Introduction:
A. A church was looking for a new preacher.
1. They asked their top two candidates to preach a trial sermon.
2. Both candidates were assigned the same topic – the topic was “Hell.”
3. Both candidates preached and did an excellent job, but one was hired and the other was not.
4. The man not hired asked the chairman of the search committee why he did not get the job.
5. The chairman said, “Well, when the other minister preached on hell he had a tear in his eye, but you preached on hell as if you were glad that people were going there.”
B. Today, as I preach about hell and the question: “How can a loving God send people to hell?”, I hope I come across as someone who is saddened by the fact that hell will be the destiny of some people.
1. The biggest problem that many people have with the Christian faith is the thought that a loving God would send people to hell.
2. Everything else about Christianity makes sense to them.
a. They like the idea that a loving God created the world.
b. They like the idea that a loving God put on flesh and dwelt among us.
c. They like the idea that a loving God wants us to live with him forever.
3. But they recoil against the idea that a loving God would send people to hell.
a. They wonder if the punishment fits the crime.
b. They wonder if any sin deserves eternal torment.
c. They picture hell as a place with flames of fire and evil beings with pitchforks.
d. And they wonder if this sort of place could be the work of a loving God.
C. The great Christian thinker and writer, C.S. Lewis wrote that, if it were in his power there is no doctrine he would more willingly remove from Christianity than the doctrine of damnation.
1. But he concluded that the teaching about hell is so firmly planted in Scripture and in the words of Jesus that it cannot be removed.
2. Besides, he argued, the idea makes sense: if human beings are free, they must have the freedom even to walk away from God if they choose to do so.
D. As I address the question: “how can a loving God send people to hell?”, I want to answer several other questions as well.
I. What is Hell Like?
A. In The Divine Comedy, Dante described hell as a great funnel-shaped cave lying underneath the northern hemisphere.
1. Around the edges of this funnel were ledges called the circles of hell.
2. The greater the sin in life, the lower one’s level in hell.
3. Engraved in stone above the gate to hell were these words:
I am the way into the city of woe. I am the way to a forsaken people.
I am the way into eternal sorrow…Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
B. Is that what hell is really like? How can hell be described?
1. Believe it or not, Jesus discussed hell more often than anyone else in the Bible.
2. He associated hell with the most miserable of human conditions: an odor of burning flesh, the anguished cries of men and women, and piercing darkness.
C. The name of the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem was “Gehenna.”
1. Jesus used that word as descriptive of hell.
2. In that Gehenna dump, there were the smells of rotting trash, maggots and worms aiding decay, and smoldering fires.
3. In that day, the mere mention of Gehenna would turn people’s stomachs.
4. But the real hell was not outside the gates of ancient Jerusalem, and the Gehenna garbage dump did not exhaust the description of hell.
5. Jesus used it as an image to describe a place that is in a different category than anything we know.
C. Another paragraph in the New Testament describes what will happen to those who go to hell, Paul wrote: “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power…” (2 Thess. 1:9).
1. “Everlasting destruction” is a mind-boggling concept.
a. If we destroy a building, we can replace it with something else, even though the original building is gone.
b. But the destruction in hell goes on without end.
c. It is not merely an annihilation, but an everlasting sense of total devastation.
2. The other image in this passage is even more threatening: “shut out from the presence of the Lord.”
a. Hell is knowing that you will never see the Creator’s face, never hear His voice, and never feel His touch.
b. Hell is the absence of the One who makes and sustains life.
c. Hell is a permanent isolation ward that is separated from the Source of love and joy and peace.
3. Ultimately, Hell is far worse than anything we can imagine.
II. How does God feel about people ending up in hell?
A. People wonder: Does God find joy in sending evil people to that awful place?
1. The Bible clearly describes God’s feelings on the matter: “As surely as I live,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” (Ezek. 33:11)
2. The apostle Peter tells us: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
3. The Bible is largely a file of case studies on how God has tried to rescue people headed in the wrong direction.
B. In the Old Testament, we have the story of Hosea the prophet.
1. As a living illustration for God’s people, Hosea was commanded by God to marry a prostitute named Gomer.
2. They had one child, but then Hosea suspected that the next two children were not his.
3. Gomer continued to be unfaithful and eventually left Hosea.
4. But Hosea did not give up on his wife, Gomer.
5. When she was reduced to nothing and was put up for sale on the slave market, Hosea bought her freedom and brought her back home.
5. Hosea did all of this in response to God’s commands for him.
6. God used Hosea’s marriage as a visual aid to show the people of Israel that although they were often unfaithful to God, like Hosea, God was a faithful and forgiving husband.
C. The Bible uses many other figures to tell us of God’s concern for our souls.
1. Jesus introduced many such concepts in his teachings.
2. Jesus compared God to a shepherd who has 100 sheep, but when one is missing, he leaves the 99 and goes to rescue the one.
3. Jesus compared God to a father whose youngest son greatly disappointed and disgraced the father.
a. The boy left home with part of the family fortune and wasted it all in immoral living.
b. Nevertheless, even though the boy had caused his father great pain, his father wanted nothing more than to have him home, and when the boy returned, his father graciously welcomed him home.
4. Jesus’ point in telling such stories was to illustrate God’s mercy and love.
5. God does not want to lose even one person.
6. God wants everyone to go to heaven. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell.
7. But if that is the case, we might ask, then why did God create hell and why will God send anyone there?
III. Hell is a Human Choice.
A. In C.S. Lewis’ book The Great Divorce, he tells the story of a busload of condemned spirits who made an investigative trip to heaven.
1. If a spirit wanted to transfer from hell, whatever sin that caused damnation had to be given up.
2. As the book progressed, each spirit decided to keep its sin and remain a resident of hell.
3. Lewis’ descriptions of these people are striking because we recognize in them the self-delusion and self-absorption that we struggle against.
4. Lewis shows us that the people in hell are miserable because of the unchecked flames of their pride, paranoia and self-pity.
a. All of their humility is gone, and with it their sanity.
b. They are utterly, finally locked in a prison of their own self-centeredness.
c. They continue to go to pieces forever, blaming everyone but themselves.
d. Timothy Keller wrote: In short, hell is simply one’s freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity.
5. Many people struggle with judgment and hell, because our notion of these things are so shaped by our earthly experiences.
a. We are so limited in our perspective, and we cannot see things from God’s perspective.
b. We picture people who are sentenced to hell crying out for mercy as a hardhearted God says, “No way! You are too late! You had your chance.”
c. But I don’t believe that’s how it will be at all.
6. Ultimately, the reason that people don’t turn to God and Jesus in this life is because they prefer to live their lives with themselves at the center.
a. They don’t want God to be Lord of their lives.
b. So when they appear before God on the judgment day, what will be their response?
c. It won’t be any different than what it has been in this life.
7. That’s why in Lewis’ parable, he depicts the people on the bus from hell as people who would rather have their “freedom,” as they define it, than to have the salvation that God offers.
a. They are deluded into thinking that, if they glorified God, they would somehow lose power and freedom.
8. Hell is, as Lewis says, “the greatest monument to human freedom.”
a. All God does with people, in the end, is give them what they most want, including freedom from himself.
b. What could be more fair than that?
B. This is exactly what Jesus talked about in John 3:16-21, where the Bible says: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
1. Jesus said three things here.
a. First, God loves the world and wants to do everything he can to save it.
b. Second, a person’s actions reflect his or her choice.
1. The one who chooses evil prefers to remain in darkness.
2. Those who seek good have no fear from investigation.
c. Third, God lets each person decide in favor of either light or darkness.
1. The light symbolizes good and heaven.
2. The darkness symbolizes evil and hell.
d. Ultimately, Jesus was saying that we live with the consequences of our choices.
2. That’s the way life works.
a. Insurance companies cancel auto coverage. Schools expel students. Banks deny credit.
b. These things happen because we make choices and suffer the consequences.
c. Insurance companies want to insure people, not to cancel policies. Schools want to educate, not expel. Banks want to loan money, not refuse credit.
d. Our decisions and actions on the highway, in school, and in our finances have certain consequences.
e. We understand that after so many infractions or accidents, we will lose our insurance.
d. We understand that if we do not conform to the school’s regulations, we will be expelled.
e. It is not right to blame the bank if we have become a bad credit risk.
C. God provides hell because there have to be consequences for wrong or evil choices.
1. Most of us would be very uneasy with the thought that our behavior has no consequences.
a. Our concept of right and wrong, demands accountability in life.
2. Many people wonder how a God of love can also be filled with wrath and anger.
a. They wonder: “If he is loving and perfect, he should forgive and accept everyone.”
3. Here is a good way to look at it: If you love a person and you see someone ruining them, even if that someone is themselves, wouldn’t you get angry?
4. The Bible says that God’s wrath flows from his love for and delight in His creation.
a. God is angry at evil and injustice because it is destroying creation’s peace and integrity.
5. Yale University theologian Miroslav Volf, a Croation who lived through the Balkan wars, comments that if God were not angry at injustice and deception and if he didn’t promise to make a final end to violence, then he wouldn’t be worthy of worship.
6. Volf goes on to suggest that the only way to promote non-violence on the part of humans is to insist on a belief in divine vengeance.
7. In Romans 12:18-19, Paul wrote: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
D. At the center of the debate about hell is what is often called the “disproportionality problem.”
1. That is, the notion of eternal punishment seems disproportionate to the sins committed.
a. It is argued that no matter how heinous the sin or the duration of the sinning on earth, earthly sinning is finite.
b. Infinite punishment, that is, punishment of eternal duration is therefore disproportionate and unjust.
c. After all, we would not punish a shoplifter with life in prison, and that same principle of proportion should apply to all justice, especially that administered by a being of infinite goodness.
2. This reasonable concern has motivated many theologians to support the “annihilation” view of hell.
a. In this view, the offender experiences punishment for a finite period of time at the completion of which, the sinner is annihilated.
b. On the surface, this appears to address the proportionality problem, since both the period and intensity of punishment can be adjusted proportionately to the crimes before annihilation occurs.
c. But this position also raises a host of concerns.
3. First of all, it is not obvious that annihilation is anymore proportional than eternal conscious punishment.
a. Do we not all have a dread of death and want to live?
b. Is anyone certain that extinction is better than continuing conscious existence even if painful?
c. By analogy, consider capital punishment versus life imprisonment.
d. Our courts tend to look at capital punishment as a worse punishment, and most felons, if asked, would likely choose a lifetime in uncomfortable circumstances than the destruction of their lives.
4. In addition, the biblical text clearly reveals that hell is a place of everlasting conscious punishment.
a. Although annihilation has everlasting consequences, consciousness comes to an end.
5. In reality, who are we, as such limited creatures, to question or judge our infinite Creator?
E. The traditional view of hell, which holds to eternal conscious punishment, avoids all of these questions but still must address the proportionality issue.
1. It does so by changing the focus from the offense to the nature of the one offended.
a. God’s goodness does not depend on his creation.
b. He is eternally good, kind, and loving by virtue of His character whether He chooses to create or not.
c. Hence, God’s infinite moral brilliance and perfection precede any interaction with his creatures because God is an infinitely moral being.
d. Therefore, God is morally in a category by himself. He is of a different kind than we are.
e. As such, any sin against him is not menial.
f. Any sin against an infinite Being is of infinite seriousness and begets infinite retribution.
2. By analogy, what if I were to run over with my car the one living next door to me?
a. I should expect a much lesser degree of punishment if the being I run over is my neighbor’s cat than if it is his wife.
b. The difference would likely be between a hefty fine and capital punishment.
c. Why is this? It is because a human being is of a different kind than a cat, a kind of inherently greater value.
d. Then what should we expect if we offend a being of infinite value by failing to obey him?
e. As theologian Shawn Balinski states, “Since the one wronged is of infinite value, punishment must be infinite; no other factors can mitigate the infinite nature of the guilty party’s just reward without compromising the infinite worth, dignity and holiness of God.”
3. God is inherently and infinitely good and loving.
a. Hence, he is good to all of his creation and loves all of his creatures.
b. God has been merciful, offering us an escape from what otherwise is for humans an impossible dilemma.
c. Since an offense against an infinite being is an infinite offense, atonement for such an offense can only be achieved by an infinite being – Jesus Christ.
Conclusion:
A. The one thing we cannot conclude is that God does not care.
1. In his book, Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion.
a. Since the two children shared the same rare blood type, the boy was the perfect donor.
b. The doctor asked little Johnny, “Will you give your blood to your sister, Mary?”
c. Johnny hesitated; his lower lip began to tremble. Then, he said, “Sure, for my sister.”
d. Both children were wheeled into the hospital room and the nurses prepared them for the transfusion.
e. When the procedure was almost over, little Johnny asked the physician, “Doctor, when do I die?”
f. It was then that the doctor realized why Johnny had hesitated, and why his lip had trembled when he agreed to give his blood.
g. Little Johnny thought that giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life, and he was willing to do that for her.
2. God has already done for you and for me what Johnny only thought he was doing for his sister.
a. Through Christ, the debt we accumulate by doing evil is canceled.
b. Through Christ, we can live in anticipation of heaven, not in the threat of hell.
3. God has made Himself very clear – He is seeking people who have been unfaithful to Him.
a. He is trying to locate His missing sheep.
b. He wants to welcome the prodigal sons and daughters back home.
c. But God is equally clear that there is a place called hell prepared for those who choose to reject his invitation.
d. God won’t, and can’t force us to love Him.
e. And if people won’t love Him, because they love themselves more, then they can’t be with Him.
f. If people won’t acknowledge Him as their God and King, how can He allow them into His kingdom?
B. Down under in Australia, there is beautiful area called Mornington Peninsula National Park, you can see the beautiful cliff and beach in these pictures.
1. There are hikes you can take, like the one called the Coastal Walk that features cliff-top trails with magnificent views of surf, sand, tidal rock pools and dense coastal scrub.
2. Several years ago a child fell over one of the cliffs and died.
3. People were up in arms because there were no warning signs or fences around the cliff to protect people from falling.
4. What would be the loving response to that situation?
5. Should people be left to figure it out for themselves or be left to make up their own minds?
6. Or should people be warned by signs being put in place or fences constructed to keep them from danger?
7. Obviously signs and fences would detract from the beauty of that area and would spoil people’s wilderness experience, but at least they would be forewarned about the danger ahead.
C. Thankfully and lovingly, God has warned us about the dangers of hell and has put numerous signs and fences in place to try to direct us to safety.
1. But God allows us to choose whether to heed the warnings and to stay away from the danger.
2. If any of us do not want to listen and heed the warnings, then God will allow us experience the consequences of our choice.
3. And when we do, it won’t be God sending us to our destruction, rather it will be us choosing to go there against God’s warnings and provisions.
4. C.S. Lewis concludes his discussion of hell, saying: “There are only two kinds of people – those who say to God ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are going to hell choose it. Without that self-choice it wouldn’t be hell.”
D. I am very sad, and so is God, that some people will choose hell rather than heaven.
1. I am very sad that some will choose to be their own god, rather than love and obey the real God who died trying to save them from themselves.
2. Which will you choose?
3. I hope you will choose God and heaven.
Resources:
Skeptics Answered, by D. James Kennedy, Multnomah Books, 1997
Questions People Ask Ministers Most, by Harold Hazelip, Baker Book House, 1986
The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller, Penguin, 2009
Prepare to Answer, by Rubel Shelly, 20th Century Christian, 1990
Would a Loving God Really Send People to Hell, Sermon by Timothy Smith, SermonCentral.com
How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell, Sermon by Chris Appleby, SermonCentral.com
Hell and the Goodness of God, by Arnie Gentile, http://mychristianapologetics.com/2010/10/17/hell-
and-the-goodness-of-god.aspx
