Saturday, November 12, 2011

How can a loving God send people to Hell?


The greatest misconception about hell is that it doesn't exist. Just as we believe scientists when they tell us there is such a thing as gravity, so should we believe God when he tells us there is such a place as hell. Many people wonder how a merciful and caring God could send people to such a terrible place. The truth is that It's like the natural law of gravity, If you choose to jump from a high place, you will break your legs. You don't say God broke your legs..The same idea for Hell.God does not send anyone to Hell. People send themselves to Hell and choose to be against the natural moral law by refusing God's gift of salvation. People choose to go there by their own rebellion, and God respects their choice.

God says in Deuteronomy 30:19, "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!".

God gave man a free will to choose his destiny. His will for us is to be with Him for eternity.

God is a loving God.You are always on His mind. He knows how many hairs you have on your head. He knows your thoughts before you think them. That's pretty awesome.

However, God is also just. Sin cannot enter Heaven. And so He made a way for us to get there. That way is through faith in His son, Jesus Christ. Not just believing in Christ but "receiving" Christ into your heart and be true disciple to him.

Good works will not get us into heaven, Adam and Eve not only had to admit their guilt and disobedience, they also had to acknowledge their inability to make things right through their own efforts. They could not cover, or atone, for what they had done. The account goes on to say that God had to take the initiative to adequately clothe them. He killed some animals and made garments from their skins for a covering. All philosophy, philanthropy, asceticism, religion, ethics, and all other systems which seek to gain the approval of God through human self-effort are the "fig-leaf" approach.

Hell is the natural consequence (like gravity) of our life without  God, it is what life looks like separated from love, from life, from hope. Hell is looking our own lostness straight in the face. Just like we have glimpses of what Heaven will be like through our experiences of God's salvation here, we also have glimpses of what Hell will be like through the lostness and despair and hopelessness around us. Hell is the total seperation (the absence) from God. God won't send us there. God's job is to show us danger signs along the way but He also respects our choices !
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