HOW COULD A LOVING GOD CREATE HELL?
I’ve written blogs in the past establishing that hell exists. I believe that can be accurately proven in several ways. But then, how can we say that a good and loving God can create a place as awful and horrible as hell? Wouldn’t we have to say that such an awful place is outside the character of God?
WHAT HELL IS. Hell is portrayed as a place of eternal separation from the goodness of God. Hell is often described as a lake of fire, outer darkness, or a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Revelation 20:14-15 paints a vivid picture: “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Hell is a place of judgment, where the wages of sin (death) are paid. Hell is a place of separation from the goodness of God, and all the good which He has created. How could we say that God could create such an awful place? We begin to answer this question when we consider who hell is for.
WHO GOD CREATED HELL FOR. Hell was created for Satan and demons (Matthew 25:41), not for human beings. But people who reject salvation and choose to follow Satan are also choosing to spend eternity without God (Revelation 21:8). C. S. Lewis says, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find to those who knock, it is opened.”
WHY GOD CREATED HELL. Instead of asking, “How God could create hell?”, we should be asking “How could He not create hell?” Since God is just and holy, bringing justice upholds God’s righteousness. Not punishing sin would mean there is no justice, no righteous standard in the world.
A loving and holy God will hate all that goes against His good creation and harms goodness. To use the words of Lewis, “the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” The devil and his angels — and all those who choose the second death instead of redemption — will continually choose this path. It is good for God to separate evil and wickedness from His perfect kingdom. There is no one in hell who will not admit that they are there by their own choice, that they deserve to be their because they rejected the truth God revealed to them about their accountability for sin and their need for His forgiveness.
To use the words of Lewis, “the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” The devil and his angels — and all those who choose the second death instead of redemption — will continually choose this path. It is necessary for God to separate evil and wickedness from His perfect kingdom.
It’s very sobering to remember that hell isn’t just for those who are exceedingly evil and wicked. It is also for those who are humanly ‘good’ but fail to yield their will to God. Each person has a chance to clearly see and make a choice to follow or reject God’s gracious offer of forgiveness. The truth of the matter is that we all deserve go spend eternity in hell. The real question is not how God can send anyone to hell, but how He can rescue anyone who deserves hell and transfer them into heaven instead?
HOW TO AVOID HELL. God provided a way out of hell for us through Jesus. We are born with the guilt of sin on us and it is only when we come to Jesus for salvation that we become part of God’s family and assured of an eternal future with Him (John 3). Even if someone hasn’t heard His name, everyone is aware of a higher power to whom they are accountable (Romans 1: 19-20). How they respond to this very basic information determines their future destiny.
So, did God create hell? Yes! He created it as a place for Satan and his demons, not for human beings. But when people rejected His grace and mercy and chose separation from Him instead they became included in the inhabitants of hell – by their own choice. God honors free will. He wouldn’t force anyone to go to heaven who rejected it.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
What would you tell someone who said they couldn’t follow a God who sent people to hell?
Thank God for providing for your sin so you can spend eternity with Him. Pray for anyone you know who hasn’t come to Jesus.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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