A regular antagonist of mine recently publically made the comment, “A good God wouldn’t send the ones He ‘loves’ to Hell.” He was mocking me and my belief that those who spend their lives rejecting Christ will spend their eternity not with God in Heaven, but without Him in outer darkness as recipients of His judgment.
Many people ask the question, “How can a good and loving God send people to Hell?” It’s a legitimate question and perhaps the most prevalent one as people try to understand God’s role as eternal judge.
Jesus came to earth with a message. He said He came into the world not to condemn us but to save us. His plan for salvation is that we simply believe in Him as God’s Son and acknowledge that He gave His life on a cross of Roman execution to satisfy our sin debt and that we accept His gift of forgiveness and eternal life. He told Nicodemus that whoever believes in Him will not be condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already.
So it isn’t God condemning us, but our stubbornness to not accept the forgiveness that He offers.
Let me illustrate it with this scenario. A person is walking down a certain path. God sees the path the person is on and calls out to them: ”Don’t continue down this path! It will lead to the worst possible destruction! Stop! Turn from this path onto this other one I have made that will lead you to the best possible experience. The destinies of both these paths last forever; there’s no end to the destruction of the one you’re on, and there’s no end to the joy of the one onto which I’m inviting you. I’ve made the path to this wonderful life and I’ve prepared its destiny for you. I’ve done all this simply because I love you and I want you to be with Me, because I’ll be there with you in that life of eternal ecstasy. One thing you must do; I cannot do it for you: you must choose My way. It’s your choice.
The person continues down the path they’re on, rejecting God and His call. As they get closer to the end of the path, they begin to complain against God, “How could a loving God say He loves me, yet send me to eternal destruction!? I would never listen to any message from such a God!”
You see how illogical it is to reject Jesus? All He’s doing is offering everlasting life and deliverance from eternal destruction. If this scenario depicts your attitude toward Jesus and His offer of salvation, I beg you to turn to God and accept His offer. Read John 3 for the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus. Later, in John 19, we read of Nicodemus being involved in the burial of the soon-to-be-risen Savior, indicating that he had chosen to believe in Him. Please do the one thing God cannot do for you: choose Him.
