Why Does A Loving God Send People To Hell? Series

“Why Does A Loving God Send People to Hell?”

Introduction:

There are a lot of people who have questions that they want to ask God. One of the questions that many people want to ask God is, “how a loving God could send people to Hell?” We know that one of the characteristics that is used in the Bible to describe God that He is a God of love, if God loves people then why would He let them go to Hell? We read in God’s Word that He does not want any people to perish. If God does not want any to perish for eternity than why is there a Hell?

I believe that because of people’s fear of Hell and questioning of God’s sending of people to Hell many people have began to doubt the existence of a place called Hell. To many people Hell is simply a figment of their imaginations and is not a real place.

A Harris poll found that while 89% of Americans believe in heaven, only 73% believe in hell. However, even this figure is misleading, since people differ in how they define “hell.” When defined as an actual location—a place of actual torment where people will be sent—only three in ten adults (31%) believe in hell. Most Americans believe that Satan is merely a symbol for evil. Only 27% strongly believe that Satan is real.

I know that for a lot of so called intelligent people Hell is more of a joke than a reality. The world is all the more embracing aspects of spirituality such as New Age, reincarnation, Psychics, etc., but the church is all the more silent on these issues like the judgment of God. Be sure of this before I get into this message that Hell is real and while we may ask and wonder about this question especially as it relates to our lost loved ones, we must be reminded that God does not want anyone to go to Hell. In fact God has gone at great lengths so that we might avoid Hell. He sent His own son to die for us so that we might avoid this awful place. Hell though is just as real as Heaven.

When England closed it’s Libyan Embassy Muammar Qaddafi became so angry that he ordered England to be removed from all maps in Libya. If you buy a map in that country today, that area will be represented by a new arm of the North Sea bordered by Scotland and Wales. Simply removing England from all maps in Libya does not mean it doesn’t exist. Just because we’ve never been to Hell or the world makes light of it, or says it’s a fairy tale doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Hell is very real.

We can deny the reality of Hell, we can try to argue or justify our way around Hell, but Hell is real. If there is no Hell then the Bible becomes a book of blunders. Perhaps Hell is not something you doubt, but we do all at times wonder why God allows people to spend eternity in such an awful place.

Text: Matthew 25:31-46

I. What is Hell?

First, it is pertinent to look at what Hell is and what it is like for us to consider why God allows people to go there. We learn a lot in scriptures about Hell. We learn a lot about what Hell is like because Jesus and the other New Testament writers had a lot to say about Hell. I hope that as we look at this that we will not see God as a God who gets pleasure out of seeing his creation suffer, but we will see a God who has provided a way out for us. I hope that through this we will be more thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus. I hope that we will take seriously our lives so that we can be prepared for eternity. I hope that we will more deeply realize that there is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun. I believe that we will come to that if we honestly examine the scriptures and see the way that God’s Word describes Hell.

a. Separation from God

Many people in their lives do not want anything to do with God. They assume that they will be in Heaven because they are good people. People develop their religions around their lack of faith. People today want nothing more than to be separate from God. They want to be separate from God so they don’t go to church. They say that you do not have to go to church to show your faith. People today want to be separate from God so that they do not have to live at any moral standard because if they were not separate from God they could not live at their own standard. The thing is when people die; God gives people just what they wanted. I do not understand why we complain about people going to Hell and being separate from God because they are just getting what they wanted. I do believe that one of the worst things about Hell is the separation that comes along with it. I believe that what makes Hell so awful is God’s absence. Imagine being in a place completely void of anything good and completely absent from God.