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Jimmy Kimmel's Response to Vegas

I found this quote while listening to Jimmy Kimmel’s emotional and controversial response to the Las Vegas shooting through teary eyes:

“I want this to be a comedy show, I hate talking about stuff like this. I just want to, you know, laugh about things every night, but that seems to be becoming increasingly difficult lately. It feels like someone has opened a window into Hell…”

I don’t agree with Kimmel’s political views on gun control (though I am not an impassioned gun enthusiast either), but I am in full agreement with the emotion behind his speech. I also think he might be on to something when suggesting a window has opened to Hell. Day after day, I think of ways that will convince a dying world of it’s need for the salvation offered in Christ alone. Perhaps, if the world is beginning to recognize that a window has been opened, it is time to be a little more straight forward about who Jesus is.

It is a little ironic that we refer to Hell as a place where evil comes from. The truth is, that Hell was prepared for the fallen angels who were deceived and became filled with evil. Hell has also become a place for mankind, those who choose to live apart from God. So, instead of evil coming out of Hell, God sends evil to Hell. The real Hell that we talk about, when a window is opened, is inside the hearts of men. When Jesus sits on the judgment throne, those who chose to live for him and those who chose to live apart from him will be separated to the right and to the left. The right will be ushered into a kingdom that has been prepared for them. To the ones on the left, he will say:

"...Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41

Look around, we are in a downward spiral, and it seems like every day we spin a bit faster as we get closer to the bottom. From the raging storms to the raging evil in men’s hearts, we are living in a world that is heading toward the end, one that is foretold in the book of Revelation. Christ states the following regarding the signs of the end:

"See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." Matthew 24:4-8

I am not suggesting that the recent earthquakes, hurricanes, or shootings are a judgment from God - in fact, my understanding is that God's wrath is being withheld until the time of judgment comes. The sins of mankind will be judged, which is detailed in the book of Revelation. Revelation has a ton of imagery, filled with metaphors and supernatural events regarding the judgment being poured out onto the earth, which works together cohesively with the prophecies laid out in the gospels and the epistles in the New Testament, and with prophecies in the Old Testament, such as the book of Daniel.


I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the bottom line is that you need Jesus and his sacrifice he made on the cross. He died in your place and all you have to do is accept his gift of atonement to go home one day, to a place where we won’t see these horrific events ever again. I don’t know when the end will come, it could be within our lifetime or it could be centuries down the road, but I do know that your choice to live for God or live against him needs to be made now. What we have seen is just a small window into Hell opened, but when the gates break open, and men are full of evil with no restraint, only God can save us. 

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” Matthew 24: 30-31
We cannot look at our neighbors with contempt, no matter how far away from God they seem. They need the truth which is found in Christ alone. One day, when we are home, they will be thankful for the small window of Heaven that you opened that led them home. 

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25

In Christ,

Jon
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