What The Hell?
The End is Nigh • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsWhat is Hell and why would God send someone there? If God loves us, wouldn't he want to save us from punishment instead of sending us there? The answer reveals that we may be asking the question entirely wrong.
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Not “Good” and “Bad” but “Connected” and “Disconnected”
Not “Good” and “Bad” but “Connected” and “Disconnected”
A lot has been said about Hell and most of it is pop culture.
Dante’s “Inferno” from the Divine Comedy shaped much of what we think of Hell. It’s actually a work of fiction and political commentary.
These pop culture references do sometimes offer clues into the truth of Heaven and Hell. In Dante’s Purgatorio, he does a good job describing God’s desire for mankind at the summit of a place called Mount Purgatory. Throughout the narrative, the character Dante has been traveling through Hell, purgatory, and finally heaven in pursuit of one He loves. At Mount Purgatory he sees a place where souls must atone for their sins. None of this is scriptural in the slightest, but there is an image at the summit of Mount Purgatory which is quite beautiful and a good depiction of God’s desire. He finds a woman named Matelda who is gathering flowers and preserving the beauty of a garden which is meant to represent the Garden of Eden. The picture that Dante paints is one where God is preserving the innocence of His Creation for humanity to one day return. The stark contrast from the pains and torments of those who sinned in Hell in the prior sections of the Divine Comedy just make the contrast even more stark.
God desires our return
1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.
9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
God’s desire is for the unity of His creation. This is why unity with Christ is such a big deal.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Read 1 Timothy 2:1-6 and 2 Peter 3:9 and consider how God desires all of us to return to Him. Think about the entire story of the Bible from a 30,000ft point-of-view: How can you see evidence that God “desires us” through the general themes of the Bible?
Unity is a key component of God’s plan. Read Ephesians 4:4-6 and ask yourself why unity matters in terms of our lives and whether we choose to follow Christ. Some argue “How could God love us and let us go to Hell”, but how would it be completely contradictory to harmony and unity to force someone who rejects God to spend eternity with God?
The Downfall of the Divided House
The Downfall of the Divided House
That last verse is significant because in Mark 3:20-30 we see Christ addressing some religious officials who are trying to “figure out” Christ. The suppose He may be in cooperation with Satan which causes Christ to respond as we find in Mark 3:23-24
23 So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Christ is identifying that Satan can not co-exist with God. It is antithetical to the unity of Creation. While you consider this, recall what we read about “the Dragon” in Revelation.
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. 11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short.
Satan rejected God; Satan rejects God’s presence
Creation is a place where God permits Free Will which includes turning from the presence of God
Sin creates that separation
Seen in Christ’s words in Matthew 27:45-46
45 From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the whole land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Christ is never careless, so he must have known what he was saying.… God “abandoned” him
Why? Sin.
Read Revelation 12:7-12 and think about how Satan was rejected from Heaven and sent to earth. On earth, Satan seems to actually serve a purpose: to test the Free Will of mankind giving them the opportunity to freely follow Satan or turn to God.
In human relationships, how does tolerating freedom help to enhance your relationship? Does a slave following their master display a great deal of affection or does someone willingly doing a service for another show greater affection? Now think of God. What purpose does permitting Satan to tempt people on earth give which amplifies the message that God loves us?
You may be sitting here about now and asking, “I thought this was going to be about Hell?”
Define Hell by defining Heaven and Earth
Heaven —> Perfect commune with God
Earth —> God’s Creation, place of life including renewal of life (does this explain why Revelation talks about a ‘new earth and new Jerusalem’ instead of simply “heaven”?
Hell —> All that’s left is separation from God without life
Then is Hell torture? Not really...
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin IS death which is the closing of a window to renewal of the soul on earth (the place of life and creation including new life and new creation)
If we rejected Christ (called “Blasphemy of the spirit” in Mark 3), then Christ does not force us into a relationship
So Hell is a place ABSENT God. But also.… James 1:17
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God desires us, but love isn’t something that can be forced on someone. We view things like “blessing” and “curse” as if they are incentives to follow God when in reality “blessing” is ONLY present with God. Read James 1:17.
When someone says “How can God send someone to Hell?”, how does this ignore the relationship part of the equation? How does viewing God as “sending someone to Hell” ignore what God really wants and what He did to ensure we could spend eternity with Him?
This question is fundamentally flawed because it views God as “pushing people away” instead of what is really happening: people running away from God.
When you put everything together, what you get is this simple truth: a life apart from God is a life apart from the source of all good. When God permits those He created to go to Hell, it isn’t out of a desire to torture or get “payback”, but rather God permitting those who desire to turn away from God to not be forced into perfect commune with God.
No Alternative Works: If he forced you into commune against your Will, it would be slavery and not love. If he made His truth a scientific fact, it would be people “being saved” by their own reason instead of by God’s grace effectively making them a part of salvation… but salvation can not be through human “knowing”, but only through faith.
God desires us, so He did everything to ensure we would have all knowledge, wisdom, and testimony needed to sustain our faith.
Some may argue “How could God do this...” and they don’t spend enough time asking “Why would God even bother...”.
God bothered before you are worth it. You are a reflection of His image and His glory, and that is worth His redemption.
