So what is hell like? Can we say it's bloody? or can we say it's hot as hell, cold as hell, or funny as hell? to be honest, hot is probably an understatement, would describe it as... burning hot or scorching, too bad English doesn't have a word for so hot till you burn and thirst and are in pain. However I doubt hell is cold or funny, in fact it's not funny at all, it can in fact be scary, so a few of our terms, well I would cast as invalid. Why would I say that? well let's have a look at what Jesus said about hell in his parable of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus.
"19 Jesus said, “There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes and lived in luxury every day. 20 And a very poor man named Lazarus, whose body was covered with sores, was laid at the rich man’s gate. 21 He wanted to eat only the small pieces of food that fell from the rich man’s table. And the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 Later, Lazarus died, and the angels carried him to the arms of Abraham. The rich man died, too, and was buried. 23 In the place of the dead, he was in much pain. The rich man saw Abraham far away with Lazarus at his side. 24 He called, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire!’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember when you were alive you had the good things in life, but bad things happened to Lazarus. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. 26 Besides, there is a big pit between you and us, so no one can cross over to you, and no one can leave there and come here.’ 27 The rich man said, ‘Father, then please send Lazarus to my father’s house. 28 I have five brothers, and Lazarus could warn them so that they will not come to this place of pain.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets; let them learn from them.’ 30 The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham! If someone goes to them from the dead, they would believe and change their hearts and lives.’ 31 But Abraham said to him, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not listen to someone who comes back from the dead.’” - Luke 16:19-31
Hell my friend is by far funny, in fact, some beliefs of ruling in hell with the devil can be discarded, as hell was initially created for the devil's punishment in the final days. So suffering with the devil would be a more accurate term. But that's not what I want to dive into today. I wanted to highlight a more important part of this story about the rich man, you see this rich man had all he wanted when he was alive, and dressed lavishly, not caring about the poor man that sat at his door everyday, eating food that dropped from the table like a dog. So you can imagine his attitude in life, all is well, and I don't give a rat about others... Now something happened when he was in the 'place of the dead'. Through his suffering he did not say, I wish my family would come here with me, then they will suffer with me together and I would be comforted... NO! he begged that his family would be saved from this suffering, that's the fact of it, that's HOW BAD it is, but not even a man raised from the dead can convince us who are here today to believe. It's true don't you think? if a man who came out from the dead today, told you and showed you his death certificate from the doctors, that hell ain't a fun place, and that it wasn't meant for any of us, but only to return to God, and his loving arms, how many of us would believe it?
Thing is there is an urgency, because the moment Christ returns, we don't have a graceful way to enter heaven no more, it'll be harder and difficult, almost impossible. Not because God is not loving, if he was not loving He would not of sent Christ down. But because He is Holy, and goes according to the laws and cannot twist it and turn it. I'll show you a scripture to prove he does not wish for people to perish:
"23 I do not really want the wicked to die, says the Lord God. I want them to stop their bad ways and live." - Ezekiel 18:23
The fact of the matter is, He would wish that we turn from our wicked ways and live instead of having to perish, imagine being a judge of your own child. He murdered a person , but because you are a judge as well as a father, you would wish he would turn his ways and live, but the fact he killed someone, you could not let him off the hook, so you send him to jail, hoping he will turn his ways, but if he comes back out and murders another and the cycle goes on and on, he'll need to have a greater punishment. Same way with God... Difference is God sent His son Jesus Christ to die for us, as a way to erase the crimes we have committed form our plate, no matter how much good we do, if we still commit a crime, it's a crime. But in our place, He took the ultimate punishment on the cross to death, with no sin(crimes) he died for us:
"8 But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners." - Romans 5:8
What significance does that bring, that if we believe in Him we would be saved, we can return to where we are meant to be instead of joining the devil in where he is meant to go:
"6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. " - John 14:6
and there isn't such thing as balancing out good with bad, getting away with good behaviour. There is only one way and that is through Christ, His exchange on the cross, His righteousness clothed on us, while he took our sins on him. He said:
"28 “Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29 Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. 30 The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light.”" - Matthew 11:28-30
So don't think that it's a boring life and hard one, but if you truly accept what He gives you, it's a lot lighter than what the world is giving you. Many are the promises of God, but only one way to Him now.. So I beg and ask that you would make the decision to come back to where we all belong. Just asking Christ to be our Lord and saviour and thanking him that he took our sins away. amen.
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