The ice on the Baltic Sea off the east coast of Sweden looked splendid: clear and flat, unspoiled by ridges and fissures for as far as the eye could see. It looked like the kind of ice that a good skater could fly across. And fly the young Swedish couple in their thirties did. Long-distance ice skating on the frozen ocean is a type of extreme sport in Scandinavia that is growing in popularity. The two skaters, rhythmically swinging their arms and legs, put many kilometers behind them through the hours of the early afternoon. They enjoyed the scenery of low-lying snow-covered hills and the solitude of being out on the expanse of ice alone. By three in the afternoon the shadows were lengthening, and the sinking sun filled the gloam with an eerie golden yellow light that is peculiar to the northern latitudes.
The husband and wife team of skaters were a few kilometers from shore enjoying the almost ethereal beauty when, unknown to them, further out to sea a powerful ice breaker ship was clearing a path so that the shipping lanes might remain open. The ice breaker, battering the ice at a high speed, shattered the ice for several kilometers on either side of its path. What had once been a solid piece of ice broke up into thousands of pieces each about the size of small city lots. It was as if a giant pane of glass had been smashed by an equally giant hammer. Rifts of open water quickly formed between these small islands of ice. From above, at a bird’s eye view, the frozen sea, which had looked as smooth as a mirror seconds ago, now looked like great pieces of a jigsaw puzzle all laid out with a gap between adjacent pieces.
The skaters felt and heard the ice buckle and snap beneath them. They instinctively stopped their forward motion, which saved them from tragedy. If they had continued for a fraction of a second longer, they would have skated into the frigid water which had opened up as if by magic before them. They turned away from the frail edges of the broken sheet of ice and carefully skated to its center where it seemed safer. But neither of them was under any illusions of security. The ice beneath their skates felt like it might break up at any moment and send them to their watery deaths. Straightaway they realized that they needed help urgently.
Fortunately, one of the pair carried a cell phone, and on it they placed a call to the Coast Guard. Using landmarks on the distant shore, they described their position as best they could and then hoped the rescue helicopter would be able to spot them before the darkness of night settled in. Twelve minutes after making the call a helicopter arrived, and, lowering a basket, it was able to rescue them off the ice. It was not a minute too soon either, for shortly after evacuating the pair from the ice it broke up into smaller pieces.
The pair of skaters had been in a life-and-death situation and needed help urgently. Not all of us are interested in extreme sports that may put us in the way of bodily harm, but all of us are in a life-and-death situation because of our spiritual condition and are in urgent need of God’s grace. Sin has put all persons at imminent risk of a lost eternity. The depth of the sea surrounded the skaters on their small ice island, and the depth of a lost eternity surrounds those who have not yet come to Jesus Christ for salvation. Ever since the fall of man, the spiritual environs of man have been shattered, and no amount of human fixing can remedy the situation. The unity that once existed between God and man when man was created has been irreparably broken, leaving a gulf between them and a holy God.
Only One is mighty enough to help you find salvation, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13) reads, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Lord Jesus can save all who call on Him, because He gave His life at Calvary. His death as the “lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:99Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:9)) is the one sacrifice that God will accept for sin. God will not leave any soul in danger who trusts in His Son for salvation, but He will keep them safe for time and eternity so that they never perish. Faith in Jesus Christ is the way for a sinner to be restored to a relationship with God the Father. “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” the Lord Jesus said. “No man cometh to the Father, but by Me” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)).
Where will those who don’t know Christ be when God’s judgment against sin overtakes them? It is wishful thinking of the worst type for a person to entertain the illusion they will not come into judgment for their deeds. “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3). In eternity each individual will get their full and proper due from “God, who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5-65But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6Who will render to every man according to his deeds: (Romans 2:5‑6)).
Can you say you have continued patiently in doing good throughout your life? Of course not! That is why you need the Saviour of sinners. The blood He shed on the cross can wash away your every stain of sin. And as the Victor over sin and death, He is able to help those who believe in Him so that they may walk as children of God.
Not only does God judge individuals, He is coming back sometime soon to judge the entire earth and set it right. With irresistible power He will shatter everything and everybody that is against Him. The time is coming when what is described in the following verses will surely come to pass: “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
The first time the Lord Jesus came, His enemies nailed Him to a cross, and He was rejected. The second time He comes, He will overcome His enemies with irresistible power, and He alone will be exalted. Their defenses and all the things they trusted in will be irrecoverably shattered. All those who know not God and obeyed not the gospel call to repent and believe will be punished with everlasting destruction. Everlasting destruction doesn’t mean annihilation where the soul has an end of existence. What it really means is that souls who reject Christ will spend eternity in the miseries and darkness of hell, where all is in a never-ending state of destruction.
As sure as the Lord Jesus came the first time and died and rose again, He is coming the second time to judge the earth. We don’t know when His second coming may happen, but we do know it will come like a snare or a trap on the face of the earth, and millions will not be ready for it. “As a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:3535For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. (Luke 21:35)).
Between His two comings He is calling people out of this world to believe on Him and receive the gift of eternal life. Through the preaching of the gospel, God is inviting all men and women, no matter what their background may have been, to believe on His Son. “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). Won’t you respond to this invitation and come to the Lord Jesus by faith and be saved? Only by so doing may you find safety and security for your soul and escape the judgment that must fall. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)).