I have been sitting on writing this blog series for a really long time. Safe to say talking about the realities of an after life in hell is not a sexy topic to talk about. In fact, I guess what people have done in the past is talking about hell to try to scare people into salvation and choosing Jesus. My heart behind this blog post series is to let you know about what the Bible says about hell, not to scare you or force religion on you… this blog series is merely a resource so you can make an informed decision about where your soul goes.
To put it like this…. If you knew that behind a door was a trap and one of your friends was about to walk into that trap, would you let them go and not warn them about the trap? All my blog posts thus far are about how to live your best life on Earth, but what does all that matter if ultimately we aren’t all spending forever in Heaven, because I want to see everyone there, my work friends, my neighbours. Jesus said it like this “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”(Mark 8:36). So let’s get into this, please stay with me these next few weeks and have an open heart.
What and why is Hell?
Lucifer (now Satan, the devil) was once a high ranking anointed angel, he was described as the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (Ezekiel 28:12). But Lucifer succumbed to pride and wanted to overthrow God so essentially God threw him and his followers out of Heaven. Hell was created for Lucifer and all the other fallen angels who followed him in his rebellion against God as punishment for them (Matthew 25:41). Hell is not a place for human beings. Since his fall, it has been his sole job to take you away from relationship with God. We first see this in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve in Genesis, Satan knew that if he could get them to eat the fruit, sin would enter the world… it is sin that God hates and separates humans from God and an eternity with Him in heaven.
Queue Jesus..
God didn’t want Heaven without you so… “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus took the punishment of sin for you and I and then after that took the keys back from Lucifer over sin, death and the grave (Revelation 1:18) so that we are not condemned to an eternity without God (in Hell). Thankfully, we can call on the name of Jesus, and if we believe He is the son of God and died for our sins we get our name written in the lambs book of life and have our ticket to heaven. The only criteria is to believe. Importantly, the only way to God, and to get to Heaven is by believing in Jesus (John 14:6).
Free Will
God will knock at the door of your heart and if you choose to let him in, He will come in (Revelation 3:20). Consider this blog as one of the ways God may be trying to get your attention. God has given us all a choice, you can believe or not, but the Bible makes it clear… “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We are all born sinners so that’s why it is important that at some point in our lives we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Importantly, Hell is not God’s plan for you, that’s why He sent Jesus to redeem each and every one of us for He has prepared a place that is inconceivably beautiful – Heaven – “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
So what’s Hell really like?
The media will lie to you and paint hell as a glamorous or liveable place. It is far from it. The Bible describes Hell as a place of torment, Jesus spoke about a rich man who died and went to Hell and the man says he is in torment and in flames. The man even asked for a drop of water to cool his tongue – read Luke 16:22-25. Taking this story alone, this tells us that Hell is burning hot so much so that a man would beg for a drop of water, a place of torture and torment and also isolation. Matthew 25:30 describes Hell as a place of darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This torment is forever, Revelation 14:11 says so. It also says that in Hell there is no rest, that this torment is day and night…total lack of hope that this unbearable place will be your place for eternity.
To wrap up this part, I really wanted to set some context and background before going into more details about Hell and Heaven and I hope this blog has done that. Again, please know my heart, I wouldn’t be a good disciple of Christ Jesus if I didn’t tell y’all about this stuff. I just wanna see you all in Heaven where we can party fo’eva in paradise. I hope to see you next week for Part Two, where we’ll be going into more details about Hell specifically and then Part Three.. Heaven.
For those who do want to give their heart to Jesus here is prayer to say below.
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Saviour and decide to live for and with you.
Comment, email, DM me – I always love to hear from you.
Love,
Dom xx
