07 Apr God cannot send people to hell because that is mean?
“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
In one sense, that is exactly right. Hell is for people who don’t like the love of God. So it is a place for people who are mean. To understand what love is, look at what Jesus did at the cross.135 He suffered and died for the ungodly, for sinners, for His enemies.136 Or, to say it another way, Jesus suffered and died for mean people. A God who will suffer and die for mean people is not mean. In fact, such a God alone is altogether loving; to be condemned by a God of perfect love shows how damnable our sin truly is.
Think of it from God’s perspective for a moment. You create the world as a gift for people. You make people in your image and likeness. You give them only one thing that is forbidden. You bless them, walk with them, speak with them, and provide for their every need. They do the one thing you tell them not to do and in so doing align with your Enemy and become hostile toward you. They run and hide from you, and even blame you for the sin they committed. So, you send your Son to pursue them in love. But, they put Him to death. And, in the greatest act of love there could possibly be, their sins go to your Son so that the rebels could be forgiven. But, rather than accepting your offer of forgiveness, they instead invent religions for false gods and philosophies to judge the God who made them and accuse Him of doing a bad job at being loving. Indeed, God is not the one who has been mean to us. But, we have indeed been mean to Him. For Him to allow us to receive what we deserve and choose is not unloving and to think otherwise shows how little we know about love.
If you were in the position God is, how would you have responded to your enemies?
135 John 3:16.
136 Rom. 5:6–11.
