When someone dies, it seems that just for a few days everything in a family’s life stops. It is a time of sadness in that a loved one will not be there anymore.
Death also helps one to realize that a part of life is death itself. Knowing this should cause a person to think about their destiny, as eternity awaits after the final breath.
Destiny is defined as the inevitable or necessary succession of events. God’s word shows that destiny is a fact that every person faces, and there are two places that await – heaven or hell.
God prepared hell for the devil and his angels, but a sinful man will find himself there if he does not obey God (Matt. 25:41).
This is why God has done so much for man to try and convince him not to be lost. God loves mankind (John 3:16), but God is also a God of justice. In giving man the ability to make decisions, he allows man to choose to obey him or to reject him.
God has also prepared heaven (Jno. 14:1-6, Rev. 21). This should be the goal of each and every soul on the face of the earth. It will be a place with no sickness or dying, no tears nor sorrow. Heaven truly is a wonderful place. The fact that God made man a free moral agent can be seen in the words of Joshua: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
It is up to individuals to either obey God or reject him.
“Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matt. 7:21).
“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” (Heb. 5:8,9). God provided the only sacrifice for sins, Christ. He has provided all that pertains to life and godliness (Jno. 3:16; Heb. 10:10; II Peter 1:3). God wants all men to be saved.
When one contemplates their eternal destiny, it is unbelievable that some live such lives of sin. Heaven is described as a place of rest, no sorrow, or crying, a place of joy, living with Christ throughout all eternity (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 14:13; Rev. 21:4; Matt. 25:23; Jno. 14:13).
Realizing the things men suffer in life, and the glories of heaven that await, who would not want to go to heaven?
Hell is described as a place of weeping, with no rest, everlasting fire, without Christ, and a place of anguish (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 14:11; Matt. 25:30 Jno. 8:21). Who would actively seek this place as an eternal home?
Many are living lives that are going to lead to their destruction (Matt. 7:132,14). They refuse to obey the gospel, which is the way of salvation (Rom. 2:8; II Thess. 8). Paul wrote that the gospel saves (I Cor. 15:1- 4).
Some men believe their teaching is greater than God’s, but it is not (Matt. 15:9). God is the one who decides the requirements of admission to his kingdom. He provided the way, the light and the sacrifice – Christ (Jno. 14:6; Jno. 1:4,5; Heb. 10:10).
God’s plan of salvation as told in the New Testament is: hear, Rom.10:17; believe, Heb. 11:6; repent, Acts 17:30; confess, Rom. 10:9, 10; baptism, Acts 2:38; and living a faithful life, Rev. 2:10.
Their obedience or non-obedience to God’s word will settle one’s destiny. So who determines eternal destiny? The choice belongs to the individual, and all should seek God so heaven will be their destiny.