Why Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?
Notes
Transcript
One of my favorite things on the planet is bubble—wrap—what does bubble wrap do? Well, it wraps things up with little cushions of air…to protect it, if it falls or breaks.
and it is also so fun to pop...
well, during this I wonder series—part of the goal is to take the bubble wrap off, the cushion off, the protective layer off…and ask painful, difficult, raw, honest questions.
so let’s do that…let’s pop the bubble wrap, get to the core and ask this fragile question without the bubble wrap...
and one of those questions is this: Why Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?
The Bible is clear that there are 2 eternal destinies:
even the OT says it:
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
everlasting life
or...
everlasting contempt
and it all is based on our response to Jesus Christ
16 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.
so why would a loving God send people to hell?
Before we answer that--Listen to these descriptions about what the NT teaches about hell. (stand)
Hell is described as the following: (From Doctrine page 424 Driscoll & Breshears)
Fire
41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Darkness (Jesus says this…)
30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
punishment
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand,
10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
4. exclusion from God’s presence
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might
5. restlessness
11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
6. 2nd death
6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
7. weeping and gnashing of teeth
12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
8. everlasting
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might
I have only scratched the surface on the reality of hell…many more passages...
and some of have said it is possible that some of these descriptions are symbolic or metaphorical—because how can you have fire and darkness at the same time. (some people get relieved)...
but even if some are symbolic they are pointing to a reality that is much worse than can be describe...
so if the Bible describes that horrible reality—then Why would a Loving God send people to Hell…
has a lot of assumptions…beneath that question are motives and things...
assumptions...
about us....
and about God..
When we ask questions—what are we assuming about us—most human beings…
Assumption #1: That we as human beings are basically good.
Rebecca McGlaughlin in her book talks about the TV show the Good Place with actress Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. Kristen wakes up in an unfamiliar place and finds out she has died and lives in a kind of heaven, called the good place b/c she earned enough points on earth to be good.
but there’s a problem Rebecca says—the main character knows she is not good. no, she is not a murderer or a psychopath, so she doesn’t deserve a bad place—maybe there is a medium place.
most of us in this world probably think like this.
people are basically good and if we live good enough lives—we will go to a good place or at least a medium place.
and that the bad place is reserved for people like Hitler or Stalin or like Larry Nassar in 2016—who was the USA olympic women’s gymnastics team doctor sentenced to serve multiple life sentences for abusing over 250 young women. or multiple people who have been identified in the #metoomovement or #churchtoomovement citing abuse and scandal.
surely I am not as bad as THOSE people right?
Rebecca McGlaughlin says this: “You probably know that Hitler was a really bad person. He was. But if you learn about Nazi Germany, you’ll discover that thousands of seemingly normal people—who were probably nice to their families and friends—were willing to join in with the murder of six million Jews. Many of the Nazis didn’t think they were bad people. They thought they were patriots.”
“I’m sure you know that slavery is wrong. But if you learn about the history of slavery in America, you’ll discover that thousands of white Americans were willing to keep black people as slaves, and many were willing to beat and abuse their slaves without thinking they themselves were bad people. It’s what everyone around them was doing.” would we have acted differently if we were in Germany at the time? or in America during the time of slavery?
McLaughlin, Rebecca. 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity (p. 175). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
or think about leaders who mess up— it’s easy to say “I am not like that...” or if I had influence or power or leadership things would be different. “If I was in power or in leadership things would be different—Andy Crouch said, ““If you knew the full condition of my heart, my fantasies and grievances, my anxieties and my darkest solitary thoughts, you would declare me a danger to myself and others. I cannot be entrusted with power by myself, certainly not with celebrity, and neither can you.” McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity (p. 212). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
Rebecca McGlaughlin says this: It has been said that no friendship in the world would last a day if we could see each other’s thoughts. Run that test on yourself between now and tomorrow. Think of everyone you spend time with and ask, would I let them see a transcript of my thoughts? My marriage would die. My children would be crushed. My friends would leave. My thoughts are not all bad: many are good and kind and true. But like a bag of flour infested by maggots, no part of me is pure. (McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity (pp. 212-213). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)
Jesus really raises the bar on standards—when he says it is not just the action that counts, but the thought, our hearts...
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If we read Jesus’ standard, we find none of us live up to them.
our culture preaches—trust your heart—express it, but we cannot trust our hearts——because Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
what does it mean to be your authentic self and follow your heart? to go back to Nassar who abused so many women—what if he said— “I was just being my authentic self that my heart wanted me to be?”
if we understand the propensity for evil all of our hearts have compared to the utter majesty of God...we would feel like the Prophet Isaiah in the OT when he encountered God:
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
so one of the false assumptions…in this question—is that we are basically good…
but the reality is—according to the Bible all of us fall way short of God’s standards - who made us.
all of us have the ability to be incredibly selfish—just get married or have a close friend.
have children—and you will see selfishness in them, and selfishness in your own hearts to the nth degree.
all of us deserve it.
so the first assumption is that all of us are basically good and deserve a good place called heaven…but the Bible is clear that all of us because of sin before God—need a Savior.
the 2nd assumption is about the question why would a loving God send people to hell is about God…tucked in the question—the thing beneath the thing...
--or that a God of judgment can’t exist (if he exists)
--and that love and judgment can’t possibly go together
Now, it is true that God is love.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
but look what it also says:
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
God is loving but also punishing.
how can that be? can a God of judgment really exist?
Tim Keller in his book the Reason for God—talks about this. We as Americans, westerners, get offended by the idea of a God who judges sin and holds us accountable. Where we love a God who loves his enemies, forgives, and turns the other cheeck.
but there are plenty of cultures in the world who reverse that. They are not offended by a God of judgment (that makes sense!) but by a God of love.
What makes our culture right vs. theirs? are we to say that our culture is better than there’s?
This is why I love it that if Christianity is true—it would affirm all cultures at some point and challenge at some point—and the Bible’s idea. if every culture is made in the image of God at some point, yet also fallen by sin—then every culture can be affirmed and every challenged...
maybe at this point—God’s Word is challenging our western culture on judgment...
in addition, think about wrath—can love and judgment go together—and judgment and punishment. If I see my kid doing something they shouldn’t, if I really love them, what will I do—discipline (hopefully not in vengeful wrath) but in love—I do this so they will grow in character and Christlikeness and be responsible citizens.
or if I see a friend getting caught up in addiction, what will I do? “I am not going to judge them or get involve”—no if I really love them—I will intervene, confront, help, pray, do whatever I can—not because I hate them—but because I love them.
the idea of judgment and wrath can be filled with love--
If God truly hates sin—he punishes and disciplines not out of explosions of anger—but because of his love for us—because He wants us to know Him—that life is not in sin—it’s in Him.
but you may say—well i understand judgment and punishment, why does God have to allow hell at all—for eternity? Why create it? Why have it? punishment and justice of God—that’s fine—but eternity in hell? why?
When asking this question—I think we are assuming something like this:
that as we die—God is somehow saying “Haha—take that. I gave you a chance—now you must suffer and rot in hell for eternity.” “Take that you human being…I will show you...” AND all the while we are saying, “I was wrong—give me another chance...”
That misunderstands a lot about God, sin, and the Gospel and heaven and hell.
Think about it--
The Bible shows that God is the author of life—He created us and made us for him like a car needs gasoline, like we need oxygen. he is the source of all joy and life and peace and all that tis good. Only in His presence will we thrive and flourish.
and if we were to be cast out of his presence and lose it, then by definition that would be hell—since we are excluded from the author of life. no joy, no peace, no life, no God...
this getting at what heaven and hell are really like.
Rebecca McGlaughlin uses the illustration of a Taylor Swift song. She has a song called “False God.” and she says in her relationship with her boyfriend is like worshiping a false god. heaven is when we are together. hell is when they fight. “and this idea of heaven and hell is closer to what the Bible teaches us.”
why?
b/c heaven isn’t a place that God sends us if we are good. heaven is about being in a perfect, joyful, eternal relationship with the living God! it’s us and Jesus living together in a new created world—everything is good!
and hell is the opposite—facing God’s judgment forever, being excluded from his life giving presence. Taylor Swift sings ‘Hell is when I fight with you.” According to the Bible, hell is when God fights with us and when we fight with God)
you and I—our lives come down to one massive question—who is going to be the king of my life? and we basically have 2 options—2 ways…2 roads..
Either I am...
or Jesus is....
either I am king and I call the shots...
or Jesus does...
and if you and I are our own king…
IT leads to a life of selfishness, self-absorption, self-centeredness. it’s all about me.
In Luke 16—Jesus tells a story, a parable of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. the poor man had nothing in life—begging, and the rich man had everything. They both die—the rich man goes to hell and the poor man Lazarus goes to heaven or Abraham’s side.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
interestingly, the rich man is not apologizing, repenting, or anything in hell—instead he is in incredible self-denial. he still thinks he can boss around a poor man to be his water boy— “have him come and help me...” hell hasn’t changed him at all.
in addition—this passage never gives the rich man a name—but Lazarus the poor man does...
why?
b/c the rich man—his life—was all about what? riches—money. His path—my will be done—his identity was not in God but in stuff.
the picture we get of life without God-his selfish, self-absorbed—focused on other things than God. that is a picture of hell…(for eternity but also in this life)
and all of us I think know—that even if you are a believer—do you ever live life focused on yourself other than God. yes—it is a daily battle to die to ourselves and follow Jesus. if you and I live as if we are in charge, my will be done—we experience a kind of hell on earth.
many define hell as the absence of God—what would that truly do to us with no God for eternity?
Tim Keller: The people in hell are miserable.... We see raging like unchecked flames their pride, their paranoia, their self-pity, their certainty that everyone else is wrong, that everyone else is an idiot! All their humility is gone, and thus so is their sanity. They are utterly, finally locked in a prison of their own self-centeredness, and their pride progressively expands into a bigger and bigger mushroom cloud. They continue to go to pieces forever, blaming everyone but themselves. Hell is that, writ large.
That is why it is a travesty to picture God casting people into a pit who are crying “I’m sorry! Let me out!” The people in hell want their “freedom,” as they define it, than salvation. Their delusion is that, if they glorified God, they would somehow lose power and freedom, but in a supreme and tragic irony, their choice has ruined their own potential for greatness.
Hell is, as Lewis says, “the greatest monument to human freedom.” As Romans 1:24 says, God “gave them up to…their desires.” All God does in the end with people is give them what they most want, including freedom from himself. What could be more fair than that? Lewis writes: There are only two kinds of people—those who say “Thy will be done” to God or those to whom God in the end says, “ Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell choose it...
Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (pp. 77-78). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
I want to close our time with communion or the Lord’s Supper...
and I think doing this—actually helps us answer this question.
raise you hand if you need elements? it’s for anyone who has surrendered their life to Jesus—thy will be done.
Luke 22:19-20 reminds us of what this is:
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
if you are struggling with the question we asked—consider what Jesus did for you.
God loved you so much—that he sent His Son from heaven to earth to live on our behalf—the perfect life we failed to live--
and to die in our place. (Jesus took off the bubble wrath)
on the cross, Jesus experienced the wrath of God against all sin ever…He drank the cup of God’s wrath and judgment for sin on an epic scale.
Jesus Christ did this for you—so you would not have to experience hell on earth now or ever for eternity. He did it for you so that if you accept him, you will enjoy His presence forever now and for eternity—if we are struggling with the question of hell--
God gives us an incredible opportunity!
and what’s amazing—is that the Bible describes in sin as God’s enemies—and yet Jesus died willingly for us. It wasn’t as if God the Father had to drag him there—but no Jesus for the joy set before him did this—in concert with the Father and Spirit all one.
in short—on the cross, Jesus went to hell on our behalf—he cried out my god my god why have you forsaken me. In that moment, he experienced all the justice and wrath of God against all sin—we can’t imagine!
and since he is also fully human, if we trust that Jesus paid for our sin—our sin is transferred to Jesus—it’s paid—fully—completely! and he gives us his perfection, his righteousness…we are clothed---fully forgiven, Jesus paid it all.
if you are eager to not just avoid hell—but know this Jesus who did this for you—I urge you to talk with me today—let’s talk, let’s pray. let’s show you what life with Jesus Christ is like.
(lead in communion)
In a moving speech at the trial of Larry Nassar, Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to file sex-abuse charges against Nassar, faced the man who took her innocence and pleaded with him to turn to Christ. The Bible, she explained, carries a final judgment where all of God’s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.9
McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity (pp. 220-221). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
I love how one person described hell in relationship to Jesus...
If Jesus is the Bread of Life, loss of Jesus means starving. If Jesus is the Light of the World, loss of Jesus means darkness. If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, loss of Jesus means wandering alone and lost. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, loss of Jesus is eternal death. And if Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins, loss of Jesus means paying that price for ourselves.
but Jesus gives us a wonderful invitation--
Jesus says this:
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
outdoor service...
questions:
here until sept. 8
who they are
what their ministry is all about
prayer requests/opportunities
if anyone wants to know more—opportunities to hang out