Hell is not described as a pretty picture – yet there are those who laugh about going there with plenty of mates. Yes, there can be good reasons for going there: it requires no effort at all to get there: you can freely associate with bad company there: you won’t have the constant watchful eye of God over you there: you won’t be expected to attend worship or Bible study there: you won’t have to give of your wealth – you won’t have any to give!: purity and goodness will not be expected of you: there will be no faithful gospel preachers to nag you to greater Christian service: you won’t have to shrug your responsibilities onto someone else: there’ll be no worry about judgement – it will be over – all you will have to do is serve your sentence for eternity: there’ll be no worry about Christ coming again – He won’t…ever. Understand this -it will be no party. The words used to describe a realm that is a different dimension to this one are words that get our attention and are designed to do so – darkness, pain, gnashing of teeth, fire, torment, thirst – and no escape – ever!
The most common word for Hell is Gehenna, and it is found 12 times in the N.T., and Jesus used it 11 of those 12 times. In fact, Jesus talked about it more than anyone. The prophets of old spoke more about national punishment and destruction, whereas Jesus spoke more of personal destruction in Hell. But the doctrine of Hell doesn’t have good press. Bertrand Russell who admired the character of Jesus said, There is one defect in Christ’s moral character – He believed in Hell.
He was not the only one to object to the doctrine of Hell. There are many who think Hell is an horrendous doctrine. It’s not just atheists and other unbelieving types: we have several religious churches such as the Seventh Day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses who do not believe in Hell, believing that its existence would contradict God’s loving nature. This is human reasoning gone to seed, conflicting with the plain teaching of Scripture. What did Jesus mean when He said in Matt.10:28 Fear not those who can kill the body but are unable to kill the soul? That means there’s more to death than dying! What is meant by Heb. 10:28,29 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite to the spirit of grace? If physical death is the end of everything, how can there be a more severe punishment than death? The point is it is not all of life to live and neither is it all of death to die.
Besides, what will we do with all such references to Hell? Some say it stands for simply going out of existence. Strange way to talk about going to sleep and never waking up, neither in this world or any other. Where is the punishment in that? They say the punishment would be missing out on eternal life, but where is the punishment in never knowing what you’re missing out on? This is a place that was prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matt.25:41). Is the punishment of the Devil his just going to sleep? Does anyone have any qualms with God condemning the Devil? It was he who brought sin and death into a perfect world and made it a world of conflict. It is he who is contrary to God’s will. Well, seeing we are spirit beings, is it not fitting that those who side with the Devil shall go where he will go?
Essentially, we make a choice in life as to whom we throw in our lot with – God or the Devil. If we reject God and His word then we side with the Devil and so we share his fate. Isn’t this fair?
Does love contradict punishment? Rom. 11:22 speaks of the goodness and severity of God. This can be easily understood by looking at Prov. 13:24 – to not punish is to hate, and to punish is to love. He is not talking about abuse, but discipline that springs out of love. Some parents need to have this thrust upon them – Prov. 23:13 – he will not die!
Does God have the right to judge? Of course – this is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Bible (Acts 17:31). Now, what is a lifetime of sinning worth in terms of justice? Time doesn’t come into it – how long will it take you to shoot someone dead? 2 seconds? Should you go to jail for 2 seconds? We would be outraged if our legal system operated on that basis. We would say that 20 years (630million seconds) is fair punishment for that one sin. I say again, what is fitting punishment for a lifetime of sinning against a holy God? The bottom line is we are not in a position to make a judgement on that, because we are all guilty. In a court of law we cannot be allowed to judge our own family because of conflict of interest and lack of impartiality. It’s the same here – the whole of our human family is on trial, including ourselves and so we cannot judge what is fair punishment for a lifetime of sin. Yes, “but not all people sin equally”, and that’s true, and God will bring that into judgement – Luke 12:47,48.
There is a great focus in the Bible about how we are to seek God, but the Bible also speaks to how God is a seeker. He seeks various things such as true worshippers: John 4:23 – God seeks such to worship Him…. He seeks the fruits of righteousness: Parable of the husbandman – Luke 13:7 I come seeking fruit on this fig tree..
But, importantly, He seeks man:
Ezek. 34:12-16 – ….as a shepherd seeks…so will I seek out my sheep..
Luke 19:10 – the son of man is come to seek and save the lost..
2 Cor. 5:19 – God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself……
So God seeks a loving relationship with us, because He made us for Himself (Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11) but what if He is spurned? This was Christ’s lament in Matt. 23:37 – how often would I have gathered you to myself as a hen gathers her chicks….and you would not.
Did any of you ladies have an unwanted suitor when you were young? A young man who was showing a romantic interest in you but you wished he would go away? What did you say? – “I like you as a friend, that’s all”. Did he keep hanging around like a bad smell? Let’s turn it around. What would be the loving thing for the young man to do when you don’t want him around? Leave! That’s what God does.
So we have this expression in Gen. 6:3 – “My Spirit shall not always strive with man…”. In Rom. 1 we have this expression “And God gave them up…”. There comes a time when God will walk away in love. Nobody is forced to go to Heaven.
“But how can God be a God of love when He knows there are countless people suffering in Hell? Let’s put it on the human level: There are many who think they could not enjoy Heaven if they knew they had loved ones in Hell. Let me ask some questions. “What about your enemies?” “Are your loved ones more valuable than others?” Now, do you ever experience times when you experience happiness untainted by such considerations? Of course you do- you are laughing and enjoying the company of others untainted with thoughts about loved ones in Hell. Do you doubt that you could so enjoy Heaven for eternity, so focused on its joys that there is no room for depressing thoughts of Hell? God says he can make it so there are no more tears, does He not?!
Let me conclude with this thought: I’m glad Hell is in the Bible…… because I would not want to go through life ignorant of judgement and Hell only to find out when I die and it’s too late! Reality does not conform to what I wish it to be! A Mariner wants his charts to mark all the rocks and reefs and regards that as a mercy so he can avoid being shipwrecked on any of them. It is an eminent mercy that Christ has forewarned us of Hell and given us the way of escape in the Gospel.
I’m glad Hell is in the Bible because it is a spur. Like the great coal trains that have engines pulling and engines pushing, there is the attraction of Heaven pulling us and the fear of Hell pushing us.