by Richard Ellis

Created on: October 30, 2009   Last Updated: November 17, 2009

There can be no stronger testimony for God's love for us than Jesus' own words to Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16, 17) "For God so loved the world...that whosoever believeth in him should not perish" means everybody, God loves everybody.

Acceptance of God through Jesus Christ is all that is required for us to gain eternal life and avoid perishing in hell. It is a simple commandment, but seemingly so difficult for some to grasp.

A loving God will not, in fact, cannot send anyone to hell; neither can He make anyone do His will or act against their own will. To do so would defeat the reason for His giving us free-will in the first place. We are to love and obey Him volitionally. Although He requires certain behavior of us, it is against God's nature to make us do anything. Every act of the will on our part is our choice and, as such, carries with it the responsibility and consequences of those actions. By rejecting God one condemns one's self to hell.

Jesus goes on to say: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] And this is the condemnation, that light [Jesus] is come into the world, and men loved darkness [sin] rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:18-19) God demands our love and obedience; in return He offers eternal life.

Being righteous and just, God cannot abide sin and rebellion in His creation. Steadfast refusal to return His love and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is one's own choice and will result in eternal separation from God. God never intended that anyone should go to hell; hell was created for Satan and his angels (demons), not mankind.

Just as a parent will continue to love a wayward child, he or she knows that the child must suffer the consequences of rebellion, no matter how much it breaks the parent's heart. So it is with God the Father: it breaks His heart to see one of His children suffer for their deliberate disobedience. However, having given us free will to choose, God can not force anyone to do right nor can He save them against their will. God is too compassionate to send anyone to hell; He will give every opportunity to turn to Him for salvation, for He is also a long-suffering and forgiving God. However, after one's physical death there is no second chance and the condemnation one suffers is only brought on by one's own stiff-necked refusal to accept God's love and grace.

In the final judgement of the world, the place which most people think of as hell will be thrown into the everlasting lake of fire and those who rejected God will spend an eternity of torment there with Satan and his followers. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:14-15)

God sends no one to hell; one makes that journey on his or her own ticket, for as much as God is love, God is also just in His judgements.

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