These past 2 weeks have been just unbelievably confusing and difficult, yet so sweet and eye-opening at the same time.
A couple of my friends have been struggling with the all-too-popular dilemma of "How can I follow a God who is inherently 'unloving' enough to send people to Hell?" That's a great question. One that many people are unable to answer, and even more people have a hard time grasping. If God was an all-around "nice guy" that just let everyone into Heaven maybe more people would follow Him...
But what kind of God would you be serving if that were the case?
See the thing is, you have to imagine what life would be like if God were to just let everyone into Heaven. You would be a robot, unable to make your own decisions or control your own thoughts because God would have to force you to choose Jesus. He would have to force you to believe in Him, love Him, and serve Him. What kind of Creator would that be? An unfair and unloving one.
God is a just God. There are two good definitions for the word "just". One is "deserved, as a sentence, punishment, or reward." The first truth we have to grasp is that we are sinners, Every single stinkin' one of us. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. You know what our deserved sentence or punishment should be? You got it! DING DING DING... hell. We deserve hell. Yet, Jesus first of all came to Earth for us. Earth is GROSS. We live in a messed up, crazy, dirty, rotten world that is full of destruction, pain, and despair. Jesus was doin' just fine up in Heaven chillin with God. But He came DOWN HERE to save us. Then He died one of the most painful deaths you could ever die, and He didn't even deserve it because He did absolutely nothing wrong.
So God is also "guided by truth, justice, and fairness" (second definition for just). Contrary to what many people believe, God is fair. We deserve hell, but He made a way so we could be saved from that. If we choose to believe in Him and accept Jesus as our Savior, then we no longer are given the penalty of going to hell. We now receive the reward of Heaven and living eternally with our loving Creator.
I know it's a hard truth to grasp. I have been a Christ-follower for almost 8 years now and I still get upset with God sometimes. That is why I've had a rough time these past 2 weeks. It's so hard to grasp that the God who is so loving and full of grace and mercy is also the God who allows people to go to hell, especially people who we are closest to.
But the thing is, hell is a reality. And the first thing you need to worry about is yourself. You can go to God and ask Him the hard questions, like this issue I've brought up. You can yell at Him and question Him. He can take it. But running away from Him because you think He's mean and unloving is so stupid. You need to get to know Jesus first, then you won't have to worry about hell. Then you can pray for your friends to know Jesus so they don't have to worry about hell either.
Think about it.
