How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Hebrews 2:3.
This verse that I read as part of Bible study with a friend intersected for me with a passage I was studying on my own. In Luke 16 Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. As it turns out Lazarus ends up in heaven while the rich man who lived a life all about his own comfort ends up in hell. From hell the distressed rich man pleads that Lazarus be sent back from the dead to warn his brothers so they will not suffer the same end. Abraham answers him that they have the bible already – they should pay attention to it! Knowing his brothers will not repent at the plain message of the Scriptures he says that his brothers will listen if someone returns from the dead to warn them. But the sad ending of Jesus’ parable is that no, in fact, they will not change their ways even if someone rises from the dead and comes to them.
To me this parable makes the point of Hebrews 2:3 even more poignant. God has in fact demonstrated His love for sinners by sending His own Son to be punished in their place, and He has in fact sent Him back to us from the dead. Any greater or more surprising plan that God could have come up with to communicate His love to us and deal with our wickedness I cannot conceive. We needed a heart transplant and God gave us His Son’s own beating heart at the cost of His life, but many refuse and some even despise His love and generosity. Indeed, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
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