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Thursday, September 05 2019

“A loving God would not create Hell for people whom He foreknew would do evil.” Why not? As the Creator and Source of everything, God is the Source of all justice. God is just to send those who do evil and live in rebellion against God to Hell (Matt 13:37–43). God also graciously provides a way that all may turn from evil. God loves all and wants everyone to repent and be saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9).

            God created humanity with free will and yet humanity sins. All have sinned (Rom 3:23; 5:12). Sinners kindle their own fire (Isa 50:11). Each person's actions condemns oneself to Hell (John 3:18–20; Rom 2:1–11; 5:12, 16, 18). For eternal sins, there is no injustice for those who reject God to receive eternal condemnation. Those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thess 1:9 ESV).

            Jesus preached more about Hell than anyone in the Bible. Jesus taught an eternal punishment as He declared, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41b). Jesus reported, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt 25:46). Jesus confirmed Isaiah's description of an unending Hell, “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48; cf. Isa 66:24). He proclaimed that Hell is just, and each unrepentant sinner will receive their just stripes (Luke 12:47–48).

            The apostle John revealed that Hell is torment without rest existing forever for those who worshipped the Beast, a violent persecutor of the church. John noted, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name” (Rev 14:11).

            Eternal Hell is justified for eternal sins. The eternal God made every human in His likeness. People profane the holy nature of the eternal God by sinning and rejecting everlasting life from God’s Son, so they as eternal spirits separate themselves from God for everlasting punishment. The person who continues to sin willfully “has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29).

            Eternal punishment is right for sins committed in and against one's body. Hell is not merely spiritual but also a bodily torment. Jesus warned, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28; cf. Mark 9:41–48). Jesus confirmed that the wicked will bodily resurrect to condemnation (John 5:28–29; cf. Dan 12:2).

            Many people dismiss God and choose Hell because they love sin (John 3:19–20). The real reason that people judge God and dismiss an eternal Hell is for their agnostic, negative, and distorted view of God and Christ. They judge God as a mere person rather than the eternal Being, the Creator of everything, and the Source of all goodness. One must have an ultimate and objective moral standard to judge the holy God, but God is the only absolute standard. A person’s arbitrary morals will not stand before God. 

            God loves all people while yet sinners, and Jesus came and died for all (John 3:16; Rom 5:8). By Christ, repentant believers have hope of resurrecting to eternal life (John 6:40; Rom 8:23–25; Titus 3:7). Thank God for sending Jesus, "the Christ," to save us from an everlasting Hell!

Posted by: Scott J Shifferd Jr. AT 07:42 am   |  Permalink   |  Email