Turn or Burn

 

 I’d like to write about a word that I may, pardon the phrase, catch hell for. “Hell”, like “Jesus Christ” is a word that we love to use but very rarely consider its origin.

According to the Bible, hell is described as a destination. As to why the go there? That’s what I’d like to focus on. I like hell-fire and brimstone preaching, but that’s not what this column is going to be. I want to be clear. I am not writing this to scare anyone into coming to my Church or praying “the prayer” (probably the subject of my next column). I am writing this to answer a difficult objection that I get a lot concerning the Biblical doctrine of hell. I do a lot of open-air preaching on the UW campus. I also engage in one to one conversations with students about Jesus and the Gospel. This is the objection I hear: “Sam, it doesn’t seem fair that if I sin just one time, I deserve to be in hell for all eternity”.

Actually, this objection makes sense, especially if we look at hell as a place of punishment; as if hell is an eternal beat down for all the sins you’ve committed. Don’t get me wrong, hell is real and people go there, but what is the purpose of this place? Hell is described by Jesus, James, John and Peter as a place of tormenting heat. The lake of fire is where people go after final judgment. Not pleasant. I in no way want to diminish the Biblical characteristics of this place, but I would like all of us to consider why God created hell. Matt 25:31-46 is where Jesus gives us more understanding of the purpose of hell and a truth which I believe answers this common objection soundly.

Here the goats and the sheep are representations of two kinds of people. The two groups are separated on the right and left. The sheep are told to come into the kingdom “prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (34). As to why they go in, Jesus says that whenever he was thirsty, in prison, naked, sick, a stranger, etc. these people ministered to him, him being any fellow Saint. He then tells the goats to depart into eternal fire “prepared for the devil and his angels” (41). As to why they go in, Jesus says that whenever he was in the conditions mentioned above, these types of people refused to minister to him, him being event the least of the saints. The priorities of life did not include Jesus.

Hell was made by Jesus (John 1:3). He prepared it for a specific type of people. He also prepared heaven for a specific type of people. People don’t go to hell because they’re paying for their sin. They go because they’re the type of people that are going to a place prepared for them. They’re the type of person that despite Jesus coming to earth, living a perfect life, fulfilling multiple prophecies, doing various miracles, being crucified to appease a holy God under His wrath that we alone deserve, and rising from the dead, despite all that, they still believe that this world is about them. Are you a goat? Think about this. What do you want most in this world? Is it a person, a possession, respect, money, fame? Why do you want that? Is it because this is the thing that will bring you fulfillment? Is that what living is about? If this is true than you will undoubtedly be going to a place prepared by the one who actually deserves your life.

If Jesus is just a prophet with good things to say, if he is the founder of a religion you show up to a building for in hopes to get what you want in this world, you are going to a place prepared by Jesus just for you. It’s just not the place you were hoping for. But trust me, when you get there you’ll agree that you’d rather be nowhere else. If you don’t want Jesus now, why would you want him then? So that’s it isn’t it? People going to heaven want Jesus to be happy. People going to hell want to be happy in and of themselves. If this is you. It's time to respond to Jesus' invitation. Repent and ask the Lord to transform you into the type of person that gets joy from pleasing their Maker.