Loving God
God is an infinitely loving Creator. Moses wrote, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty” (Exodus 34:6,7). God is merciful, gracious, and loving (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). It is foreign to His nature to inflict pain, punishment and death, upon His creatures.
But at the same time, He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7). If sinners insist on their way, God has no choice but to respect their decisions and leave them to reap the consequences. Sometimes divine justice seems delayed that people may think it will never come (Ecclesiastes 8:11; Zephaniah 1:12), and sinners continue in the evil course hurting themselves and others. But the truth is that judgment in hell will certainly come (Isaiah 28:14, 22, 23).
At the cross, God’s mercy and justice were fully satisfied (Romans 5:9). The innocent Son of God received the punishment for our sins in His body. Christ paid all the price that no one may need to suffer in hell (Luke 9:56). God’s deepest desire is to save humanity, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” (Ezekiel 33:11).
The work of God has always been to save rather than destroy. The work of destroying the wicked in hell fire is so foreign to God’s nature that the Bible calls it His “strange act” (Isaiah 28:21). God’s great heart will ache at the destruction of the wicked. But after the destruction of sin, God’s children will be filled with perfect peace, love and everlasting joy (Isaiah 51:11).
The Purpose of Hell
At the second coming Christ will appear as the King coming to judge His enemies (Revelation 19:11–21). People will see Him acting in a role that is greatly different from the role He had at His first coming. The Lamb of God will appear as “the Lion of the tribe of Juda” (Revelation 5:5, 6). God’s purpose is that hell will destroy the devil, all sin, and sinners forever. Then, the world will be safe for eternity. One sinner, if left on this planet, would be a threat to the peace of God’s good children.
Hell Will Not Be Forever
Once the wicked receive their due punishments, the fire will cease. And “He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time” (Nahum 1:9). “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:3,4). For more on this, check: https://bibleask.org/is-hell-forever/
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
