But thinking about hell tells you a lot about God.
- he is holy.
- he means what he says (promises to condemn sin and make retribution for wrongs)
- he hates sin (hell shows how bad sin is to God. Hell is a terrible, awful, fearful... and it's the punishment that fits the crime. Since sin is eternally offensive to God, hell is an eternal punishment.)
- he is loving, in wanting to punish the wrongdoers who have hurt his people
- he is loving, so it's appropriate that he is angry at his children who have gone bad. (The more a father loves his children, the more he hates in him the drunkard, the abuser, the gambler.)
- he's really restraint in not "giving it to us" as soon as we deserve it.
- he's really generous in giving people on this death row life, relationships, taste buds, sunshine, opportunities, music, fun.
- he is really gracious in offering us an out when we really deserve something so terrible.
- his graciously and sternly warns people who are just rolling down the hill towards hell.
- he has graciously given us time to turn back to him in this life.
- his son took our punishment for us (still not exactly sure how this works)
- what Jesus bore on the cross for us was wrath, and such great wrath for the sins of the whole world (Rev 14). He drank the cup of wrath - not just one person's share, but everyone's.
- he loves and welcomes the repentant into his family when they really deserve hell!
In the Scriptures we find a God who dignifies our lives by caring enough to be angry at our rebellion and destrive choices, yet meets our desperate need with kindness and compassion. God will not allow evil to triumph...
~ from Gibbo's chapter, "Lactantius on Anger" from Consolations of Theology, 2008.
Isn't our Father gracious, good, more than fair, loving, powerful, amazing?? Isn't his gospel glorious?? Isn't his Son ... ?!?!?!?!
Two friends said, "If people really understood how much God loves them and the lengths he'll go to to have them, they'd be Christian".
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