Jesus Loves the Little Children

Sept. 16, 2013 Monday Message:

The #3 most-asked Bible/Christianity question is, “Do children who die without Christ go to heaven?”

Who doesn’t love little children? And if they unfortunately die, who wouldn’t want them to be in heaven? The desire to answer “yes” has led the church down some twisted paths, including soul sleep, baptizing the dead, and, yes, even infant baptism. While we could debate the merits of each of these things, the fact is that none of them are required to spend eternity with our creator. God already has us covered.

When the thief-on-the-cross pleaded for Jesus to include him in the kingdom, Jesus didn’t say, “OK. Let’s get down off these crosses, hike over to the Jordan, and let me dunk you three times because we all know that you need to be baptized.” No, Jesus simply said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” The thief on the cross, as well as you, me, and our children will all get into heaven because Jesus says so, not because of anything we did. Note: You SHOULD be baptized because that’s something Jesus said we were to do. But baptism alone isn’t a ticket into heaven. We need to open our Bibles to get this right.

In 2 Samuel 12, David had a little boy, and the baby was dying. And David put on sackcloth and ashes and prayed for healing, but there was no reversing the child’s condition. David heard the servants talking, and he asked them if the baby was dead.

“Yes.” So David put on clean clothes and ate because he had been fasting, and the servants said, “How come he is so happy – the baby died!” They exchanged a few words, and then David said, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” In other words, David knew his son was safe in God’s arms, and fully expected to see his child again in the next life.

So as Christians, we believe that children who die before an age of accountability go to be with the Lord. And disabled adults, who never reach accountable intelligence – same deal, same subject. God provides for them.

Romans Ch. 2 covers it all: “Will not the God of this earth do what is right?”

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) gathers every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. Being a disciple of Jesus is not easy, and Sunday, Sept. 22, I’ll be teaching about the cost of following Jesus, Luke Ch. 14. Join us!

NL