God's Book: An Honest Look at the Bible's Toughest Topicsნიმუში

GOD OF JUSTICE AND HOPE

The person in the Bible who spoke most about judgment and ‘hell’ was Jesus. Does that surprise you? The most compassionate person who ever lived warned about realities beyond this life.

While Revelation does not use the word ‘hell’, it’s reasonable to assume the lake of fire described in chapter 20 gives an apocalyptic glimpse of an equivalent reality. Initially, this lake is where God banishes the spiritual forces of evil, including the ‘unholy trinity’ of the beast, the false prophet, and Satan. This reminds us that God never intended ‘hell’ to be for humans. In the beginning, he only created heaven and earth. ‘Hell’ is God’s fallback plan, the unfortunate outcome of a world gone wrong.

As our creator, God loves us more than we know. And yet, contrary to sentimental pop theology, God is also white-hot holiness. His nature is pure goodness. He will not compromise with sin. Instead, according to Revelation, God has set a day when he will rid the world of evil. That is why judgment and ‘hell’ are necessary.

However, we should not assume God will torture people in ‘hell’. The Bible never says that. Instead, the real pain will be relational separation. As surely as God is the source of all goodness, beauty, and joy, to lose him is to lose everything good. To be in ‘hell’ is to be ‘shut out’ or excluded. The Bible, therefore, refers to ‘hell’ as ‘outer darkness’, away from the light of God’s presence (Matthew 8:12). ‘Heaven’ and ‘hell’ will therefore be a continuation or an echo of this life. If we choose to live apart from God now, our decision will be respected for eternity. Though the exact nature of judgment and ‘hell’ remains a mystery, we can trust that God will do what is right in the end.

When we pull back and see the big picture at the end of the Bible story, it challenges unhelpful parodies of heaven and ‘hell’ and throws a different light on what’s to come. Our loving creator has decided to reset this broken world so that heaven and earth can be a perfect home for us to enjoy once more. Jesus is both our Judge and our Saviour, who bled and died to secure salvation for us. However, our choices in this life now really matter. That’s why, when just one sinner repents, all of heaven celebrates.

Instead of Revelation 20 putting a dampener on things, an eternal perspective can help sharpen our focus, so we prioritise the things that matter. Those who keep the end in sight can live brave, kind, and purposeful lives. Apparently, a common deathbed regret is not taking enough risks and being too afraid of what others think. How can we live with more courage and less fear? Let’s imagine ourselves on the other side of this brief life. One day, we will enjoy eternity with Jesus and his people in a perfectly renewed world. Now, work back from there. Make all your decisions, big and small, in the light of eternity. You may still make mistakes, but you will have no regrets.

REFLECT: What disturbs you about the Bible’s teaching on the end-times, Judgment, and ‘hell’? How might these challenging realities provoke good outcomes if we take the message to heart?