Why Does a Loving God Send People to Hell?
First, is there a hell and what do we know about it? Go here for my summary: DoesHellExist.html
Let's go back to the 10 Commandments. Why did God give them to
us? Simple. They are the basic user manual. Follow them and we,
personally, and the world, does well. Don't follow them, things
fall apart; individual lives and the world. Think of any moral
law or rule we have and it's based in the 10 Commandments. Name one
that isn't.
Easy enough. So, we follow them, everything is good, right?
Right. But there's a catch. Millennia have proven to us,
that even if we want to live by these laws, we can't. We simply
don't have the will power to do what's right. Well, where do we
get the will power? God. That's right. The 10 commandments
show us that we are powerless to live a truly good life without God.
Now Jesus came, and not only did he reinforce the 10 Commandments, he
took them even deeper, explained their spiritual level. He summed
them up as "love one another" and "do onto others as you would have
them do onto you". Now, no one is going to argue that these are
good things to do. But even moreso, from this we realize we can't
do it. We don't always love, and we don't treat others how we
want to be treated.
The answer, presented by Jesus is, reconciliation to God.
Connecting to God at a one on one level. Literally allowing God,
the Holy Spirit, to live in us, and guide us in our lives. God
enabled that through Jesus.
This is not a difficult concept. How many people today talk about
trying to achieve enlightenment and connecting with God (higher power,
the universe, consciousness). God is way ahead of us.
Instead of us trying to figure out how to do that on our own, because
we can't, he has a plan in place. Instead of accepting that, we
keep trying to be our own saviours and reject God's plan. How's
that working out for society so far?
Now, why would God want to punish those who do not want to connect with
him, and reap the benefits of that connection, which are many?
Hell is described as a place of eternal torture and a place of
destruction. Revelation 20:10 says Satan will be tormented
forever, but 20:14-15 says death itself, and Hades (the realm of the
dead) will be thrown into the fire for destruction. And also, all
who are not saved, will be thrown in, calling it the second
death. Well death, can only be either separation or
annihilation. But, either way, I think we can agree it's
something to be avoided.
Now, getting back to why the harsh punishment? If the created rejects
the creator, especially if that created makes life miserable for those
who have not rejected God, then someone has to go! After all,
that's what we have now, both types of people on Earth. Do you
think this is a good way for humanity to exist; endless wars, greed,
abuse, corruption? All of it comes from those who reject God's
teachings. Why should God be insulted, and expose those who love
him, to continue to allow them to be around for eternity?
To be around for What? Eternity. God, through Jesus and the Holy
Spirit, is elevating humanities consciousness and will create a Utopian
future. Yes, once again, just like we're trying to save
ourselves, we also think we are going to create a Utopia on our
own. No, we're not. We can't, without being hooked into
God. That's the plan. His plan. How are our efforts
to create a Utopia, according to our own ideas, going so far?
And there's the rub. It can't be Utopia if everyone is not on the
same page, if everyone is not at the same level of consciousness.
The plan is:
- Repent (stop rebelling against God)
- Recognize Jesus as Lord and King.
- Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins (your failures)
- Receive the Holy Spirit (the direct connection to God); allow God to guide you)
- The reward is eternal life in a world without suffering and death. Forever.
Get it. The price of admission, to Utopia, is Humility and
Teachability. Admitting you're wrong and that God is right.
Admitting that you don't know better than God. Otherwise, how
would you possible take direction from God for eternity? If you can't
do that much, than you're not salvageable, and for the sake of all who
are willing to do that, and show respect to God, you will be
removed. Permanently. While the rest will live forever in
harmony with our God and the rest of his creation.
So, is God going to send people to hell? No. Those who reject
him, and his salvation through Jesus Christ, that he gives freely to
all, will send themselves to hell. The rebellious can not coexist
with the obedient. The rebellious give God no choice, by their own
choice.
God wants everyone to come to Repentance, but it's a choice. We have free will. That's it.
Now, I'm going to speculate here. Well, why doesn't God just give
Satan, and everyone that rejects God, their own realm, their own world
so to speak, where they can do as they please, instead of wiping
them all out? Well, what would be the point? It goes without
saying that it would be a miserable existence, and if you think
there's suffering in the world now, go ahead and take away all the good
there is and see where it goes. It literally would be hell.
See, so there is only one way to avoid going to hell, or creating our
own hell, and that is for creation to be reconciled to the
creator. A personal relationship with God.
Go read the New Testament, and keep reading it, until you beat this into your thick skull, and I say that with love!