Wednesday Bible Study: Hell part 1

 

A couple weeks ago, we looked at the almost-heaven set up of the Millenium.  Now, I want to sart looking at the other side of the coin.

I know there are a few statements that will come with this, starting with, "Is there really such a place as Hell?" Well, Jesus in the Gospels talked about it more than He did of Heaven- at least 70 times He referred to "Gehenna", "the Outer Darkness", and other names for the same thing.  Another is, "Is there really a Devil?"  Not only did Jesus quote Scripture TO Satan, but think on this- almost every religion has some form of ultimate evil.  Iblis in Islam, Ahriman in Zoroastrianism, Mara in Buddhism, the Rakshasas in Hinduism.  If you believe in God, you believe in a Satan.  Of course, "our" Satan is described throughout the Bible, with his 'origin story' being told in Ezekiel 28:12-19.

Perhaps the most problematic question is, "How can a loving God condemn people to Hell, or even make such a place?"  Here's your answer.  If you believe that there is a Devil, Satan, you know what he has done through the ages.  From the first murder of Abel, to the monstrous genocides of men like Tamerlane, Stalin, Hitler, and Mao, to the rapes performed on little children by pedophiles, every one of these things had a beginning in the imaginings of Satan.  So you say to yourself, "This is a beast that warrants a punishment beyond time, a pain beyond comprehension."  Now here is the thing- every being on earth is given a choice by a loving God who won't force the choice on anyone- choose him, or follow Satan.  And if you choose to follow Satan, You follow him where he goes.  Yes, the staggering punishment is meant for the beast that brought us into every sin- But you followed him there.

So very quickly, we have established there is a Hell, there is a Satan, and why a Loving God made both.  Wait a minute, "why he made BOTH?"  Yes, because of LOVE.

Do you love a robot?  A being that has no choice but to do what you want it to?  (Perhaps an "inflatable sex partner" would be a better analogy, but...)  Wouldn't you rather have someone to love who chooses to love you back?  Of course you would, if you're not a sociopath.  SO WOULD GOD.  So every being He ever made was given that choice.  And the grandest being He ever made, made the wrong choice...

Eze 28:12  “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 

Eze 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 

Eze 28:14  You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 

Eze 28:15  You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 

...and now, the potential for everyone to make the wrong choice was there.  Remember, I said, "potential."  No one forced Adam to sin...

Gen 3:5  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

Gen 3:6  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 

If Adam and Eve had made the right choice, they (and prospectively, we) would have been immortal, unable to age or die, always pleasing to Our Lord.  But another thing to remember- Adam WAS all those things.  He was, quite simply, the best of us.  If he fell, we would have also, eventually.

So why make us so weak?  God is like us in that He wants to be WANTED, He wants to be NEEDED.  Look again at the passage from Ezekiel.  Lucifer (the devil's name at first) was created PERFECT.  Perfection became a reason, in his mind, NOT to need God.  We were made weak so Christ could show his strength IN us.  Lack of perfection should have driven us TO God...  but thanks to Satan's lies, we sought perfection (look at Genesis 3:5 again) instead.

God doesn't mind if we're weak.  He minds that He is NEEDED.