I have heard people ask the question, “How can a loving God send people to Hell?” The reality is that every human being is already on a path and the real question is not whether God sends anyone somewhere. The real question is whether we will accept His rescue.
The Bible paints a picture of humanity as being lost, without a shepherd, going their own way, and having no regard or thought toward the God who created them. If this is the case, then it makes sense that it is not God who is sending people to Hell, but it is our actions and state of being that have us on a path that leads inevitably to that place of eternal suffering.
In Luke chapter 15, Luke records several parables. The parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son illustrate a God who cares about the lost. God is in the business of rescuing people. 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God desires that every human being be saved.
When we think of Hell, what are we really talking about? What is Hell? In short, Hell is a place, or state of being apart from life on Earth, where the individual is separated from God. Souls in Hell are separated from both God’s presence and His blessing.
A Picture of the Human Condition
Imagine that all of humanity is treading water in a vast sea. Every human being is treading water in an immense ocean that represents our life here on Earth. Sometimes the sea is calm and peaceful. Other times, the waves roll and crash over us. While we never sink to the bottom, we constantly struggle against the sea, its overwhelming waves, and mighty currents.
At times, we try to reach for the sky, the open space above the sea. But we always feel a strong tug on our ankle. Looking beneath the surface, we see a strong cord attached to every person. It is a cord that cannot be removed. It keeps us anchored to what appears to be the bottom of the sea, though the sea is so deep that we cannot see the bottom. All our lives, we feel the pull of the cord. Sometimes we see a distant shoreline, but there is no escaping this endless sea of bound humanity.
Looking around at the masses of people, we notice that occasionally someone will cease struggling. Their life in the raging sea ends. When they stop treading water, the cord pulls them down into the vast abyss of the darkness below. It is as if all their lives, they had been fighting against the pull of the cord, but in the end, the cord won. They are gone.
While we float in this sea of life on Earth, we enjoy the blessings of air, light, and food. Our lives are sustained by the things the world provides. Many strive hard to gather more, while others have no hope of survival. For many, life on the surface looks grand and easy. But all of us feel the pull of the cord, and we all face the inevitable day when the cord will pull us into the depths of darkness. There is no hope of anything beyond this vast sea.
This is the human condition the Bible portrays. But this is not all there is to our human story.
Where Hope Enters the Picture
In this ocean, people are seen with a life ring around them. The life ring supports them in the sea. For those who embrace the ring, their struggle seems less. They seem to have peace when the rest of us are in turmoil and carry burdens we can barely shoulder.
Then we see a ship, much like a Coast Guard cutter. A Man on the boat is throwing life rings into the sea. He cries out, “Believe in Me and take a ring and be saved.” Some people rush to grab a ring so they can cease their struggle against the sea. Some people are more reluctant, while others turn away as if the ring were lead, pulling them to the bottom.
Looking closely at the ring, a name is written in bold, black letters against the white background. “Jesus” is clearly embedded in every ring. When the light is just right, a faintly visible cord can be seen attaching the ring to the boat. It is like a hologram, as it has no physical substance, yet it cannot be denied that it exists.
Jealousy grips the hearts of some people, and they hate those with a ring. Ring holders have been killed out of hatred for the Man in the ship. But every time one of them dies, the cord on their ankle falls away, and the person leaves the sea, never to be seen again.
No one has witnessed a ring being transferred from one person to another. The rings only come from the ship. Though many with a ring try to convince others in the sea that the ring is good and that the Man in the ship cares for them.
All of us, every human alive today, who have ever lived, or whoever will live, are tied to life in this world while we live in the sea. Because we are descended from those who first turned away from God, we are thrust into an existence separated from God, our Creator.
In the illustration, the cord that holds us is the common cord of human sin. There is no way we can live well enough or do enough good to break the hold the cord has on our lives. We are all doomed from birth to an eternity apart from God. It is our earthly inheritance.
Why God Is Not Sending People to Hell
But our Creator is love. God’s love saw our desperate need and moved to provide a way of escape from our destiny of separation from Him. Jesus was born like all the rest of us, except that He was not born from the line of Adam’s sons. His humanity came from His mother, Mary, but the Bible tells us that God Himself formed the embryo in Mary’s womb. Thus, Jesus was not brought forth from the seed of men, but by the will of God.
In His earthly life, Jesus faced all the same temptations and struggles all humans face, but He never turned His back on God. Jesus lived a life guided by the Holy Spirit in perfect obedience to God the Father. Thus, when He was crucified as predicted in Scripture, God’s justice was satisfied, and the way for sin’s forgiveness was open.
But the cord still holds every human hostage, and we are trapped in the world of this raging sea. Our response is needed for us to be united with Christ in God. We must believe in Jesus Christ, turn from the ways of this world, and make it our goal to follow Jesus.
Our bodies will die one day, just like everyone else in this life. There is no cure for the death of our physical body that is bound by the cord to this fallen, broken world. The good news is that for the believer in Christ, when the body dies, the cord has no power over them because of what Jesus did for us through His death on the cross and His resurrection three days later.
So my friend, hear the call, grab a ring, and hang on. Following Jesus is the most challenging and exciting adventure a human being can experience. God is not sending people to Hell. He is trying to rescue us all from the path to Hell we are already traveling. We get to choose to either stay on the path to death onto which we were born, or leave it through faith in Jesus Christ and one day, live for eternity in His presence.
