Fully Devoted: New CreationSample

Why Hell Is More Loving Than You Think … Part 2

Let’s review the big ideas we discussed yesterday:  

The Story: The Bible tells the story of heaven and earth being created by God, pulled apart by sin, and brought back together by Jesus. The focus of the story is not on us avoiding hell and achieving heaven. The focus of the story is on God redeeming and restoring all creation. 

The Picture: Hell is not a torture chamber God installed in His basement. Hell is a graveyard we created outside the city. Gehenna (hell) was a real valley outside the walls of Jerusalem where the Jewish people sacrificed their sons and daughters to false gods. 

Today, we’re going to look at two other important aspects of hell. Hell as a future place and a present power. 

Hell: A Future Place

Gehenna was a valley outside the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was Israel’s capital, the home base for God’s people. In Hebrew, Jerusalem literally means “the shalom of God.” Shalom is the joining together of all creation in peace, flourishing and justice. Jerusalem was built as a stronghold of shalom in the middle of a sin-stained world. Anytime the name of this city was spoken, it was a reminder of God’s good purposes for the world.  

Sin and death are at war with shalom. They want to invade God’s Kingdom and corrupt God’s people. The same people who sacrificed their kids in Gehenna would go back into Jerusalem with their sin-filled hearts and blood-soaked hands. Hell was following them home. It wasn’t long before the idols worshipped in the valley made their way into the city—because sin is never satisfied. Death never says, “Enough.” It always wants more. The hell we created in the valley broke into God’s city. 

There is no place for sin, death, destruction, hate, violence, lust, and greed in God’s Kingdom. For shalom to be present, hell must be removed. This is why sin must be cast out of the city.  

That’s exactly what the Bible tells us is going to take place when Jesus returns. He is going to kick sin, death, and hell out of God’s Kingdom. When the light of God’s new world enters in, the darkness will be pushed out. This is the hope of the gospel. Jesus will come back to finish what He started. His kingdom that is here in part will arrive in full, and when it does, there will be no more room for the powers that have rebelled against God. So where will they go? Outside the city. Into the place the Bible calls hell. 

What is hell? Hell is a place that exists outside of God’s Kingdom. It is the place where everything in rebellion against God will be sent when Jesus comes back and kicks them out. 

Hell: A Present Power

Before hell was unleashed in the valley, it made its home in the hearts of God’s people. Hell is not just a future place, it is also a present power. A power that stands in opposition to God’s Kingdom. 

And this power is alive and well in our world today. Some of its expressions are obvious—slavery, rape, genocide, murder, racism, and oppression—while others hide beneath the surface: greed, lust, anger, hate, and pride.  

We all long for a world where slavery, rape, and genocide are abolished, and where murder, racism, and oppression are exinguished. Jesus does too. But Jesus’ desire for healing doesn’t stop at what’s obvious. He wants to deal with what’s beneath the surface. Because Jesus understands that the hell that exists out there also exists in us. 

James illustrates it this way: 

... the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6 NIV

Just as a small spark can set an entire forest ablaze, so too can something as small as the tongue create immense destruction. And where does the destructive power of the tongue come from? James tells us it is “set on fire by hell.” The power of hell is a spark that exists inside of us and desires to wreak havoc in the world. 

Rather than God, we are the ones who unleash hell. God created a good world, but through our rebellion, we brought sin, death, and hell into the story. 

Hell is a power that stands in opposition to the Kingdom of God. It is a cancer that has made its home in the hearts of humanity. And there is no space in God’s realm for hell to continue to reign. So, in order for us to enter God’s Kingdom, the hell in us has to be removed. We can’t do that on our own by working harder or being better. The cancer of hell can only be removed through the healing power of the gospel. 

When Jesus invites us into His Kingdom, He doesn’t ask, “Have you done enough?” He asks, “Do you want to be made well?” 

What is hell? Hell is a power that wages war on shalom. This power has made its home in the hearts of humanity. Jesus wants to rescue us from this power so we can make our home in the New Jerusalem. 

Journaling Questions   

• What verse stands out to you the most in today’s reading? Write it in your journal.   
• In your own words, describe hell as a place.  
• In your own words, describe hell as a present power.   
• How is God comforting your heart or challenging your assumptions today? Write about it. 

Memory Verse

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20 NIV