Why Hell?

There were those who dwelt in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains,

Because they had rebelled against
the words of God
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses,
He brought them out of the darkness
and the shadow of death
and broke their bands apart.   

Psalm 107, verses 10-13

Our year is 2015. The world has endured countless wars and conflicts in the last 100 years of it's history. Statistics for just the death toll, not the wounded or displaced or suffering or raped but those that have died in those conflicts are staggering. There were 28 million killed between 1914 and 1921, another 28 million killed in the years 1922 to 1938, a staggering 55 million killed between 1939 and 1945, and if you thought that WWII was the end of this madness, Mao and his ilk caused another 46 million deaths from 1946 to 1961.

Those that are inclined to think that the world is a much different place now than from what you have read in your history books should consider a couple more death due to war numbers.  From 1962 until 1970 the total is 16 million and from 1971 until the present day there have been over 60 different conflicts resulting in more than 22 million deaths.

What is the cause of all of this carnage and misery? Some has been the attempted genocide of those from a different people group or political philosophy. The Turks in the Ottoman Empire systematically exterminated Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Hitler's Germans did the same to Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and the less than perfect. Mid East and Northern African Muslims want to eliminate the Jew and the Christian and a comprehensive list for the hatred of one group for another is way too long to include here.

And then we had men such as Hitler and Stalin and Mao who wanted to force their radical fascist or socialist ideas not only on their own populations but to expand and dominate other countries as well. We can credit Stalin and his leadership with over 35 million deaths to establish the communist Soviet Union and Mao and his leadership with over 50 million deaths to establish communism in China. And though it is true that some people are motivated by their lust for power the hordes that are unleashed by the few to do the killing and raping and pillaging and destruction include many.

Despite this mass amount of death and suffering liberal religion assures us that all people are basically good and that there probably is not a Hell but if there was then only men such as Hitler or Stalin would be there. Liberal religion does not take the Bible seriously and so it defines God from the context of human logic and philosophy. If the Word of God is even considered it's words can mean whatever they want it to mean and may the best arguments win.

But I am not theologically liberal. I know without a doubt that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that there is power in it's pages to instruct, to inspire, to correct and to encourage all that would eagerly and earnestly mediate on what is written therein. I do not need to argue the existence of Hell or debate who will go there.

The Word is clear from Jesus own words in Matthew 25 that when the Son of Man comes in His glory He will sit on His glorious throne and judge the nations, splitting people into 2 groups. To one group He will say inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world and to the other He will say Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.

In Luke 16 it is also Jesus who tells the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus dies and is carried away by angels to "Abraham's bosom" and the rich man dies and goes to a place of torment called Hades. Then talking about the rich man it says: In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame'.

Notice a few things from these verses. From the beginning of time God created a good place for man to live out eternity. I believe that this was His desire for all spiritual beings like us who would be born of flesh and blood. God also created at some early point in time a place described as "the eternal fire" which was prepared for spiritual beings that had rebelled against God, i.e. the devil and his angels. The devil and most of his angels do not currently reside there but it is their sure destination. And because man too would rebel against his Maker this has become the sure destination for those who reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Hades is described as a place where the rich man is in agony because of the flame and which is a place of no escape and no intermingling between the righteous and the unrighteous dead. It is not just a place without the presence of God. It is a place of torment. It is terrible and was designed with a purpose.

Any arguments I can make for the purpose of Hell would not make one iota of difference to the skeptic or unbeliever and to be honest, I cannot comprehend eternal suffering either. But this is the harsh reality. We do not know the heart of another person but we are all aware of the condition of our own heart. We instinctively know that we are by nature selfish, that we cannot live a perfect life and that there are areas of our heart that we do not want exposed to the holy light of an awesome and fearful God. God has a will for us and we all know that we fall short.

To be out of the will of the Creator is a terrible thing and not just for us. It affects the society we live in as well. The rebellion of the evil one cast the Earth into darkness. The rejection of the first man and woman to follow what God commanded got them cast out of Eden and affects the physical and spiritual nature of every single man, woman and child ever born, save One. The disease of sin caused the ancient world to be judged and destroyed by water and our current world awaits a judgment as well.

Then why hell for fallen man? Why eternal suffering for the body/soul/spirit (remember, there is a resurrection of the body for both the just and the unjust)? I suspect it has to do with a creation that is bigger and more complicated, intricate and far reaching than we can imagine. God prepared a place for the evil one and the angels that rebelled with him but they are not there yet. When rebellion entered creation He could have wiped them out completely or imprisoned them right away but didn't. God is letting things play out so that He will achieve what He has always planned.

It is the same with man. God is patient and will let rebellion run it's course but there will be an accounting. He designed us so that we, anyone on this planet, could freely choose to love and serve Him and He provided His Son as Savior so that we could freely choose to become part of His eternal family. But He does not force this on anyone.

And for those that have not heard of Jesus? This I also know. God is both just and fair. Redemption came through the shed blood of Jesus at a particular point in time and there is no other way. How God handles men of good will in all the false religions is up to Him. But the charge for us who have experience His redeeming grace is to proclaim to the 4 corners of this world and to our neighbors as well that the Almighty Father, through His Son Jesus, has provided salvation, not through works or religion but through grace.

Why eternal torment? I don't know but I do know that in God's economy sin and rebellion result in corruption, suffering and death, not just for the individual but our sin affects others as well. He is both just and merciful but it is not up to me to judge God.

The universe does not revolve around us and we cannot comprehend the mind of God.

Religion exists in this world because man knows that he is a sinner and so religion is man's attempt to justify himself to God and/or to control the spiritual, social or natural world around him. Religion teaches that man can do something on his own to justify himself. Unbelief is the same philosophy except that it rejects the gatherings, rituals and references to a deity.

But religion cannot justify man before God. Sacrifices and good works and lighting candles and saying special prayers do not change the heart of man. To change the mess that we are in and that the world is in God is looking for hearts that are open. It is His grace that saves alone so that we will have nothing to boast about. It is His Son that comes into our surrendered and open heart to change us and to live in us. It is His Spirit that moves in power to change the condition of our hearts and this world.

Look at the hope and promise that is provided in the words of Psalm 107 opening this post. It talks about those who lived in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and shame. It talks about those who had rebelled against the word of God and His counsel. Those statements pretty well describe us. Because of those things God humbled us and we found that there was no one that could help us.

Perhaps at first you thought this was describing the condition of Hell and indeed it could. Hell is a place of darkness, death, misery and chains. But it really describes the condition of men in the world today who rebel against the holiness of God. In Hell there is no way out but for us there are these encouraging words;

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses,

He brought them out of the darkness

and the shadow of death

and broke their bands apart.

If you have not yet, choose now. Cry out to the Lord and leave the darkness. Experience the daily peace and joy that comes by knowing Jesus in your heart and trusting in the grace of the Father. Enter into the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the Earth.