Accursed from Christ!

Romans 9:3 – “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh…” Notice what Paul really puts the emphasis on for the worst possible outcome of one’s life – being accursed from Christ. Not burning in hell, as horrid as that would be! The absolute worst thing that could happen to a person would be eternal separation from Christ, which, Paul explains at the end of chapter 8, can’t happen to a true believer. The emphasis and the horror of going to hell is not the torture that surely occurs there, but the separation from Christ. As one puritan put it, “If I were to die and go to heaven only to find that Jesus wasn’t there, that would surely be hell to me.” Paul would say it the same way. “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Why is dying gain to Paul? “…to depart and be with Christ…is far better.” (Philippians 1:21; 23) For Paul (and for all real Christians), heaven is not great because of the streets of gold and the reunion with Aunt Betsy. Those things are great, but the greatest thing about heaven and eternal life is that Christ is there and we can have perfect fellowship with Him there. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is so magnificent because it enables us to know God in Christ. Being damned to hell is exceedingly horrible because by it we experience eternal separation from fellowship with Christ.