Following Jesus Isn't About Avoiding Hell
I went on a journey to understand hell in much greater depth because of my daughter. So much of what she understands about salvation is centered on her understanding of hell. In her words, she “accepted Jesus” because she didn’t want to go to hell. As her father, I want her to follow Jesus more than anything in this world, but I want her to follow Christ and rest in his great love for her rather than be forced into submission by the fires of hell. Isn't this six of one, half dozen of the other? Not for a moment.
My 10-year-old daughter is, much like her father, a skeptic at heart. She is especially skeptical of spiritual things. If she was going to place her faith in Christ, she had to know everything about the Bible first. The entire Bible. She wasn’t about to make a campfire conversion after the fourth verse of “Just as I Am” picked slowly on a guitar while Morgan Freeman invites her to come forward for the eleventh time. If she was going to make this monumental decision, she was going to know what she was committing to.
God Desires to Save Us
I mentioned that all that she needs to understand is the basics. You know, the Romans Road to Salvation: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10 ESV. That should do it. No? How about Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV? That ought to seal the deal. Nope. Really? Okay then. Time to go deep. Let's try Matthew 11:28 ESV, John 10:10 ESV, 1 Peter 5:8 ESV, 2 Peter 3:9 ESV, and of course 1 Peter 2:9 ESV.
Aargh! Honey, all you really need is Acts 16:31 ESV, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved!”
None of these verses or brilliantly-placed arguments from her pastor/father satisfied her heart. Even her younger brother got in on the discussion. He quite confidently said, “Romans 3:23. All have sinned. What more do you need?!"
The verse that struck her heart? John 3:16. Of course.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV).
God's Love and Eternity
It didn’t strike her heart like I had thought, however. She didn’t focus on 16a, "For God so loved the world," as most of us do. She focused on 16c, “should not perish.” She most certainly did not want to perish. She prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior that night.
Whenever we talk about her conversion, she tells me that she made the commitment because she didn’t want to go to hell. I explain to her that it can be one of the factors, but it’s important to understand John 3:16 in light of John 3:17.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17 ESV).
My daughter is fixated on punishment. She’s frozen into fear by the fires of hell. My daughter is missing the point of hell, and many of us do.
What Is Hell's Design and Purpose?
Let’s look at hell’s design and purpose for a moment. One begins to understand the gift of hell when you see it in its intended place in eternity.
If I were longing for something and then received it, I would consider that a gift. Wouldn't you? However, it seems quite cavalier to ever refer to the lake of fire as a gift. But this is precisely the point of the title: to draw your attention to an often-misunderstood area of Scripture. Hell.
It’s important to understand what hell is and what hell is not. God’s purpose for hell is not a nightmarish motivational “van down by the river” analogy he uses to help people choose him or be thrown down into unimaginable agony for all eternity. Hell’s purpose is for our protection, not torture. Hell is a gift of mercy.
Hell’s purpose is for our protection, not torture. Hell is a gift of mercy.
God Doesn't Send People to Hell
Let's be clear. Hell is real. Hell is everlasting. And it will be hell. Hell is also a gift granted to those who ask for it. Wait, what? Why would anyone ever ask for hell? Doesn’t God send those who reject him to hell? God doesn’t send anyone to hell. We send ourselves. In fact, hell is not chosen for us. It’s chosen by us. Hell is giving us exactly what we want: to be left alone in a me-centered universe. Tim Keller writes in The Reason for God, "Hell, then, is the trajectory of a soul, living a self-absorbed, self-centered life, going on forever and ever..." (The Reason for God, chapter 5).
Joshua Butler writes in his book The Skeletons in God’s Closet, “In the words of C.S. Lewis: it is not a question of God 'sending us' to hell … All that are in hell choose it. Without the self-choice it wouldn’t be hell … Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others … But you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine … In each of us there is something growing, which will BE hell unless it is nipped in the bud" (The Skeletons in God's Closet, page 79).
How Does Hell Provide Protection?
In my quest to help her understand the context behind hell’s purpose and to help her fixate on rescue rather than recompense, I picked up the aforementioned book that was recommended by a friend: The Skeletons in God’s Closet. It’s good. Butler, through Scripture, helps one understand why hell exists and unpacks the flawed theology that has turned hell into a B-movie torture chamber.
In his book, which was endorsed by the Gospel Coalition, Butler unpacks hell’s actual purpose: Protection. Not punishment. Here are a few great quotes from the book that put hell into its proper perspective.
“God’s mission is not to get us out of earth and into heaven or hell, but rather to reconcile heaven and earth from the destructive power of sin, death and hell. This gives rise to a radically different understanding of hell from the caricature" (The Skeletons in God's Closet, page 79).
“But God’s purpose is protection, not torture. Jesus will protect his city from the destructive power of sin. When his kingdom comes, in the words of Ezekiel 'Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the Lord, 'and I will be its Glory within'” (page 46).
“Hell is a boundary of mercy. God hands the unrequited lovers over to the distance they crave, and their adulteries are no longer allowed inside the new home. Jesus vanishes those who refuse his amnesty as king, and protects the wedding bliss from his city from all who stand opposed. The Spirit of God, like a great position, wraps the tourniquet on the woman that we refuse to let him heal, protecting both the kingdom and the rebel from the insatiable growth of the sickness inside. This is an act of God’s goodness toward his new creation: for it secures its redemptive flourishing" (page 66).
The Good News of God's Rescue
God’s glorious mission is one of rescue, not recompense. Jesus purchased our substitutionary atoning protection by showing us no greater love than this: ultimate sacrifice. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12 ESV).
But because our sin desires independence over communion, God ultimately hands us over to what we want and protects what he wants." Butler continues:
“God does not shoot us if we refuse to be with him; he simply hands us over to our refusal. As we shall see even more clearly in future chapters, this is punishment enough. If we want dependence over communion, if we prefer autonomy to worship, if we desire sin over salvation, then God’s most merciful option is to simply let us go our own way, to hand us over to the decision we have made (The Skeletons in God's Closet, page 63).
God's Incredible Love for Us
I want my daughter to be drawn into the arms of Jesus because of his great love for her, not to avoid cataclysmic punishment. When she understands that God’s purpose for hell is a great act of love and protection and not the horrific motivation to be scared into submission, she will begin to understand “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1a ESV).
I want to pass on to my children that I have surrendered my life to Christ because I have been given his indescribable gift, not because I want to avoid the indescribable punishment. I don’t have to serve him. I get to serve him, and that makes a world - scratch that - an eternity of difference.
