Do I take on the tough questions or what? 😀
Well, let me start with icons like Princess Diana or Mother Teresa. Amp it up and think of Ghandi or Buddha. These people are revered. Certainly, they deserve Heaven, you may think. That does make sense to the human mind. This one question seems to be a question that everyone has. I did. The first question I asked the Messianic rabbi was this one. It is an important question to address. Maybe, you have had it and no one to ask. Maybe, you have been reluctant to ask, or too shy. I will try to answer it, as best as I can. You can, always, write to me, if you have questions.
To answer this question, one must look at the death of Jesus. It was horrible. Jesus is a historical figure. There is more written on Jesus than normally accepted historical events such as the fall of Rome etc. Jesus death is an accepted historical event, regardless of if you believe Jesus is divine. One can see the enormous suffering that the man, Jesus, endured. Why He suffered is the root answer to our question. Let’s flip forward and postulate that Jesus is God. I know many people do not believe that, but for purposes of this discussion, we will accept that. God gave up his station as God to become a lowly man, who was not even rich or handsome. He wanted man to be reconciled to Him. That is the only reason Jesus did that.
So, we have to look at this to deal with our question. When Jesus made such a huge sacrifice,what a dishonor it is for me to eschew it. The man who does not need Jesus sacrifice is blinded. He is ignorant, but ignorance is not excuse. Every man has been told about Jesus, certainly in the Western world. Each man must walk away, consciously, from Jesus. Each man must reject Him. Hence, no man is good, not from God’s point of view.
With God, there is no such thing as a good man. A good man is called so, according to our standards, only. In God’s eyes, there are saved men and lost men. Lost men go to Hell, as they have no sacrifice for their deeds. Every man does evil, all day long. The Ten Commandments were given, not so man could follow them, but to show man that he could not. The Old Testament has such a high bar for man, that no man could reach it. It was to show man that he needed help, God’s help. That was the reason for Jesus’ birth and all His actions on earth. Don’t lose Heaven, for the world!
Please, forgive typos.