Hell – Part 2 – What is it? Where is it?
Hell – yes I said the word “hell.” It’s not a word I like saying, but it’s a reality we can’t ignore. At the very least, we hear the word spoken in phrases like, “Come hell or high water or when hell freezes over.” and “What the hell?”
It wasn’t until I started attending a church that I heard the word spoken in church.
Now you can imagine my surprise when I found out that it wasn’t a word you spoke around the house, but an actual place people went when they died.
If you are joining me for the first time, we already looked at several passages of Scripture about hell in Part 1 of this series.
Today, we continue our review as we dive further into the subject of hell.
Heaven or hell
According to various scriptures from the Bible, hell is a real place. Let’s review our shortlist from last time.
- Hell is separate from heaven
- It’s hot and very uncomfortable
- Weeping and gnashing of teeth occur
- It’s dark
- Worms who never get full
- Everlasting torment
- A vast chasm exists between heaven and hell
- Unquenchable thirst
Those are what the Scriptures have shown us so far.
As someone who believes in the Bible as being the authoritative word of God and absolute truth, I can’t help but be concerned for those who don’t believe hell exists.
When I look at the above list, I imagine those I love dearly who choose not to believe hell is real suffering – suffering immensely for all eternity.
My heart aches for them. I cannot decide for them. Salvation and belief in Jesus Christ is a personal decision they alone must make.
Am I alone in those concerns and feelings? No. Many of you reading this blog feel the same way. How can we not express sadness over a loved one’s future pain?
Hence why it is so crucial for us to share the good news – the gospel.
Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Let me explain the verse to you how I understand it, and maybe this will make more sense.
Let’s use common every day things like flowers and food.
We grow them, eat them, and buy them from the store.
Let’s look at them and see if we can learn anything.
Flowers
- Beautiful
- Aromatic
- Fragile
- Multiple colors
- Petite
- Intricate structure
- Food source for small creatures
- Durable
- Reproductive with and without seeds
- Ability to withstand wind and rain
- Numerous varieties, shapes, sizes
Fruits and veggies
- Beautiful
- Aromatic
- Fragile
- Multiple colors
- Various sizes
- Food source for humans and animals
- Source of vitamins and nutrients
- Reproductive
- Ability to withstand wind and rain
- Numerous varieties, shapes, sizes
What do we see?
We see attributes we have nothing to do with when we genuinely consider their origin.
Where did the first seeds come from? Their origin didn’t come from the seed packing factory or a garden store.
A little funny to illustrate the point
There once was a guy who said he could make the same things and he would prove God had nothing to do with creation.
God said, “Ok, then, show me what you can make.”
The man said, “I will, ” as he reached down to grab some dirt.
God said, “Make your own dirt. You can’t use mine.”
I can grow flowers, fruits, and vegetables today because I have seeds or the part of the plant to start growing more. But where did the first seeds come from?
The Bible says in Genesis 1:11, “Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so.”
What do flowers, fruits, and veggies have to do with hell? It’s simple.
When I think about where fruits and veggies originally started, and the Bible tells me how they came to be, then I must also believe what the Bible says about hell and that such a place exists.
I suppose one could argue and say I can’t prove hell exists.
My response would then be, “And you can’t prove it doesn’t exist.”
My simple thinking tells me fruits and veggies started somewhere. To my knowledge, the only source of their origination I have read is the Bible.
I do not know of anyone anywhere writing about Joe Bob creating a tomato from nothing or Judy making a pumpkin from nothing.
Does anyone know of someone who grew an oak tree from nothing and that tree became thousands of trees that populated the earth?
Or how about weeds? Does anyone know where weeds got their first start? I still don’t understand their purpose except to make us work more. Weeds are such a pain.
Make sense?
I am not willing to take the chance on hell not being real. Besides, I have seen too many things, experienced too many things in my lifetime to deny God exists.
Hell is a real place, and if you have not come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, you will be banned to hell as your final destination vacation that will last an eternity. I care about you enough to tell you the truth and encourage you to investigate this for yourself. (See Romans 1:20)
John 1:12, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
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