The Hope That I Have: Understanding Hell

To my own surprise, I've yet to discuss the Christian concept of Hell. This is a big obstacle for many when it comes to some of the world's religions in general and Christianity in particular. A spiritual realm of torture and punishment, complete with pointy eared, pitch fork wielding inhabitants? The former sounds evil, and the latter sounds silly - why should I believe in such a place, and indeed why would I want to? Perhaps a deeper and more personal struggle for people is whether or not a loving God could actually allow a place like this to exist, and I think that's ultimately at the root of people's issues. I'm hoping to look at the concept of hell and share why I think the Christian concept of it is both loving and just - and therefore something a loving God would not allow but even create. 

I think I'll deal with misconceptions first, as that is often where problems arise. In later posts I'll deal with the justness and lovingness of hell, though we may here graze the surface of those issues.

The Cartoon Devils?

We might as well deal with the obvious first. There are no pointy eared devils with pitch forks in hell. I'm really not sure where this came from, but it's not from the Bible. Hell is a place to be taken seriously - it is no cartoony reality.

Isn't Hell a Place of Brutal Physical Torture and Punishment?

Hell is a place of punishment - but it is not a place where you are physically tortured like some scene from the Saw series. It is a spiritual realm "created for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41) - spiritual beings, and it is a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:50). Once you die, your physical body is gone for good - and your soul, if you have never entrusted it to the person and work of Jesus Christ and his forgiveness, will enter into hell, isolated from all that is God - and therefore, separated from all things good.

People Don't Want to Go to Hell
This is a misconception because people think that hell is simply a bad place for bad people - like a prison is thought to be. But it's much more than that. On the Christian view, all people are sinners no matter how saint-like they might seem externally. In the end, sin is rebellion against a loving God and Creator, who is not only the creator of all things that are good, but is literally the definition of goodness and love in his very character. So when people reject God and reject His Son Jesus, they're really saying "God, I don't want you" - much like Adam and Eve did when they wanted to be their own law-makers in the Garden of Eden. And the Bible is also clear that no one actually seeks after God (Romans 3:9-20).
So people do want to go to hell, because they don't want to be with God. They just don't realize that hell is not the freedom that they expect. Thus the "punishment" of hell is actually the isolation from God that people want. And since God is the source of life and all good things, you're in for a pretty terrible eternity.

Only Really Bad People Go to Hell

One thing our culture is notorious for propagating is the very religiously minded attitude that "good people go to heaven, and bad people go to hell". This is completely antithetical to the Bible and (true) Christian teaching - sort of. The Bible doesn't so much talk in terms of "good and bad" in relative senses, but rather would distinguish between "perfect and imperfect"… And unfortunately for all of mankind there's only been one perfect person, namely Jesus. Jesus himself was in opposition to the religious leaders of his time because they thought that by being all righteous and religious they were somehow making themselves right before God. Jesus' message was that people can't rely on themselves to be cleaned up and ready for heaven, as if forgiveness is something that is earned by religious deeds. The simple, very tough to swallow fact is that you can do nothing to save yourself, no matter how "good" you are. God is wholly perfect and just, and so every injustice against him must be dealt with - so every person deserves hell.

The good news is that Jesus (God himself) chose to take on himself the guilt of those who have rebelled against him. So while hell is a fully deserved punishment for all, and even though those who go there are actually getting what they want (isolation from God), those who truly repent and believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ and his forgiving work and thus enter a relationship with him for eternity. The sins you deserved punishment for were placed upon Jesus, who was "made sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21), and thus you are forgiven of your sins and given a righteousness eternal and perfect.

"That's not fair!"

I often find myself sympathizing with this first cry against the gospel (the "good news" message of Christianity) - even the Bible admits that the gospel is an offensive message to mankind. But let's dig deeper. What's not fair? That I get to go to heaven because God chose to save me despite my brutal sins, whereas another person rejects God and his forgiveness (chooses hell) and is thus separated from him in hell? Or is it not fair that God came down as a man and was tortured and murdered even though he did nothing wrong? Make no mistake, the offense here is NOT that some people go to hell and others don't… The offense should be that we're all not in hell right now.

I'll admit though that the gospel message is still offensive. It's offensive because, unlike pretty much every other religion, Jesus says that there's nothing you can do to save yourself and get to heaven. All people are before God and can't bring a single thing to the table to barter with. All they can do is receive him or reject him.  If God were a brutal tyrant of a leader this would be an awful truth, but thankfully he's not. At the same time, for those who do continue in sin and to hate God, it's still an awful truth… Because you're opposing the man with ultimate authority in the universe. But that's your own fault, and when the one you're opposing is God, you're in the wrong whether you like it or not.

Why This is So Hard

Some of you may read the above and think that this is a really easy thing for the Christian (in this case, me) to swallow. Why? Cuz, well, I'm going to heaven… right? Totally wrong. This is an incredibly hard truth to embrace, especially at first. Yeah, sure, I'll be in heaven for eternity - and being with God is more and more all that I really want in my life as he becomes more and more important to me. At the same time, I'm a people person and want nothing more than for everyone I know and care about to come with me. The Bible talks of tears being shed right around the time the New Heavens and New Earth are formed as God redeems this fallen world, and I have no doubt in my mind that many of those tears will be shed weeping for those who did not repent of their sins to be with the people of God forever in a renewed world. I imagine even God, though he will be fully joyful in taking care of evil and dealing out due justice, will himself endure some emotional turmoil as he defeats the enemies he still loves. And it is he who will be the one wiping away the tears like the comforting and loving father he is.

I know the above is heavy - but hopefully it's challenging too. Give me your feedback! My very purpose for starting this blog was to make people think about the truths of Christianity because I want them to enjoy God now and forever, thus being saved from hell because of Jesus' work.

Expect another couple posts as we delve into this!

From one sinner to another,

Corey