Hell Part 2

Did God create Hell? Well, according to last week's suppositions, He didn't have to. But I think we need to dig into this. We already established the neutral ground of Hell, aside from justice, now let's look at the justice implications of hell

You have all probably heard this one. Say someone killed a member of your family and they are brought before a judge. They say, well, I have done a lot of good stuff, so that should cancel out this bad. Should a judge just let them go? Not a good judge. Why? Because justice doesn't work that way - and good does not cancel out bad. They are separate, measured on completely different scales. They don't even talk to each other, so to speak. (Yes, the story is from Courageous, in case you are wondering.)

Let's say the murderer said, well, ain't that arrogant of you to make me follow your laws? They made me mad, so according to my laws, I should kill them. We all know that is ridiculous, but people do that to God often enough. They get mad at him for implementing His laws, forgetting that 1)  He may know more, 2) He makes the rules, He has the rights. Sure, that sounds tough, but it's the truth, and isn't it great? He has our best in mind, so we ought to be grateful, especially since we humans have the tendency to screw everything up. (That was a side track just to show that it isn't arrogant to have one set of rules, briefly.)

Think about the thing that makes you angriest. Is it a child being abused? A brothel? Adultery? Divorce? Murder? Theft? Heart-break? God sees everything we do and everything it causes. He knows the affects of our tiniest deviation of His plan and He give us grace and loves us so much He sent His son down to die none the less. These things make Him furious, too, but He wants us to escape His fury. What right does anyone have to say, I don't care, I don't want Jesus, I want you to see all that I am, all my sins and flaws, and let me in anyway. God is a just God, and even as we get angry over the pains we see caused by others, God also gets angry and wants justice, yet, still He gives a way of mercy. It's an open door and everyone has the choice.

In conclusion, Hell at it's bases is the absence of God, made horrible by the lack of God's presence, a built in need for God's presence - something we always have on Earth no matter how little. Hell is also a place of justice without mercy where people who did not CHOOSE mercy - because they could have - are sent to carry the burden of justice alone, even though Jesus offered to carry it for them. Therefore, what is infuriating about Hell at all? It's sad, but not infuriating or a slander on God's character.

I do not know if God Himself created Hell or if it just the "anti-matter" of Heaven, but it isn't so offensive now.