The Reality of Hell

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit - 1 Pt 3:18

In a recent conversation with a dear friend and brother in Christ, we touched on various interpretations of 1 Pt 3:18-22. My point here isn't to debate those interpretations. Instead, I want share some of the thoughts that have sprung up and solidified in my mind since that discussion.

The first thing that the Spirit has anchored even more firmly in my mind is that there is a literal hell and apart from Christ I belong there. This may seem like an orthodox statement yet I find that the truth of it and the reality of it often get separated. Think of the forgiven woman in Luke 7. Do we weep (really weep) over the depth of God's grace and forgiveness in our lives? Read the parable and seriously ask which side of the coin you fall.

Another thing that God has established more strongly in my heart and mind is that there will be real people spending eternity in hell. This isn't a game. This isn't an accounting spreadsheet. In a small way, its like layoffs you hear about in the news, until you're the one doing the laying off (or the one being laid off!) Real people suffering real wrath from a real God. Where are my tears for this? Why am I not ready to go to war over this?

A final reality that Christ has cemented in my thinking about him and my conception of him is that he really did go to hell. Maybe not in the sense some interpretations of 1 Pt 3:18-22 would describe it. But I would ask you to consider this: How offensive is your sin to God? Apart from Christ, how offensive are you to God? Do you and your sin deserve hell? Isn't hell the just and equitable "wages of sin"? If all this is true, how can I possibly receive heaven if my sin and I are not completely paid for? Christ had to experience and endure the full and complete reality of the punishment for sin that I justly deserved in order for God to be able to declare me not guilty and allow me to enter into His presence. Oh where are the tears of joy and amazement and abject poverty of spirit?

As I finish this, a fleeting thought has entered my mind. I really know very little about the depth of the grace and mercy of God. I have absorbed a very small aspect of Christ's love and devotion. I have experienced a very small portion of the Spirit's wisdom and power. Along with Job I cry "Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"

To God Alone be the Glory