Jesus & HellSample

Is hell real?

In 1741, Jonathan Edwards, pastor and future president of Princeton, preached a sermon about hell. Entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” his message had an explosive impact on the American colonies. Two hundred and seventy years later, in 2011, another famous American pastor, Rob Bell, wrote a book about hell. Entitled Love Wins, his message claimed that hell doesn’t exist, that God is a loving God, not an angry one, and that hell must be a human invention.

It appears that Americans, more and more, are less persuaded by Edwards’ sermon and more influenced by Bell’s book. The concept of hell feels unfair and exaggerated, perhaps invented by the church to control sincere people of faith.

But what did Jesus say? According to Jesus, does hell exist? If so, what is it like, who goes there, and why? And how can we escape it? Believe it or not, Jesus had a lot to say about hell, which I want to share with you in the upcoming devotions. Eighty-five percent of the times that hell appears in the Bible, it is a direct quote from the lips of Jesus.

There are lots of ideas, opinions, and conjectures about hell. Let’s listen to the Lord who came down from heaven, the One who knows the whole truth about hell. “Whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (John 12:50).