There are questions Christians should be prepared to respond to. One of them being, “How could a loving God send someone to hell?” Pastor Greg Laurie helps us answer.
Notes:
Focus verse: Revelation 20
Two questions to be answered in this message:
If God is so loving, why does He send people to Hell?
How can you say that Jesus is the only way to God?
Jesus, the author of grace, spoke about Hell more often, and in a vivid, blood-curdling manner than anyone else, so it must be a crucial truth.
We decide in this life where we will spend the afterlife.
There is a lot of misinformation about Hell.
Know this: Hell is not a party, and the devil does not rule over it.
Jesus spoke more about judgment and Hell than about any other topic.
Read: Revelation 20:11–15
John sees “a great white throne.”
The white throne is called “great” because of its awesome power and ultimate purpose.
There will be no debate over their guilt or innocence.
There will be a prosecutor, but no defender.
There will be an accuser, but no advocate.
What happens to the non-believer when they die right now?
They go to Hades.
Death is no respecter of persons.
“So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.”
Luke 16:22
Prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus, the believer also went to Hades.
Now when believers die, they go to Heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:8
Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Only non-believers will stand at the great white throne judgment.
Anyone who has been exposed to the truth of God's law is held responsible.
Romans 3:19
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no Hell.” ―C.S. Lewis
God does not want people to go to Hell. Our eternal destination is determined by our choice, not His. God does not “send” anyone to Hell.
Hell was not even made for people, but for the devil and his angels. God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.If you reject God’s offer of forgiveness, you have charted your own course. God sent and sacrificed His own Son so you could be forgiven and go to Heaven. How does one get to Heaven? “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 How can Jesus be the only way to Heaven? We would not even know of Heaven if He had not told us.Our sins keep us separated from God. Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, was uniquely qualified to bridge the gap. He was God’s sacrifice for our sin. Jesus said He was the only way to God. Jesus came to die for our sins. The work has already been done by Him who died on the cross for our sins. Hell is therefore a prison in which the doors are first locked from the inside by us, and therefore are locked from the outside by God. Jesus faced Hell for you on the cross 2,000 years ago.Jesus was forsaken that we might be forgiven.Jesus entered the darkness that we might walk in the light.
