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The Existence Of God And Hell |
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The Bible states unequivocally that God is love including Jesus, the one and only Son of God (1 John 4:7-11), but it also teaches that the same God condemns unbelievers and the disobedient to Hell, a place of eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:8). To the surprise of some, Jesus had more to say on the subject of Hell than the rest of the Bible. Does that contradict the supposed loving nature of God the Father and the Son? Skeptics have raised similar questions to prove that there is no God and that Jesus is not the Son of God, but none have been as pointed as Charles Templeton, a professed agnostic: “How could a loving Heavenly Father create an endless hell and, over the centuries, consign millions of people to it because they do not or cannot or will not accept certain religious beliefs” (Farewell To God, 230)? To the contrary, God does not cast men and women into Hell simply because they do not accept certain religious beliefs. It is an oversimplification. The reason why some think that the existence of God and Hell are contradictory is because they misunderstand the nature of sin. Imagine Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden prior to sin and temptation. They were made in the image of God and existed in sublime fellowship with Him. They truly loved Him and sought to please Him in all things. They were right with Him and one another. Then sin and rebellion entered into the lives of the image bearers. They viewed themselves as the center of the universe and sought their own pleasure. They were not right with God or one another. Men and women have been hurting themselves and one another ever since through murder, pride, fornication, bitterness, stealing, jealousy, etc. How should God respond to sin? We would be shocked if God had no moral judgment in regard to evils such as genocide as though it does not matter. The same principle also applies to men and women made in the image of God who rebel against the Creator. He does not consign millions of people to Hell just because they do not accept certain religious beliefs; he consigns them to Hell first and foremost because they want to be the center of the universe. One characteristic of Hell is the absence of God where men and women can be in the presence of the wickedness in which they reveled (Revelation 21:6-8). Hell is a place where “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:42-48). It is a place of personal torment that may include the unsettling realization that justice has been served. God is neither amoral or immoral and therefore, He cannot overlook sin. We must remember that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
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