The severity of hell is becoming increasingly contested among Christians, inflamed by the recent bestseller “Love Wins,” which foolishly asserts that hell is temporary and all humanity will be saved.
Hell is a discernible certainty that Jesus mentioned often and to minimize it violates the very foundation of Christianity. “Eternal judgment” is an indelible basic principal of Christ, and the phrase won't bow to linguistic nuance.(Heb 6:1-2) The original definition of eternal (aionois) is “without beginning and end, never to cease, everlasting,” while judgment (krima) is defined as “eternal punishment, everlasting doom, and condemnation.”
Hell's best kept secret is not just its stealth and anonymity, but the fact that it has eternal jurisdiction over every soul who rejects Light. Jesus exposed the dark secret that the majority of humanity will go to hell. When asked, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Lk 13:23) "Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction . . . narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mt 7:13-14)
This orthodox narration of hell is so horrific that we cannot emotionally or intellectually accept it. The thought of millions consigned to eternal torment and unimaginable anguish, transcends all language. Hell is beyond comprehension, and we vastly underestimate it. As heaven surpasses our wildest dreams and longings, hell likewise is infinitely worse than our most terrifying fears and fantasies.
Not only is this hideous reality a common thread interwoven throughout the Bible, but every generation has numerous witnesses who were taken into hell or heaven and returned with astonishing riveting testimony verifying the Bible. http://spiritlessons.com/The account of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in paradise was an actual experience, not a parable, and it's clear from the text that the man was in hell by his own choice, not predestination or injustice. (Lk 16:19-31)
If we view God through the prism of our wounds, warped self-image or an imperfect church, we will one day awaken in hell, with brutally shocking clarity, knowing that we chose anger over Life. Jesus said, “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” (Jn 3:36) Those piercing words are intended to awaken us from our naive religious stupor. Can you really hear Jesus' words? Can you accept them? Can you risk misunderstanding them? Nothing in life is more important!
THE ILLUSION OF COMMON SENSE
The eternal intolerable torture of hell seems absurd because our reasoning is limited to the scope of our vision."Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born, again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," (Jn 3:3) neither can he see the kingdom of hell. Man's arrogant illusion of “self-sufficiency” has blinded him to reality. (1 Cor 2:14)
Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (or hellish things) (Jn 3:12) Many were offended into disbelief when Jesus said the earth is in spiritual darkness, controlled by the evil one, and all humanity is depraved, desperately wicked, and must be saved from eternal damnation.
Of course the salient question is, “How can a perfect loving God allow eternal damnation? Which begs the question, “How can a created being like me outrageously presume to judge God?” “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ...O man, who are you to reply against God?” (Rom 9:14,20) God turns my questions back to me. “Who are you?” Our darkened hearts have exalted man and trivialized the majesty and fear of God.
There's a great gulf between beholding the Truth and our anemic attempts to explain it. Philosophical explanations of hell leave you empty, but the Holy Spirit provides assurance and resolution. (See 1 Cor 3:18) “Until I entered into the holy place, then I understood their final destiny,” said the psalmist of the condemned. (Ps 73:13)
I'm not trying to evade the dilemma of hell. But, our knowledge of God is probably comparable to fetus and it's mother. That doesn't invalidate the precious insight we have, but it's only “a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge.” (1 Cor 13:12) Paul humbly concluded, “How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out.” God's judgments and ways are beyond our earthly grasp, but his heart and love are clearly seen in Jesus.
What version of hell would you require before you would serve and worship God? The reality is, if you must base your trust in God on what seems reasonable, then you don't know him. “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” (Pro 14:12; 16:25) He invites us to simply “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” If we humble ourselves and seek God, we will perceive his goodness and fairness, even in this broken dark world, and “...shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.” (See Ps 107)
THE ILLUSION OF FAIRNESS
“The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,”(1 Cor 3:19) therefore, our common idea of God's fairness is foolishness.
Not only is God love, but he is also defined as “just.” (De 32:4; Ne 9:33) “Justice and judgment are the foundation of His throne.” (Ps 89:14) All creation was designed to operate by a love so perfect that evil must be vanquished for the sake of love. Love and evil are mutually exclusive, therefore, God's justice must be satisfied for love to reign on earth.
Justice was satisfied in Jesus Christ, and it's only in him that we are immune to the wrath of God's justice. (Rom 5:9) In spite of the staggering mystery of hell, there is an eternally safe refuge that is perfect love. All God's blessings of love, joy, peace, abundance, creativity and satisfaction are found only in Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:3) Everything outside of him is lies, perversion and death.
You may be annoyed by my dogmatic biblical stance, wondering how I can be so obstinately sure. Please don't base your eternal destiny on my conclusions, because knowledge of the holy is not transferable. Accept nothing less than first hand empirical knowledge. (Rom 15:18) Like millions over the centuries, and from every culture, I too have literally encountered the risen Christ, and all who know him can testify that God is good and fair beyond our wildest dreams!
Job, the prototype believer, didn't receive a single answer to his desperate questions about evil, but after one encounter with God they were no longer relevant. Thirty seven chapters of deep theological discourse could not satisfy Job's intellectual anguish. But God's visitation changed everything: “Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so you can say you are right?” (Job 40:80) In other words, “Are you going to accuse me of being unfair?” Job humbly admitted, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:3)
Jesus is the answer in space and time to all philosophical questions. Jesus is the Word. He is wisdom and understanding. Jesus is the “revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.” Theology has no part in him, he is Truth. “Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things.” (Pro 28:5) Seek him, not just answers about him.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I know this: God is good, gentle, kind, merciful and eternally loving, yet I cannot grasp the depth of such love, neither can I define his holiness. I know that in God there is no evil or darkness, only holiness and life, that free will is the risk of love, and one taste of His love confirms the risk was worth it! I also know that God's justice can be expressed in terrifying wrath, and that my intellect cannot fathom it. Furthermore, I know that God is the ultimate judge, and the judge is not responsible for a criminal's behavior. The problem is that the penalty seems insanely severe!
I have found only one extra-biblical argument that slightly consoles me regarding hell. It's C.S. Lewis' stunning observation in “The Problem of Pain:” “No more pain is felt when a million suffer than when one suffers. . .There is no such thing as a sum of suffering, for no one suffers it. When we have reached the maximum that a single person can suffer, we have, no doubt reached something very horrible, but we have reached all the suffering there ever can be in the entire universe. The addition of a million fellow suffers adds no pain.”
There is no sum total of hell's misery because every soul suffers alone. On earth all humans are interconnected, causing our joys and sorrows to impact others. “For in him we live and move and have our being.”(Act 17:28) But, in hell where God is absent, there is no interconnection, only infinite isolation, while in heaven God's presence unifies every soul into a perfect loving family.
This concept tempers the awful magnitude of hell, but no answer can really placate me this side of heaven. Ultimately, only the unspeakable joy of the Holy Spirit can dispel our sorrow and wipe away every tear.
Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.” (Jn 3:19) Condemnation in the original Greek means “separation.” Deliberately rejecting light, either the brilliance of the gospel or the veiled light of our conscience, is to choose separation from God. By rejecting God's gift of light, love, peace and life, we automatically become darkness, hatred, turmoil and death, yet our soul can never be annihilated because its essence is divinely breathed.
The bottom line is this: All human existence can be reduced to one inescapable law, and two unalterable realities, the law of sowing and reaping, and the eternal realms of heaven and hell. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7-8) It's universal, inviolable and impartial. If I sow to my corrupt self (darkness) I will lose my life. If I sow to Jesus Christ (the Light) I will save my life. There are only two options; “the law of the spirit of life in Christ,” or the “law of sin and death.” Which law will you embrace? The choice is entirely yours. Indecision is a choice.
Copyright 2011 by Hayden Humphrey
