Going to Hell

QUESTION: Who is going to hell?

ANSWER:

Who is going to hell? This is a question that secretly lingers in the thoughts of many, though they may never admit to it. Outwardly, many scoff at even the idea of hell, yet inwardly there is still the question, "What if there really is a hell?" If there is a hell and it is a real place, then the question must be asked, "Who is going to hell?"

Hell is a place of sorrow and torment. This truth is seen throughout the Bible in the Old and New Testaments. "The sorrows of hell compassed me about..." (Psalm 18:5 KJV). "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…" (Luke 16:23).

It is difficult for many people to reconcile the existence of a place like hell with a good and loving God. It is an affront to many and an excuse to withhold their worship from God. They don't want to think that God may actually send people to hell. However a close and honest study of the Bible will show us that hell was not created for people, it was prepared for the arch enemy of God, Satan (or the devil.)

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'"(Matthew 25:41). Unfortunately, Satan, as the archenemy of God, has spent all of his existence seeking to turn men away from God. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden at the instigation of Satan (Genesis 3), all of mankind was plunged into a state of spiritual death. Even though they were physically alive, they were dead with respect to the Holy God for whom they were created, with whom they were to have fellowship and communion.

As a result, God had to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to take away man's sin and reconcile him back to God. All of God's repugnance to sin and hatred of evil was inflicted upon the Son of God on Calvary, where Jesus was crucified; mankind was spared that wrath. All God asks us to do is accept Jesus and the unspeakable sacrifice that God made of His Son. This is an act of faith, which recognizes that we are sinners and the only way for redemption is through that sacrifice.

Whenever a person rejects this sacrifice, in essence he is aligning himself with the enemy of God. God says in His Word that the final destiny of Satan is hell. "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit" (Isaiah 14:12-15).

Who will go to hell? Satan will, for sure. But just as Satan rejected and opposed himself to God, and was relegated to that place of torment, the one who refuses to accept Christ will also share his destiny and subject himself to the wrath of God.

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalms 9:17). Contrary to what many believe and teach, it is not because a person has committed any particular sin; it is rejection of the Son of God that causes a person to end up in hell. After God allowed His Son to be massacred through crucifixion and showed His great power by raising Him from the dead, after He did all this to bring us back to Himself, if we fail to believe in Christ, we are lost.

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3:18).