Is Hell Just?

Introduction

Revelation 20:10–15 KJV 1900

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Body

Preamble

How this message came to be

Is an eternity in hell a just punishment for our sin?

Our sense of morality and justice demands that the punishment fit the crime

How can an infinite place of torment be a just punishment for a finite amount of crime?

Wouldn’t every person’s sin be paid for at some point in the future?

How does God see sin?

Does God overreact to our sin?

Genesis 19:26 “26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Leviticus 10:1-2 “1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.”

Numbers 15:35 “35 And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.” A man was gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

Joshua 7:24-25 “24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.”

II Samuel 6:6-7 “6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”

Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Apostles, so God killed them both in front of the entire church (Acts 5:1-10).

Is God overreacting in these situations?

These examples, and the feelings of injustice they may stir in us, only serve to further illustrate our own fallenness

We do not see our sin the way God sees our sin.

God describes our sin as “rebellion,” “ungodliness,” “lawlessness,” “wickedness,” and an “abomination”

Sinners are traitors, refusing to love, thank, serve, and obey the God who created them, who gave them breath, life, and every good thing

How do we see sin?

We minimize our own sin but magnify the sins of others, especially if committed against us personally

We have a very subjective view of morality and justice

We have hierarchies of sin

Misdemeanors

Felonies

God has one standard: “Do you measure up to my standard of righteousness or not?”

For man, the question is “What did you do? What was your intent? Who was the crime committed against? Were there any mitigating circumstances? Was anyone hurt? How much? Did anyone suffer loss? How much?, etc...”

For God, the question is “Yes or no?”

We keep thinking that God does, or at least should, follow our morality when it is us who should be following God’s morality

The same people that view the doctrine of hell as “cruel,” “morally revolting,” “monstrous,” “repugnant,” “reprehensible,” and “evil” would never use the same words to describe their own sin

And yet, that is exactly how God views our sin!

If we cannot, or will not, see sin as God sees it, we will never grasp the perfect righteousness and justice with which we are condemned to hell for all eternity

Understanding God’s Holiness

Not only do we fail to grasp the horror of our own sin, but we cannot grasp the absolute holiness of God

We minimize BOTH

Example of me on the bus in 7th grade - my sheltered, parochial school self now exposed to public school students

Imagine how offended a perfect, absolutely holy God is when confronted with our sin?

Understanding the One we’re sinning against

The idea of viewing the severity of punishment based on the person offended

When we punch our friend, maybe they’ll punch us back, or worst case, call the police

If we would punch the police officer, we would probably end up in jail

If we punched the President of the United States, our punishment would be much more severe

If we would have punched any one of the ancient kings in the face, we would have been killed for our transgression

If I punch an animal, the punishment is quite a bit less

If I punch a plant, the punishment is probably minimal, even nothing

Same crime, but against different persons

What should the punishment be when the offended person is God HImself?

Crimes against an infinite being justly earns an infinite consequence

Understanding our own natures

Our sin in this life gets us there. Since we’ll be wholly given over to our sin nature in hell, we will continue in our sins for all eternity

In this life we have another option…another choice.

Some might say, “well this isn’t much of a choice: make myself a slave to God or suffer an eternity in hell.”

Do you deserve a choice at all?

If I’m drowning in the ocean and someone throws me a pink unicorn life raft, I’m gonna grab on to that thing and hold on until I’m rescued.

This statement shows a gross ignorance of our position with God before salvation, a gross ignorance of the covenant He wants to establish with us, and a gross ignorance of hell

There will be one, and only one option for us in hell: our sin nature, and God’s grace, which was rejected in life, will no longer be an option

As such, we will continue existing forever in that state…a state WE CHOSE!

We will continue…FOREVER…in our sin

Therefore we will continue sinning forever, we will pay for those sins forever. The judgment is just.

Conclusion

Hell is just because of the nature of sin

Hell is just because of the true extent of God’s Holiness

Hell is just because of the One who was offended

Hell is just because, by our own choice, we will remain in our sinful state, forever sinning, forever in rebellion against God