.png)
The devil doesn't want you to believe it. Matter-of-fact, the word "hell" has become so common it is used as a curse word instead of talking about a very real place.
People joke and say something like, "Yeah, me and my buddies will be partying it up in hell," but let me assure you, there will be no such thing happening there.
Jesus warned people about hell on a number of occasions, and the Bible is clear when it discusses hell as a real place of torment and hopelessness.
So, what is hell? What is its purpose? Who goes there and why? What is it like? These are all valid questions. Let's take a quick look.
What is Hell and its purpose and who goes to Hell?
Hell is a real place. The Bible tells us this world we live in is not all there is. We do not, as some would think, simply cease to exist upon our death, nor do we go to heaven based upon our own merit--our good outweighing our bad.
No, there is an eternal life waiting once we pass from this existence to the next, and it all depends on what we did with Jesus in this lifetime which determines our destination for all eternity.
The truth is, those who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior enter into an eternity of unfathomable joy and blessedness as they live in heaven for all eternity with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the angels, and fellow believers. Yet, those who rejected Christ and followed their own selfish desires, inherit an eternity of punishment, darkness, hopelessness, and torment in hell and eventually the lake of fire.
Hell wasn't originally created for humankind, however. Hell was created for Satan and his demon forces who rebelled against God, (Matthew 25:41) yet because the first people--Adam and Eve--sinned and disobeyed God, sin made its way into every single person who has ever lived on the earth, and the Bible tells us the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Therefore, sin in our life causes spiritual death and that death only leads to one place--hell. In other words, by choosing to love our sin and not deal with it properly, we send ourselves to hell, for that is the proper punishment.
The good news, however, is God made a way so we wouldn't have to go to hell. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sin. He stepped in and took our punishment upon Himself, and then He died, but He rose back to life on the third day. Jesus defeated sin, death, hell, and the grave! (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
What is Hell like?
We are given a few descriptions of hell in the Bible. First, we are told that it is fire (Matthew 25:41) and that there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12).
Jesus also described it as a place where a person is tormented continuously with worms (Mark 9:47-48) and the fire is never quenched.
Paul talked about hell being a place of everlasting destruction and void of God's presence and light (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).
Revelation gives us a picture of a lake of burning sulfur and torment (Revelation 20:10).
Conclusion
Hell is a real place and nothing to joke about. An old preacher of mine once said, "Hell is real; hell is real hot; hell is real hot for a really long time."
The good news...we have a choice. We have a way out and that way is Jesus!
Today, if you have not made the decision to follow Jesus, do it today and avoid the eternal nightmares of Hell. You'll be thankful you did.
Kristi