Hell No?

Gates of Hell Water pistol

According to my count “hell” or “hades” is mentioned 21 times in the New Testament. The Apostles’ Creed also states that “Christ descended into hell” or at least it used to say that. The newer translation says, “he descended into the dead.” We Lutheran’s don’t like to talk about hell. It is like the elephant in the room.

I am called to preach the good news of Jesus and not the bad news of hell—that is why I won’t spend a lot of time from the pulpit talking about it. However, I need to talk about it sometime. So why not here and why not now?

If you boil down all the Christian theologians you end up falling into essentially two camps: hell exists or hell does not exist. (Yes, I realize this is an oversimplification but I only have so much time!)

Some folks want to dismiss hell either as a metaphor or literary device used to scare people or that hell was completely vanquished on the day Jesus rose from the dead. Either way, hell is non-existent and everyone gets to go to heaven someday… no matter what.

I don’t have all the answers and I am not an after-life scholar but these ideas raise more problems than solve them. If hell were a metaphor, why would Jesus the Son of God need to come and die on the cross to forgive sins that do not have any lasting punishment associated with it? Doesn’t make sense for Jesus to die to save people from nothing but a bad metaphor. It also doesn’t add up if Jesus was misleading people only to scare them into following him. The ends do not justify the means.

On the other hand, if Jesus’ death and resurrection actually closed down hell on the day of resurrection why would Jesus say to the apostles, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (hell) will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19

Or why would Jesus say…

“But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matthew 5:22

 Or even…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”. John 3:16-17

 Why would the world need saving if hell was boarded up on Easter morning? The theological term for this is “Universalism” which is nothing more than Jesus saves everyone whether they believe it or not.

I love the idea of universalism. It makes my job easier. Everyone is saved! Yay God! Let’s just play nice until Jesus comes back!

Look, it is God’s prerogative to do whatever God wants to do. He’s the boss. If at the end God wants to save everyone, He has the ability, the power and the grace to do so. I can’t even speculate on who goes to hell (and neither should you). All we can say confidently is that we know that those who believe in Jesus are going to heaven. Even saying that, we can’t truly know who knows Jesus and who does not… only God knows a person’s heart.

Back to the point, Jesus and those who recorded the words of scripture tell us there is a heaven and there is a hell. The only clear path to heaven is through Jesus. (There are others, but not as easy or certain as this—just ask me sometime.)

God loves humanity. God wants humanity to know Him like a father. God wants the people of the world to be a part of his family so that he can lavish His love upon them. God wants to share His life with us. God went to extreme measures to show us the extent of His love: He sent Jesus.

God does not want people to be without His love and His family (the church)- yet God never forces His will upon us. He wants our love because it is genuine and not coerced. That my friend is free will.

Jesus at the end of his time on earth left us Christians (his family) with the mandate to grow God’s family by telling others of His love and NOT to tell people to go to hell. I know we don’t tell people that! By not saying anything, we might be doing that very thing. Jesus asked us to share the hope that we have (1Peter 3:15). If we have hope in Christ we should joyfully share with those who are hurting, lost, lonely and misguided.

If you are reading this and you are not sure about your “hope in Christ” please contact me, I would love to share Jesus with you and what he has done for me in my life.

God bless you all,
Pr. Ben

 

 

 

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4 thoughts on “Hell No?

  1. Your sermon for Sunday in print!! Thanks. I’m printing it out to share with Erv.

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