Friday, 2/1/19 – Tough Question

“How Can a Loving God send people to a place as horrible as Hell?”

There are no cell phones in hell.

Say that to anyone under twenty these days and they’ll likely think, “Wow! That really would be hell!” But it gets worse… much worse!

There is no Facebook in hell… no Netflix, no Spotify, no Google, Alexis, Twitter or FaceTime. But is gets even worse still… There is no electricity in hell. There is no light, no day, no stars, no moon. All is darkness in hell. Darkness and fire, worms and regret, weeping and grinding of teeth.

Jesus pulled no punches when speaking of hell. He said of hell that it was a place of great separation. He said that between heaven and hell “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.“ (Luke 16:26). He said it was a place of agony, a “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:42). In parable He described the torment of a rich man who begged “…send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.” (Luke 16:26). He cited Isaiah 66:24 saying hell was a place “where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:48)

We prefer to imagine there is no hell. In fact, even in writing this blog I’ve had to wrestle the whole way through with my tablet’s spell check. Even it tries to deny hell, choosing instead to type he’ll. But hell is indeed very real place.

On his deathbed renowned atheist Voltaire cried out “I am abandoned by God and man. I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life. Then I shall go to hell and you will go with me, oh, Christ, oh, Jesus Christ!” it is a horrible thing to die without Christ, as Jude said, to be among those “for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” (Jude 13).

So how could a loving God send anyone there?

Jesus did not come into this world to send people to hell. Jesus came into this world “to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10). He came to die in our place to save us so that “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16b). We must understand this: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17).

Hell was not intended for people; it was intended for the devil and his demons. Jesus spoke of it as “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Nonetheless hell is populated by many men and women who have turned their backs to Christ… and many more will yet join them.

You see when one repeatedly refuses the lifeboat there is no place for that soul to go than over the approaching falls. You cannot blame the boatman. If you will not climb into the arms of the fireman there is no place for you than to burn in the flames! You cannot blame the rescuer.

Indeed, there are no cell phones in hell. Nor are there any cell phones in heaven. We won’t need them or desire them there. You do not need one here either in order to reach out and contact Christ. He is right beside you now. Reach out to Him. Make Him your Saviour and your Lord.

“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Press on…

Got a question? Use the Contact page and send It to me. We’ll search the Word for God’s answer.