Once in a while we hear someone of note questioning or denying the teaching on hell, one recent example of that is Rob bell , pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church and author of the book called "Love Wins: A book about Heaven and Hell and fate of every person who ever lived." The publishers statement about the book goes like this :"Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins. " In the preface of the book Rob Bell says "A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better…. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear." This is tragic and out right heretical because it is a denial of the clear Biblical teaching on hell. Hell is depicted in the Bible as place of conscious eternal suffering where there is no possibility of repentance, away from the presence of God . In 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 Paul says "6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from2 the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
In his book Hell under fire Albert Mohler says " the biblical doctrine of hell is but a distant memory. For so many persons in this postmodern world, the biblical doctrine of hell has become simply unthinkable.................. All the same, there are particular doctrines that are especially odious and repulsive to the modern and postmodern mind. The traditional doctrine of hell as a place of everlasting punishment bears that scandal in a particular way. The doctrine is offensive to modern sensibilities and an embarrassment to many who consider themselves to be Christians"
Our problem is that we have so much been conditioned to wickedness and now we have altogether tolerated and almost regarded some evil as normal and okay. This has made us to think that the wrath of God is an overreaction and that it is uncalled for. The God that we are dealing with here has not changed, He is the same yesterday , today and forever, it doesn't matter whether we have been conditioned or accepted some manifestations of wickedness in us , His word remains the same. In his Essay The Eternal Torments of Hell Jonathan Edwards says " God infinitely hates sin and therefore sin is infinitely evil and deserves eternal punishment" Sin is not merely a personal thing committed against self & others but it is an insurrection committed against an infinite being called God. Sin is a clear mistreatment and disregard of God. Unless we see the true nature of sin as infinite evil against God , we will see hell as an overreaction and will try in every way to extinguish it from our mind and hearts. We can try as much as we can to deny it , but it is not going to make hell disappear as a manifestation of Gods wrath.
Folks, this is very serious , the wrath of God is not just something we can play around and rethink or reconstruct whenever we like so that it can fit with our feelings and inclinations. God went into great heights to save us from this wrath, He allowed His Son to stand in our place to experience the penalty of our sin. Do we think that God is okay with what we do on earth ? Do we think he is okay with our wickedness? The truth is that God is angry against our wickedness and there is nothing that keeps the wicked man any moment out of hell but its rather the restraining hand of God over hell.
Hell begins in our hearts and souls when we have rejected God. We then become slaves to wickedness of all types. The heart therefore becomes a ground where the hell fires are kindled by evil. Hell is then consummated when the body and soul are sent there to literally be tormented forever and ever. In Romans 1: 18-32 Bible gives a clear synopsis why the wrath of God has been revealed against all ungodliness:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
In all this God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God wants to rescue the human race from evil and hell. In His love He has given us what we never deserved(GRACE) and withheld from us what we deserved(MERCY) but when we reject Him we get what we deserve(JUSTICE). God has done the utmost highest for undeserving traitors like me and you but instead of receiving his grace with joy we spit at His face and say '' God we don't need you we can manage just fine by ourselves". Imagine, we express that in the face of God who is infinitely powerful, infinitely loving and lovely. Do we think then hell is an overreaction? What we have done is infinitely evil and deserves an infinite punishment but the good news is God is still gracious with us , He loves us so much!!! His love towards us is greater than we can ever imagine , we have done so much against God but God still loves us and wants to save us. He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross , a cross you and I deserved , God poured out His wrath on his Son instead of me. Even to this day God is calling us , it is not because of a need on Gods part but it is because He loves us with an everlasting love. Therefore lets listen to Him as He is calling us in Isaiah 55: 1-3; 6-7“Come, everyone who thirsts,come to the waters;and he who has no money,come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way,and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
