Is Hell For Real (Part 2)

We have seen that the Bible makes it clear hell is a real place. This brings up a question. If God is a God of love, how could He make such a terrible place?

The answer is both simple and complex. Besides being a God of love, He is also a God who is holy and just. Because He is holy, no sinful thing can come into His presence.  We see how holy God is in Exodus 33:20 – "But He said, 'You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live.'"

God warned Adam in the Garden of Eden that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die. He didn’t believe God’s word. He ate it and died spiritually and physically. Man still doesn’t believe what God says. This is the reason people do not believe hell exists.

 You might say, "But I am a good person. Surely, God would not send me to hell." The answer to that is, what do you mean by “good”? Most people use their measuring stick to determine if they are good. God’s word is God’s measuring stick.

“As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

By God’s measuring rod all deserve to go to hell, but God is a God of love. He has made a way for all men to escape their deserved fate.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Without Jesus, you go to your just punishment. When you accept Him as your Lord, He becomes your mediator with a holy God. Because of what He has done for us, we are united with a holy God, and we can enter into His rest.