But what should our message be to those picking up the pieces of their lives after a hurricane or earthquake? How shall we answer if they ask for a theological answer to their predicament? Let’s be honest with what the Bible teaches, and tell people that God is holy and that their sin does have consequences. Let’s tell them that the ferocious roar of the hurricane is but a small sampling of the power that the almighty God possesses, and the fear they felt as their house shook is nothing in comparison to the terror that will grip them as they are thrown into hell. And let’s tell them that even though we all deserve to be cast into hell, God is mercifully giving us time to repent and believe in Jesus, through whom we can be saved from God’s wrath.
“But we shouldn’t scare people about God, should we?”some ask. The answer is found in Scripture: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). Until people fear God, they really don’t know anything.
