<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people hear the word hell they typically think of funny cartoons with fiery rivers and devil characters running around with pitchforks. But hell is no joke, it\u2019s quite possibly the most serious thing we could ever imagine. The Bible describes hell as a literal place of torment where people will experience God\u2019s judgment for all eternity. The concept is quite startling and hard to truly fathom. If God loves us why would He even create hell in the first place? In what follows we\u2019ll be able to see how God\u2019s love and the existence of a place of eternal torment can coexist, and how hell itself demonstrates God\u2019s justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HELL WAS NOT CREATED FOR PEOPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important truths about hell is that it was not originally created for people. Jesus told His disciples that hell was originally made for the spiritual enemy of humans, satan and fallen angels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen he will say to those on his left, \u2018Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.\u201d Matt. 25:41<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was only after sin crept into the human world that the door to eternal punishment swung open for humanity. In the heavenly domain, before humans existed, satan and his angels corrupted their nature and rebelled against God. Hell was first created as a judgment for these fallen beings, creatures whose darkness exceeds what our minds can grasp. But when our first parents rejected God\u2019s commandments we fell under a similar judgment. Instead of living in peace with our Creator, we became rebels by nature, creatures who oppose God\u2019s authority and righteousness. The Bible says that humanity now lives under the spiritual authority of satan, he is the \u201cgod of this world\u201d who everyone naturally follows (2 Corinthians 4:4). But unlike satan and his angels, God loves us and wants to redeem people from the curse of sin. His purpose in Christ was to bring us back into His Presence for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DISPROPORTIONATE PUNISHMENT?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n People often say that hell is not a fair punishment. Why not reincarnate sinners into cockroaches, or put them in purgatory for a thousand years? How can momentary sins justify eternity in pain? First, it\u2019s important to remember that the judge of our universe isn\u2019t a human. He doesn\u2019t act in ways that are easily measured or conceived. As the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts\u201d (Isa 55:9). So while we may think of hell as being disproportionate that judgment is only according to human proportions. The Lord deals in eternity while we even find it hard to fathom the concept of a light year and the distance it measures. Hell seems extreme, but in God\u2019s measurements, that\u2019s how sin is appropriately dealt with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course this is concerning, but if it means any consolation, the idea of heaven is also seemingly disproportionate. All we have to do is receive what God has prepared for us on our behalf, through Christ, and we get to spend eternity in a place of pure joy with no sadness or pain? Heaven is completely unfathomable by our standards. Our hearts race at the thought of opening Christmas presents or going on a vacation for a week somewhere in the sun. But heaven is an infinite and ecstatic existence where no suffering of any kind will live on. That is equally disproportionate and unfathomable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To put things into perspective, the idea of hell must be weighed against the Being whose justice is at stake. Jonathan Edwards, America\u2019s pioneering theologian philosopher says that, \u201cThe heinousness of any crime must be gauged according to the worth or dignity of the person it is committed against.\u201d <\/em>Edwards believed in the intrinsic equality and value of all people, but pointed to the fact that crimes against those in higher offices are treated more seriously. Sin against God, is a crime against the highest office in the universe and demands a form of justice that has no equal on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GOD DOES NOT DESIRE ANYONE TO SUFFER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible is a long historical narrative that stretches over thousands of years. Despite its enormity, one theme remains the same, God wants to save people and bring them back into communion with His love. We often hear how the Old Testament God was full of fire and wrath who judged people at random. And while there are times where punishments did take place, the grander picture is of a God who is constantly trying to save His people. In the book of Ezekiel, we see Him speaking through the prophet, practically begging the Israelites to repent,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u201c<\/strong>Say to them, \u2018As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?\u2019\u201d Eze. 33:11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This theme is carried on in the New Testament where Jesus demonstrates that God wants to save people from sin so much that He\u2019s willing to die in their place. Again, the message isn\u2019t one of rejoicing in wrath, but rescue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u201c<\/strong>For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God\u2019s one and only Son,\u201d John 3:16-18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While hell is the consequence of sinning against the holiness of God, He doesn\u2019t want anyone to face that fate. God is not just a Holy Judge, He\u2019s also our defender in the courtroom, pleading with people to accept His offer of forgiveness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hell will never be a comfortable place to think about, it was never meant to be one. But despite its gravity, we must always keep the words of Abraham at Sodom and Gomorrah in mind, \u201c\u2026 will not the judge of all the earth do right?\u201d (Gen. 18:25). Hell may appear to be a great injustice, but the Judge of our planet, who breathed matter into existence, is by His very nature, the source and embodiment of all justice. Even the very notion of fairness and equality stem from His Character that we perceive in our hearts. So while appearances may seem contradictory, it\u2019s important not to sacrifice the knowledge we already have of God\u2019s goodness. And it is equally important to look at the doctrine of hell through a lens that includes the wider context of scripture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When people hear the word hell they typically think of funny cartoons with fiery rivers and devil characters running around with pitchforks. But hell is no joke, it\u2019s quite possibly the most serious thing we could ever imagine. 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