A dear, deep-thinking soul recently asked me a question, which I paraphrase: "If God is all-loving and perfect, how can there be hell?" God is indeed perfect and all-loving, and His creation was declared good. Now, we see creation is fallen. He created angels, but among them was Lucifer who in turn brought about sin. That was a cost of free will. And there is hell. Can punishment for eternity co-exist with love? Yes is the short-answer, but it is certainly worth pondering.
God is all-loving. However, the world falls short in understanding that because it has a corrupted definition of love. God is also holy. His love wouldn't be pure if He wasn't holy. Love is more than infatuation and feelings as our culture elevates feelings and even calls things "love" that aren't love. Yes, there are feelings with love, but ultimately, love is a choice. And feelings are not the source of truth. Feelings come and go. Remember, the heart is deceitful above all things (see Jeremiah 17:9) and recall the double-minded man being unstable in all his ways (see James 1:8).
Love involves sacrifice. It is costly. Consider loving someone when you are in conflict with that person. Love endures the conflict and loves in spite of the conflict. Sure, there may be working through the conflict and reconciliation. And it might be hard. It will be costly. There's no greater love than laying down your life for another (see John 15:13). That would be hard, sacrificial and costly. Jesus Christ -- fully God and fully man -- demonstrated this.
Part of what makes love valuable is its cost. Part of what makes relationships valuable is their costs. C.S. Lewis, upon losing his wife, said, "The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That's the deal." Free will is a cost of having relationship, of having true love. Yet, man chose to rebel, and sin necessitated Christ's sacrifice on the cross because He loves us. Humanity is fallen and God has made the Way in Christ. The tree in garden was the free will element. Satan deceived and man fell. God's plan was reconciliation through His sacrifice on the cross. Yet, some reject this free gift from Him. You can't have a relationship with someone if you are not in connection with him.
Some of this brings up predestination and free will. Both exist. I believe in God's sovereignty and I also believe that He created us with free will. That is a whole other topic of worthy exploration. A lot of things happen on a cruise ship, but it is destined to arrive at a certain port. Consider foreknowledge or how those in Christ are predestined for Heaven. They are destined to go to glory before (pre-) they arrive in the glorified state upon the end of their earthly life. Again, this is a more robust topic beyond what I write here (and you can learn more about predestination and free will here).
Well, what if God had made us perfect and kept us from sinning? Well, if we all just got along and were set to be a certain way without free will, what's the difference between that and being pre-programmed robots or puppets? You can't have love or relationship in that scenario. Sadly, man chose to rebel. We could fault Adam, but we would not have done any better.
So why hell?
Those who end up in hell have rejected God. He doesn't want any to perish (see 2 Peter 3:9). However, He doesn't force you to be in relationship with Him. To have relationship, you must be with someone. What does eternity with God look like versus what does eternity without God look like? Those outside of relationship with God have His wrath reserved for them (see Romans 1:18). An eternal crime warrants an eternal punishment. Not having consequences for transgressions would be unholy. We can never pay for the consequences of our sins. Only Christ can (and has and His perfect payment applies to us if we accept it). It's like righteous anger or anger if someone mistreats my wife, but think of it on an eternal scale. God is eternal. Though our earthly life is temporary (see 2 Corinthians 4:18), we will exist eternally either with Him or apart from Him. He invites you to be in relationship with Him.
Granted, my mind cannot fully wrap itself around free will and predestination. That's when I let the tensions stand. I realize God is bigger than me. I realize Christ's work satisfies the payment. I realize the Holy Spirit does His work. I realize God makes a Way for me -- a sinner -- to be in relationship with Him -- the Holy Creator. Sometimes, in all of this, I can't do anything (Isn't that the point?) and put up my hands and choose to trust Him. That's faith. And we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).
God knows who is and who isn't going to Heaven because He is outside of time. We like to push our linear time existence onto God as if saying He knows what is coming if He does something. However, by His nature, He already knows all history -- the beginning/end and all between all at once. The "If I do, then ..." is a thinking for those of us bound by time, but God is outside time. His ways are above our ways (see Isaiah 55:8-9).
So, what is one to do with all of this? What if you are not a Christian? What if you have not put your faith in Christ? What if you don't see yourself doing that? There is hope. You are still breathing. Your story isn't over yet. You don't know your future. Nor do I. I can't see your heart. Only God sees hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7). God is merciful. He provided the Way even though we don't deserve it. I still do corrupt things (but I hate them). I am still a sinner, daily in need of Christ. I am sometimes not a very good Christian, but I give myself grace as His grace and forgiveness abound. I desire to do what He wants of me and by His Spirit, sometimes I do, but Romans 7:15-20 (NIV) rings true:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
I wrestle, but I end up in Romans 7:24-25a (NIV):
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord
Ultimately, I end up in Romans 8:37b-39 (NIV) as more than a conqueror in Christ:
[W]e are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Maybe you hate Christians or hate church. Where are you looking? People? A gathering of People? Or are you looking to Christ? Are you looking to God who created you, who loves you and who wants to have a relationship with you? He has made the Way.
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