Mass Shooters: Oblivious of the Portal and Their Descent into Eternal Hell
My nighttime labor is transporting railroad crews from their trains back to the railroad yard. A crew of two to four men enters my truck each night and the conversations begin. Our subjects vary, but recently they have gravitated toward serial killers and mass shooters. None of us claim to be savvy sleuths when it comes to understanding these murderous men and their depraved minds, but I have a unique view distinct from my fellow travelers.
The subject of sin, a righteous judge, just judgment, eternal punishment, and fiery hell are never introduced by my non-Christian passengers. Keeping Almighty God out of the equation is true for murderers and for those who muse on such men. Simply put, there is no fear of God in unbelievers at any level of their sinful treachery and cosmic treason against our Creator God.
The Bible gives Christians a strong assurance that the day of justice is coming for every person. Thus, as we advocate for the best possible version of justice in the world, our hope is not, however, placed in a fair legal system here. Most of the murders in the city we reside in are committed by multiple-event felons. The police do an excellent job in our town, but the judges in our community have been weighed, measured, and found woefully wanting. Sadly, most of them run unopposed on every election ballot. They, too, will be judged for their works done in the flesh during their vaporous lives upon the earth.
As the portal to eternity opens for the serial killer or mass shooter, there is sometimes a self-inflicted act of suicidal murder or maybe a long wait for death in prison or obscurity. The victims of killers are more swiftly escorted to the day of judgment in eternity. They, too, are sinners who must give an account before the righteous Judge of heaven and earth.
To the shock of unrepentant sinners, who unexpectedly die at the hands of murderers, on a day they did not anticipate nor prepare for, there is their appearance before the Judge. The shock of death is met with the shock of the identity of the just Judge, who presides over every sinner’s case. He is Jesus Christ to whom judgment of all has been entrusted by God the Father, that is, Yahweh, the God of Israel and Lord of all (Mt 28:18; Acts 10:36).
Most people do not know the day of their own death. The mass shooter who commits suicidal self-murder as his last act of rebellion against the holy God is one exception. In this, he positions himself for hell and the lake of fire without the anticipation of this being his eternal home (Eccl 12:5). Does he not know? Has he not heard?
The devil has been a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44), and the children of the devil mimic their father in destroying the handiwork of our Creator God (1 Jn 3:10). God created man in His image, but sin has grotesquely marred that image. The result is that the natural man resembles the evil one, Lucifer, more than the Holy God.
There is no reforming the sinful, murderous heart apart from Jesus Christ (Jn 15:5), who taught that hatred in one’s heart equated to murder under God’s holy Law (1 Jn 3:15). The sin nature in the natural man positions the unregenerate soul at enmity with God (Eph 2:3, 16). Simply put, sinners naturally hate God and do evil in order to tear down the works of God. The pinnacle work of God’s creation is His crafting of each unique human being.
Killers destroy what God has formed. They are inspired by Satan and share the motive of hatred for the Creator (Jn 7:7; 15:18–25; Rom 1:30). Who has warned these image destroyers of God’s wrath to come against them? The just wrath of a vengeful God is not to be considered lightly. We must warn them that God hates those who do iniquity and is angry with the wicked all day, everyday (Ps 5:5; 7:11; 11:5).
God’s wrath against reprobate rebels is a fierce wrath. It is an eternal wrath that is described by Jesus as conscious eternal torment in the punishment of fiery hell and outer darkness. In the lake of fire, the worm does not die, which means the sentence for those resurrected from the dead unto judgment will include a physical body outfitted to suffer for eternity (Jn 5:28–29).
People in society do not speak or write in such authoritative and condemning language. Only the Bible, God’s holy Word, reveals the sentence of the second death (Rev 20:14–15). Therefore, it is the Christian preacher who must herald this news to the world. The wrath of man is often pointed at such a man of God (Mt 5:10–11). The result is the plague of false teaching, usually dominated by God’s supposed universal love for all people. Preachers will be judged, too!
Until men of God rise up to declare, without shame, the justice of the righteous Judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25), men will murder others without fear of the severest repercussions imaginable. There is no place in the kingdom of heaven for unrepentant murderers (Rev 22:15), and if there is one group who needs to hear that message, it is those who are even now, today, contemplating their treachery in the name of their father, the devil.
Hope of salvation, from God’s just wrath in right judgment, is found only in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). While they still have breath, it behooves serial killers, mass murderers, and their potential victims to repent of their sins and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for God’s forgiveness of sins, by the Savior’s blood shed on the cross (Eph 1:7; 1 Pet 2:24). There is no other way for any sinner to be reconciled to God than to receive the imputed righteousness of the sinless Lamb of God and His substitutionary sacrifice on behalf of God’s chosen people (Mt 1:21; Jn 1:29; 10:11, 15; Rom 5:8). This group of God’s elect includes some murderers (e. g. Moses, David, etc.)…by His amazing mercy and grace. We can only marvel at the goodness of God, the wickedness of men, and the fact that God will always do what is right.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 16, 2023
