September 17,  2017
taught by Ken McGarvey
First Baptist Church of Tellico Village, Tennessee

Hell has been controversial for decades. Typically, “liberals” (theologically liberal) denied a literal hell, while fundamentalists and evangelicals believed in it. A good friend of mine believes in hell, but that it is not eternal. He claims no scriptural support, bu believes that somehow the love of God will find a way for all to eventually be in heaven.

In 2011 megachurch pastor Rob Bell published a book, Love Wins, in which he presented his belief that there is no literal hell. This was readily accepted in many circles of Christians, but widely rebutted by evangelical pastors and theologians. He argued that a literal, eternal hell would be totally contrary to the love of God as revealed in Christ in the Bible.

There are groups, such as the Unitarian Universalist Church, who don’t believe in the Trinity, don’t believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, who also believe that all people will be saved, and will live for eternity in heaven with God. Their doctrine is rejected by every major and nearly every minor group that calls itself Christian. Jehovah’s Witnesses also don’t believe in the Trinity or in hell, but do believe in salvation, at least for them.

Old Testament: The Old Testament indicated no real knowledge of hell. The word is used many times in the King James Version, but seldom in modern speech translations. The KJV translates the word sheol as hell. However, sheol does not present any picture of hell as we think of it. Sheol simply meant the grave, the end of life on earth, the abode of those who have left this life. David says of his infant son who died, “I shall go to him, but not he to me.” Although he didn’t use the word sheol, he was speaking of such, that he would join his son in the grave, but his son would not join him in life here on the earth.

There is one Old Testament reference I can think of that speaks very generally of the idea of hell that we are familiar with, though it doesn’t use the word sheol: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to shame and eternal contempt. (Daniel 12:2) It doesn’t picture fire, but the concept of punishment for the wicked after this life is over is central.

New Testament: In the New Testament, three Greek words are translated hell in our Bibles: hades, gehenna and tarturas. Tartarus is used only once, in 2 Peter 2:4, where he says, For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment… It may refer to hell, but this verse speaks only of fallen angels going there.

Gehenna speaks of the concept of hell that we are familiar with. It is a place of torment and fire, as in Luke 12:4-5 4 “And I say to you, My friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you the One to fear: Fear Him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear! 
Gehenna historically referred to the Valley of Hinnom, a place outside Jerusalem where idolatry was practiced. When the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, they resolved never again to use that valley for idolatry, but used it continually for the burning of trash and garbage. But when gehenna is used in the New Testament, it is obvious from the context each and every time, that it refers not to that valley, but to something far larger and more threatening: it refers to a place of infinite fire.

Other references to hell in the New Testament don’t use a name for the place, but rather refer to it as a “lake of fire” or “eternal fire.” This is true in Matthew 25, where Jesus says that those who do not take care of the poor and needy or the strangers will end up there (when’s the last time you heard that preached?) and in Revelation, where Satan is thrown, where all whose names are not written in the Book of Life are thrown, and which is called “The Second Death.”

Hades is used many times. Some versions translate it hell, while others simply transliterate it into English as hades. It appears to me that hades refers to a temporary abode of those who have died. Since, according to my understanding of eschatology (the end times) our eternal state with God doesn’t come immediately after death, but rather when the new heavens and new earth are created, after all judgments on earth have been carried out.

When Jesus was on the cross, he called the place he was going “paradise” to the thief who believed in him. In Luke 16, Jesus describes a place he calls hades, where an unrighteous man, simply referred to as “a certain rich man,” and a righteous man named “Lazarus” (not to be confused with the Lazarus Jesus raised from death) both exist, permanently separated from each other and in vastly different circumstances, yet able to see each other and to communicate in a limited way. They can not only see and hear, but also to feel pain and experience pleasure, to remember and to think. I think Paradise is the name for the portion of hades where the righteous live in the presence of God.

Hell as we think of it is an eternal place of punishment. But we must be aware of what it is not. It is not governed by Satan — that’s comic book fantasy. It is not anywhere you or anyone else would want to be. Though unbelievers like to joke about being with their friends, there will be no such scene. The key thing about hell is that it is where God is not. If people think life is difficult on earth because of bad people, sin, pain and all kinds of suffering, what we have is greatly mitigated by God and by the presence of the Holy Spirit. God’s grace and mercy are here, as his is providence, his love and his care.

Many religions and philosophies believe in a place called hell or similar to it. Several believe it is in “the heart of the earth.” We have no idea either where it is or even if that should be important. However, the scriptural warnings should be real enough to get our attention.

Is it fair for God to send people to hell because they followed the wrong religion? Well, that’s not really a valid question. People who follow Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism,
Taoism, and, yes, Christianity, will go to hell. One cannot be saved by following or believing in a religion. Christianity is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. The Bible says in the book of Acts that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. To be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. But we do not believe in Christianity — we believe in Christ. Christianity is a word the world uses to categorize us as Christians. Millions of people are part of Christianity, but not necessarily followers of Christ.

Now to get to understanding how a loving God could possibly send anyone to hell. When people have a tendency to disbelieve some of the things the Bible teaches us about God and our relationship with him, it is important to stop and think about our perspective. If we try to judge God by our standards or our understanding, we are not believing in God as a supreme being, but simply as a “man upstairs.” Who are we, as finite human beings, to judge the creator of the universe? If we can judge him, then he is not God, but we are.

To understand anything theological we must try to understand from God’s perspective why he has done what he has done. He created a world, filled it with wonderful things and created a perfect man and woman. He consciously gave them the ability to respond to him, positively in love and obedience, or negatively in sin and rebellion. When they sinned, he removed them from the garden. He killed animals to give them fur coats to wear. After many generations, when their offspring corrupted the whole earth, God chose a righteous man through whom to save the world — Noah. And the rest of the Bible is the story of redemption.

After giving covenants, laws, a land of their own, kings, priests and prophets, God sent his son, who, in the incarnation, is called Jesus of Nazareth. All of this is God’s plan of redemption, trying by his love and his grace, to enable man to reach his potential and become worthwhile for eternity. And live forever in fellowship with God himself.

The Bible says in Psalm 19 that the glory of God is visible in creation for all to see, and there is no speech or language where there voice is not heard. And in the New Testament we read, 18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. (Romans 1:18-23)

When God cleansed the earth with a flood, by his grace he saved mankind and the fauna of earth. When he condemned the world for their sin, he chose Abram through whom to provide deliverance. When Abraham’s descendants rebelled, God chose Moses and Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, David and the prophets to bring them to himself. Then finally, he sent his eternal son from heaven to actually become a man and to show them God himself. Not only did he reveal God, he then paid for their sins with his death in their behalf. Is God unloving to destroy a sinful, rebellious world? Or is he extremely full of grace to bring so many millions to himself to live eternally. The requirement? To simply believe and follow, to allow God to make them into a new creation.

Yes, eternal condemnation is a terrible thing. But when one realizes the depth of our sinfulness, it is God’s grace in providing salvation that is the amazing thing. For all the people who want to judge God for sending people to hell, how many can come up with a better plan to save the world than God has?