship with Him or not. And even though it breaks His heart when we choose our own way, He knows that is the best way, and that He has done everything possible to draw us to Himself. He has gone to death's door for us, in order to give us life. He has bent over backwards to broadcast this message clearly to us, so that all may know. So why haven't we all accepted His offer?
I think the devil has blinded us to responsibility. We must choose Him. We cannot assume that we will go to heaven just because we are of a certain race, or or a certain family. We cannot take half a Gospel, and say "God's will is for no man to perish; I am a man; therefore I will not perish." This is faulty logic. God doesn't always get His way. We must acknowledge Him (know justice); we must accept Him (love mercy); we must ask Him to save us (walk humbly before our God).
Some day the world will end. The Son will stop stamping people's hands to get into the Great Banquet Hall of Heaven. Tickets will no longer be honored. Where will you be when the last Trumpet sounds?
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