The year was 1845. A man named Carl Steinman was fascinated by volcanoes, and going against the advice of his guide, he ventured to the edge of a dormant volcano while visiting Mount Hecla in Iceland. Although it had last erupted over fifty years earlier, the guide noticed there had been changes in the mouth of the crater since his last trip there, and that the ground felt unusually warm. He was justifiably alarmed.
Knowing that he’d never have the opportunity again and downplaying his guide’s frightened warning, Steinman moved closer to one of the fissures on the inside of the vent. There he heard a boiling, surging sound, with a rumbling sensation at intervals, and the strong smell of sulfuric gasses. He pried off a block of lava and dropped it into the mouth of the crater, listening for more than a minute as it ricocheted from side to side, until the sound faded away. Suddenly, as if he had caused it, at just that moment a strong blast of hot, steaming gasses rushed up with a loud, heavy roar.
Steinman was just turning to escape in panic when the ground rumbled and shook beneath his feet, throwing him to his hands and knees. While scrambling up the side to escape, two blocks of lava broke loose and rolled over his feet and legs, trapping him. He found himself looking down into the crater in sheer horror, while almost suffocating from the toxic gasses he was inhaling. One more tremor and he knew he would fall into that fiery pit.
He called for help, only to see that his guide had disappeared. He prayed, as he had never prayed before, for God’s mercy and forgiveness of his sins. Then, to his amazement, his guide, who had fled in terror at the first explosion, returned, even at the risk of his own life. “I warned you, master!” he said, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and pity. “You did, you did,” Steinman answered, “but forgive me and save me!”
“You’re already forgiven, master, and I’ll save you if I can--either save you or perish with you.” He immediately set to work with an iron rod to break the lava around Steinman’s legs, when again the earth trembled and the blocks parted, freeing him. He seized his guide’s hand and they both struggled hard up the side of the crater until finally they reached more solid ground, falling and locked in each other’s arms. They scrambled higher up the sloping sides of the vent, and as they finally reached the ridge, the ground shook with a heavy explosion. Looking back, they could see only a dark, smoking pit where they had just been standing.
Running as fast as they could to their horses, they rode quickly down the mountain to warn the villagers, who fled with them to safety. Steinman rewarded his guide handsomely for saving his life, and forever after thanked God that he’d lived to tell the story of his harrowing escape from what was an all-too-vivid image of hell.
I once announced that I would be preaching a two-part sermon series on Heaven and Hell-- in that order. The first week there was normal attendance at our service. But there were noticeably fewer people for the sermon on Hell. One member told me that he’d heard too much already on that subject as a child in a very conservative church. Several others evidently felt the same way and had taken that morning off. Hell is a very unpleasant and unpopular subject, needless to say.
But if someone were to ask you whether you believe in Hell, and what you believe about it, what would you say? Do you have enough biblical knowledge to answer that question? I daresay most of us don’t, but we should, if for no other reason than to correct some commonly held misconceptions about it.
Virtually everyone believes in Heaven, but Hell is effectively a taboo subject these days, almost a relic from the past. Yet, while I agree that more “hellfire and brimstone” preaching certainly isn’t the answer, neither should we neglect it entirely. There’s no doubt that Jesus believed in Hell, and in fact he often warned of its dire reality. So here’s my perspective on an admittedly thorny subject.
First, it’s important for us to understand that the Bible speaks about Hell by using three different images: 1) As a place of suffering and punishment; 2) as darkness and separation from God’s presence; and 3) as destruction, or death. So we need to draw those themes together to see Hell as a composite state of separation, suffering, and destruction.
A theology of hell that integrates the themes of separation, suffering and destruction unfolds in three “acts,” so to speak. First, at the Judgment there is a separation of unrepentant souls from the presence of God, the consequence of having chosen spiritual darkness over light. That divine judgment in turn elicits the suffering of a searing regret, before those souls are consigned ultimately to destruction. The themes of separation, suffering and destruction therefore express both the justice and the mercy of God. That, it seems to me, is a biblical theology of Hell that aligns with the character of God we see revealed in Scripture.
The opening story illustrates this well: After separating from his guide, Steinman found himself in mortal danger, experiencing tremendous regret and terror. And had he fallen into the mouth of the volcano he would have suffered before facing his death. Separation, suffering and destruction are the three aspects comprising the reality of Hell.
There’s a ministry called “Hell is Real,” serving inmates by teaching them about the reality of Hell in order to warn the lost of their need to avoid God’s righteous judgment of their sin. (They commonly use the name “HR Ministries,” however, to lessen the shock factor.) It’s been a very effective and fruitful ministry, since many of them are well aware of their guilt and need of mercy. It’s a truth that needs to be handled wisely and compassionately, and the ministry leaders manage to do that in a loving and redemptive way.
Let’s also be quick to emphasize, however, that we as Christians are no longer in danger of Hell. We’ve been saved by grace and are safe in God’s love because of our faith in Jesus. “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8). We still face the challenges and consequences of sin in our lives, as we all know, but they exist now only in the context of God’s chastening love, and never his wrath.
There was a time when committed Christians regarded themselves as “God fearing” people. We seldom use that language today, but it was understood to mean two things: first, having a reverence and awe of God’s glory; and consequently, maintaining a heartfelt respect for His authority. And the fear of God, that holy fear, is an important and necessary part of our spiritual health.
The fear of God includes an awareness of the seriousness of our sin. Just as there are physical laws, so there are also spiritual laws as part of God’s design of creation. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary to India, warned that “the universe is against us” when we sin, meaning that there will always be a negative consequence whenever we violate God’s moral laws. For this reason, it’s been said that we’re punished by sin as much as for sin. (Repeat.) And sin bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.
There will inevitably be times when we’ll disregard some of the nobler reasons for obeying God, but the negative consequences of sin are still always there to be feared and avoided. For example, some drivers might obey the speed limit for all the right reasons. But most of us, if we’re honest, are prevented from speeding primarily by our fear of being given a ticket, with its fines, points on our record, higher insurance premiums and possibly even driving school.
There’s a similar principle of restraint at work in our spiritual lives: we’re motivated in our obedience not only by the higher ideals of a love for God and a desire to please Him--but also by an awareness of the painful consequences of our sin. And God knows very well that we need those spiritual guardrails to help us stay on course. “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10b-11).
When the Apostle Paul tells us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling,” he’s referencing the fear of God: both glorifying God in our hearts, and nurturing a deep-seated respect for His guidance in how we live.
We’ve all been given a conscience, “a divine spark” as George Washington described it, to assist us in that respect. But beyond that natural gift, the Holy Spirit also comes alongside us as disciples of Christ to illuminate the spiritual truth and wisdom we need.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” as the Book of Proverbs stresses repeatedly. May we seek to live as God-fearing people who humble our hearts in reverence of His glory and live in faithfulness to His will.
Amen.
