Wednesday, October 2, 2013

HELL – Does It Really Exist and Why Would a Loving God Send Anyone There?

Continuation of "indications" we have of what Hell will be like:

  • There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10 (previously cited). 
 Does this sound like something you would want to experience?  Do any of us purposely seek to be tormented?  Think about an unpleasant time during which all you thought about was when it would end, (e.g., severe depression, chemo, hot flashes, the flu, migraines, a stroke, paralysis, drug withdrawal, chronic back pain, etc.) never having an end.

  • “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”    Revelation 21:8  New Living Translation
Some believe that rather than spending eternity in hell, that unbelievers will cease to exist – an idea often referred to as the “annihilation of the wicked.”  However, this view does not line up with the verses cited in this and the previous bullets.  Death, from a biblical standpoint, is not “the end” or “to cease to exist,” it simply refers to “separation.”  Physical death separates us from this life (i.e., human existence), but the second death will separate the individual, who now shares the image of God in being eternal, from God forever.  Do you want to be separated from God and those you love and care about for all eternity?

·   “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end
of the world.  The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  And the angels will throw
them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with
ears to hear should listen and understand!  Matthew 13:40-43  New Living Translation    

Would you want to subject yourself to an eternity of lamenting at what you are missing and the anxiety / depression of thinking about it forever?  

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