Blog #60 - Hell

Hell is not a punishment, it's a result.

When I began writing blogs about my faith, I really meant it to be an ongoing process. I'm not a pastor who is teaching a congregation, I'm a man who is learning and developing, and I'm just trying to share what I've learned along the way.

In my first post, I claimed that I "don't believe in hell." It's been years since then and a lot has happened in my life and in the world around us and I don't believe that anymore.

The reason I had such a difficult time with the concept of hell is because, like most, I didn't understand it and I didn't understand completely who God was.

It began with the realization of the perfection of the word of God. God's word isn't just perfect from a human perspective, it's oftrn beyondour comprehension. It's flawless in ways that can hit you like a punch in the heart. My father is a pastor, so studying the Bible is what we did my entire life and yet, I still learn new things about it's perfection every day. Accepting it as perfection also forces you to realize that if there's a part that you don't totally understand, it's on you. This forced me to accept that hell was real but I just didn't understand it. So, despite how uncomfortable it made me, I dug in.

Matthew 25:41 says... Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Hell was created for Satan and his fallen angels. It was never meant for human beings.

Christians and non Christians often ask, why God would send people to hell if He loves them but the reality is, He doesn't. When we imagine hell as it's described, with fire and brimstone, these things are merely the conclusion of a lack of God. They are the result of complete seperation from God's love and presence. His love is so powerful that to exist without it is literally hell. God doesn't want you to experience that. Infact, He sent His son to show us how to avoid it.

When a person goes to hell, it's their own fault. God gives us free will because love cannot exist where free will does not. Therefore, if you choose to live seperate from God, eventually, you will experience what complete seperation from Him really is.

Hell is not a punishment, it's a result.

Life with God, however, is an eternal life lived in the presence of a love far beyond what we are capable of understanding.

It's not about perfection, because Christ was the only perfect person, it's about acceptance and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you through life until we are allowed to experience his love and presence completely in the next.