Bible described that hell is a place of eternal outer darkness, with fire
that never goes out, burning perpetually, a place of pain and torment, a
prison. Hell is a place that separates us with God. The torment in hell is forever
and ever, it is eternal. It is horrible place as described in the bible, but they are only symbols. The actual hell is much more worst than we could ever imagine. The fire that burn in hell is worst than the material fire on earth. people in hell will experience the pain of lose. The lost of hope, the lost of God, the lost of joy.
God is love, but why he creates hell? Such a horrible place. If someone ask
this question how would we answer them? Matthew 25:41 tells us that hell is
prepared for devil and his angel, God's intention to create hell is not for
human being. He does not take pleasure seeing people suffer an eternity in
hell, and that is the reason why he sent Jesus.
We must also know that God will not force anyone to go Heaven. Jesus came to
save us so that we will not perish, If a person refuses to repent, refuses to
believe that Jesus came and sacrificed himself for the sins of the world,
refuses to turn to God, God has no alternative. I agree with Mei Fong in her
post about "Talk About Hell" that God is not just a God of Grace, but
He is also God of just. Just like every governing authority in the world will
impose the maximum penalty for the worst crime. God has his standard too.
One of the worst thing a person can do is to reject God, reject his grace, his love, and his plan of salvation. Justice demands that those who
disregard and reject God's loving offer of pardon will pay the penalty for
their own sins forever in hell.
Will the horrible hell motivate us to preach the gospel? I believe now is the time to be concerned but not when one gets into hell. Once people is in hell, he will learn too late that God really means what He said, without Christ, he will ended up in hell. Let us make sure that we tried our best to stop people from going to hell.
Yes Grace, hell is real, judgement is real, eternal fire and torment...created by God? A kind, loving, gracious, and merciful God. And yes, God is holy and just. At times, God is simply unfathomable, too great for my understanding. Sometimes, I do wonder about the multitudes who had died without having a chance to hear the gospel. How about babies and small children who didn't make it in life...where will they go?
ReplyDeleteEarlier in Mei Fong's post I asked if people are being scared into faith. But after reading yours, a certain amount of the reality of hell is needed in a Christian as a reminder and motivation to share Christ intentionally. Cos with our "good life" right now, we tend to forget. God, help us.
ReplyDeleteHell is a horrible place. Nobody wants to go there. Yet, many fail to realize that how they live their lives on earth is like a warrant or ticket for them to be condemned to hell. It is a filthy, repugnant and horrifying place. The flames of hell is a real torture that is beyond what anyone can bear. Contrast the atrocities of hell with the love of God, then slowly one will begin to understand the purpose behind the creation of hell. God does not desire that mankind should perish but sin made it impossible for mankind to connect with God. That is why Christ was sent to reconcile man to God. We can argue that good works or acts of chastity, poverty and obedience can be the guarantee for us to be accepted into heaven but if we think carefully, the root problem is still there. Sin is in us and we cannot be cleansed from it with our own might. A blood of the sinless has to atone for it.This is the doctrine of substituitionary propitiation. There has to be a sacrifice like in the Old Testament times when the blood of unblemished animals were made to atone for the sins of the people. This remains a fact in our faith today. We cannot totally eliminate sin but without our mediator, Christ Jesus, we are not worthy even to face God even though we are pure in heart. God is just, and he will judge all of us according to what we have done but without grace then our faith in Him is just worth little. We need His grace to sustain us in living for Him. What more in matters of our eternal destiny. Let's face it. WE don't normally accept Christ out of fear, compulsion or coercion by someone. It is by knowing that He loves us, by noticing how wretched we are and by admitting how we can't save ourselves even if we try to, are matters that led to our conversion. The doctrine of scaring the daylights out of anyone by preaching hell may work to get them converted. The question though is not whether people accept Christ, but rather as Paul puts it, are they working out their salvation with fear and trembling, will they turn away from their sinful ways after knowing Christ and will they follow Him with all their heart. These are fundamental questions that will ensure that they are living in a way where they despise hell and their focus is heavenward bound. Hell can make us concerned for our unsaved ones, but after confessing the Sinner's Prayer, much is to be done. I don't believe that salvation is a one time thing. It is worked at over and over again. Preach Hell? Yes. Live carelessly? No.
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