To Encourage You

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Have you ever wondered why a suicide bomber would be willing to give his or her own life in order to kill other people?  The passage above tells us that some people are strongly deluded so that they believe lies.  Surely anyone who commits suicide as a terrorist actually believes that there will be something in it for them in the end.  My understanding is that Muslim terrorists believe they will enter paradise at the moment of their death if they die in this manner.  The Bible states plainly, however, that “no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15).  If the Bible is true on this point, what the terrorist believes is a lie, and he or she has followed that lie into an eternity of torment in hell.  If such a person had known the truth about this, surely, they wouldn’t have done what they did. 

It is very dangerous for anyone to stake their life on a lie, but, sadly, there are many people that are doing just that.  For example, many people believe that Jesus is not the only way to God. They live their lives on this basis, and if their belief is a lie (and the Bible says that it is – see John 14:6), there will be the same self-destructive eternal consequences of the terrorist in the end.  Many people don’t believe there is such a thing as an afterlife. They live their lives based on this, and give no thought to the possibility of a judgment after their death.  However, the Bible says, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  So if the Bible is indeed true, they are basing their lives on a self-destructive lie. 

Getting back to the original question of whether you’ve ever wondered why a suicide bomber would be willing to sacrifice his or her life in order to murder someone, it is because they have believed a lie to their eternal loss.  Are you sure you also are not basing your entire destiny on a lie?  Jesus said that He was the truth (John 14:6), and He also called the Bible, which he called the Word of God, the truth (John 17:17).  So what do you believe – Jesus or someone else, even yourself, who is saying something otherwise?  If so, you are staking your future on the belief that Jesus is a liar.  Are you really sure that you want to do that?