The world is full of horrible things, and God is in heaven. A common question is this one: Does God genuinely care about us? Is God’s love for us truly genuine? Yes, and hell serves as evidence for the answer.
It’s easy to say that you love people
It’s easy to say that you love people, but in the Bible this is proven more by what you do than what you say. I say I believe, but do I act as though I trust God (James 2:14-26)? I say I love God, but do I love other Christians and obey what he says (e.g. 1 John 4:20-5:2)? This is important, because a lot of people mistake “love” for simply “being nice.” If someone hurt my son and I wasn’t angry about that, people would question whether I was a father who really loved my little boy. Obviously I would try to forgive them, but forgiveness is overcoming my anger. Not feeling anger at all is simply cold and indifferent. That is the difference between “love” and simply “being nice.” When I see wrong in the world, love is angry and does something about it. “Niceness” walks by, wants to please, and is too scared to get involved. This is one of the lessons of Luke 10:29-37: the surprise of the parable is that the “nice” characters weren’t truly loving.
God is angry about sin
People go to hell to face God’s wrath for their transgressions. God is furious because He is a passionate lover—love cannot exist apart from anger.
Consider a wife who is being mistreated by her husband. God is enraged with her husband because He genuinely loves her. If a man were dismissed because on the color of his skin, God would be furious with his employer because He genuinely loves him. Consider a scenario in which a minister inappropriately touches a child. God would be upset with the minister because He genuinely loves the child.
When terrible atrocities occur in the world and no one seems to care, doesn’t it feel wrong?
God is upset with us because of the way we treat one other because He truly loves and cares about us. Hell is evidence that God is concerned about sin. The Bible compares God’s punishment on countries and the curses of the law to [hell, which is God’s final and eternal judgment]. God is concerned about the weak, the impoverished, and the defenseless, as the curses of the law demonstrate.
There are four purposes for God’s judgment, and these are also applicable to hell.
1. Hell brings justice
As we’ve seen, God is enraged by sin because He loves us. God temporarily withholds his wrath in order to give us a chance to repent and turn back to him, but ultimately, God is righteous. Sin needs to be punished by Him.
2. Hell corrects the unrighteous
God frequently declares that He judges the nations in order for them to understand that “I am the Lord.” Despite frequently learning this lesson, Pharaoh would not let God’s people to leave (Exodus 7–11). “Grinching their teeth” is how Jesus portrayed those who are in hell (Matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28). Similar to Pharaoh, this is an act of disobedience and resistance against God. God is using pain in hell to educate individuals that “I am the Lord,” a lesson they will remember for all of eternity.
3. Hell deters rebellion
Hell is where we all belong, yet Jesus went through it while hanging on the cross in order to save those who put their faith in him. Hell serves as a warning to Christians about the repercussions of their sin in order to keep us from straying.
4. Hell protects God’s people
This world has terrible things happening to it because sin exists. Sin is disobedience to God. God must drive all rebellion from his presence in order to be with his people, for He is creating a brand-new world (cf. Ezekiel 28:24; 2 Thessalonians 1:6–9; Revelation 20:11–21:8). The mistreated wife should not worry: she will be protected from her abusive husband and he will not be in paradise if he never repents.
Hell is what we all deserve. God will open books at the last judgment that contain all of our deeds as well as a different “book of life” that contains a list of everyone who has put their faith in Jesus (Revelation 20:12–14). Is that second book authored with your name? Do you have faith in Jesus? Then hell will be avoided by you!
The proof that God loves us is Hell. Because He is concerned about the poor and helpless, He gets enraged by wickedness. He actually loved us so deeply that He went through hell on our behalf, saving us the trouble. Will you put your faith in Jesus and embrace His love?
Hell is evidence that God loves you and does not want you to spend eternity there.
