This Sunday I am preaching on Hell. In my mind I have the picture of an Evangelist of my youth screaming about God's love and warning us in increased volume and seriousness that if we don't accept that love we are doomed to the fiery pits of Hell. Some responded to that kind of message and honestly, it helped them at times to stay on the "straight and narrow" way. For me, though, it was the loving, forgiving nature of God that I always focused on and I put Hell to the back of my mind because I desired to please God not out of fear, but out of gratitude.
There is a current debate in Evangelical circles on whether Hell exists as a fiery place of eternal punishment. One person said this, "The whole idea of hell is incongruent with the nature of God. God is goodness. God is righteousness. God is peace. God is harmony. God is balance. God is all good things." She went on to say that she couldn't believe in a God who sent people to hell. When I heard this I was saddened by we humans who seek to create God in our own image. It's as if we say, "if God doesn't believe what I believe in, or do things by my definitions, I will not follow Him - and I will create God in my image." Is this the creatures re-creating the creator?
Francis Chan put it this way in a video -(Not an exact quote but very close) "Do we really think we know better than God? That our thoughts on eternity, love justice and judgment are more developed and thought out than God. Maybe God knows something I don't know!"
As we look to the scriptures this Sunday, I pray we can get a picture of what God intended in judgment, heaven and hell.
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