A friend of mine asked the other day, “What ever happened to hell?” Once upon a time churches talked about the Lake of Fire, the Torments, Hades, Sheol, Gehenna to warn people of the danger of not trusting in Jesus. It’s rarely preached any longer, and it seems people have developed a new theology around a God so loving that Hell isn’t part of the picture. Maybe it’s time to re-kindle the flames of discussion on this hot topic.

A few years ago Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly said that, “God’s not going to send anyone to hell.” That’s a nice idea, but is it Biblical?

We’ve spent the last two weeks looking at three aspects of God’s character that ought to be reflected in our own. One of those attributes of God is Justice. Justice demands punishment, and God’s holiness requires the destruction of sin. Out of love Jesus came and died and mercifully created a way for all mankind to escape the torment of eternal suffering that awaits all who are condemned to Hell. His sacrifice satisfies his just and holy nature, so in effect, it is true that God doesn’t send anyone to Hell – instead some choose Hell rather than Jesus. So what is Hell like?

Surely we’ve all heard it said by someone before, “Oh I guess I’ll just go to hell and party with all my friends.” I told one gentleman who said such to me, “You’ve got the wrong address on that party.” To be sure, no one parties in Hell. It is described as a lake of fire (Revelation 20.14-.15), as a place of torment (Luke 16.27) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13.28) for all eternity (Daniel 12.2). Even for those who do not believe, if there is any chance that Hell is real, wouldn’t you want to do everything in your power to assure you weren’t going to end up there?

Waiting to the end to find out is too late. Hebrews 9.27 tells us, “…people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment…” Clearly we must make a decision before we die, a decision made before we can see it for ourselves, a decision made by faith.

And what is this faith-based decision? It’s not to believe in an elderly, near-sighted God who is too loving of all his children to discipline them and send them to a place of eternal reckoning. No, it is faith in the God who created all things, who is so serious about our sin that he died in our place so we wouldn’t have to die the second death and spend eternity separated from him. He is the God described in Daniel and Revelation as a mighty warrior who will return to conquer evil once for all and to cast all that is wicked into everlasting fire. He is the God of strong love and holiness. He is the only God worthy of our trust and obedience.

What ever happened to Hell? Oh it’s still there and it’s just as terrible as ever, even if we chose to not speak its name.