“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done…The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Rev 20:12-15
I would like to attempt to explain something that is I know many find very difficult to understand: why a good and loving God sends people to hell. This post will not make sense unless you’ve read my previous post. Therefore, you should prolly read that before proceeding. Ultimately, God cares for us and values our affection, therefore He is Jealous. He wants our heart, and He is not willing to share first place. First, we must recognize that God does go to extremes to show His love for us. His love goes against nature - when someone betrays you, do you die for them? Do you go to them to attempt reconciliation without them coming to you first? Well, God did. He went to extremes in His love and wants reconciliation, it is His heart.
But have you ever loved someone who rejects you? Were you okay with them rejecting you? Rejection that is temporary is one thing. Rejection that is persistent and enduring is quite another. Reject implies a level of dislike or hatred - it sends a message to that person about their worth and value to you. Which is why many take offense at rejection.
Is God so wrong not to tolerate enduring rejection? We may do sweet things for someone amid our ooey-gooey feelings for them, but we want them to love us back. When they reject us and choose not to love us back, they are not entitled to have us or to use us. If we don’t value ourselves, we may let that person walk all over our love or we may throw ourselves at them in desperation. But God knows His value, and He will not devalue Himself by letting us walk all over His love. Yes, God is gentle, but He is not soft.
God is not promiscuous or licentious. He will not just let us use Him. Heaven will be different from earth; it is all of His love unleashed. In heaven, there is total and unrestrained relational intimacy with God. God expects a commitment before letting us have total intimacy with Him in eternity, where the pleasure from that intimacy will be ever-increasing. God won’t let us marry Him for his money, so to speak.
This should not be so hard for people to believe. Any human entering into a marriage relationship expects a commitment and expects their love to be returned; they don’t expect that person to use them or commit adultery. If we value ourselves, we will not surrender all of ourselves and the ecstasies of our love to someone who rejects us and who is not committed to us. If someone wants us, all of us, the price is commitment and to be loved. We don’t want just a romantic relationship. We are crying out for marriage, we long for a sacred relationship marked by commitment, not just romantic love. We are not content just dating.
Once that commitment is made and the person returns our love, nothing can hold back the outpouring of our love; the barricade bursts, lavishing upon them all of our love. God expects a commitment and for His love to be returned. He is plently willing to lavish His unrestrained love on us, but first He wants our hearts. God knows His own worth and value; He will not devalue Himself by letting those have made no commitment enjoy all of Him. He does not discriminate and require us to meet special qualifications to experience His grace and love; He has no conditions save accepting Him and His love and returning His love. He wants your devotion and affection. Because He values Himself, He will settle for no less.
Though God is no longer fully manifested in this world since the Fall, He has not completely abandoned this world. Among all the bad in this world, there is still some presence of goodness and mercy. The sun still shines. Flora and fauna fill the earth with life and beauty. You can go out to eat or buy a cup of coffee from starbucks. There are all different kinds of relationships to enjoy. We can still give and receive love.
Yes, if God had truly abandoned this world, none of that would be here because He would remove His hand of blessing and everything would fall apart. Take all that is good away and what happens? Evil is all that exists. Evil runs rampant. For example, what would happen if water became a scarce source? Do you think the entire world would still hold hands and sing coombaya? No, we’d be at war over that source of water. In a way, God’s hand is restraining the full expression of evil even now by what good we do have in this world.
God is the source of all good things. Other than God, anything good we have now is part of this temporal world, ie the sun or starbucks. One day the temporal world will end, whether by our exit or the end of the world itself, and we cannot take with us those good temporal things we enjoy. We cannot take the sun, flowers, or food with us. Therefore, only what is nonphysical will not perish: God and human souls. But if you do not have God then you no longer have anything left that is good. It’s black and white: His goodness is either fully manifested or completely absent. Hell will be separation from God and, therefore, the absence of all good, as nothing temporal and earthly will still exist to bring us enjoyment. And what does that leave you with? Evil. In short, evil runs rampant where there is separation from God. Heaven is the fullness of God and therefore the fullness of good. Hell then is opposite in every way.
