From time to time I’m asked questions on the subject of Hell and why God would send people there. I realize that the discussion can go many different ways, and there isn’t nearly enough room in this format to address them all. What I would like to do is share a quick thought on putting things in their proper perspective. It has helped me clear up things for many that I’ve talked with over the years. It’s my hope that this can be a help to you as well, whether for yourself or as an explanation to share with others.
God isn’t searching the earth to and fro for those He can send to their eternal damnation. Satan does so seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) God, on the other hand, searches to and fro to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) One is for, another is against.
With this in mind we have to establish who God is.
God is above all things Holy, Righteous, and Just:
Isaiah 6:1-2 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Psalm 33:4-5 For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord
Psalm 97:2 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Because He is holy and righteous, nothing unholy can be in His presence.
Because He is just, He does what justice requires in passing judgement.
A Holy, Righteous, Just God looked upon the sin of man and saw that it was only worthy of the judgement reserved for such sin – Hell and the Lake of Fire. Eternal separation from God. Because of this sin we were all headed there. Yet it was the love of God toward you and me that prompted Him to do on His part what you and I couldn’t do on our own – make a payment to satisfy what holy, righteous, judgement required. His love for you and me sent Jesus to live as a man, face life as you and I do, and die on a cross as a replacement and payment for our sin. This loving God didn’t send people to Hell – He made a way for them not to have to end up there.
In doing this He has made a way for us to be free of that punishment. He gives us the opportunity to receive this gift from Him.
John 3:16-18 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
God’s intention for man has always been for good. Man’s response and rebellion has taken him out of the cover of that goodness. God has reached out to extend mercy and patiently waited for man to respond and come back into fellowship. Some people do. Others don’t, and at some point they face judgement for their actions. When we read in the Old Testament where different peoples were eliminated, a thorough study will show that they were done so because they had been judged and had not repented. Judgment eventually was brought to bear on them.
An excellent example of a repentant response to God is found in the book of Jonah. Nineveh was a capital city of Assyria, a nation that had caused many issues for Israel. The people of Nineveh responded to God’s call of repentance that Jonah brought them, and they were spared the impending judgement that awaited them had they not turned from their ways. Our response to God’s call to repentance is where the punishment that comes with judgement is either averted or confirmed.
God has given each person the ability to make their own choice to accept the answer He provided in Jesus, or to reject it in lieu of something else. What we can know is that the sentence for our sin was already prescribed. Judgement is waiting to be carried out. It is God’s love that reaches out to each of us to give us a way to avert that judgement. Jesus came on a rescue mission, not as a judge and executioner.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
A loving God sent a loving Son to save a condemned world. We must keep in mind that His love didn’t supersede His holy, just, righteous nature. It answered it and satisfied it. When we do away with those traits in God, we diminish Him, and reverence for Him can be lost. Think about that when you look at the world around you. It’s a sobering thought. Each of us has an opportunity to share who He is and what He has done. In doing so we can change the world one person at a time.
