Lately, I've been trying to muster up the courage to talk to people about Jesus and the gospel: go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15). My own thoughts begin to hinder me. You see, whenever I have to make a decision, my mind automatically then plays every possible scenario that could happen as a consequence of that decision. Not only that, my brain then tries to process the next 10 scenarios that could happen after that. Then I start to panic. On my own, I'm not very good at making decisions.
So, during a moment when I was trying to get the boldness to talk with someone, the scenario of, "What if they ask, '_______'? Then what do I say?" One question stuck with me.
Many people ask, "If God is a loving god, then how can He send good people to hell?" I was pondering this question the other day. I've heard the cliche answer. That our definition of good does not come close to God's goodness. That even our righteous acts are as filthy rags when compared to God. That all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In other words, our "good" would never meet his standards. In His eyes, we're not seen as good and so in His eyes, good people actually don't go to hell because there is no one who is good without God (refer to Psalm 16:2).
The idea behind this argument is something I have to and do agree with. But it doesn't really address the implied issue behind the question. The above response really just addresses the fact that God is really and utterly perfect, like beyond-our-understanding perfect. But what people really want to know is, "Is God really loving?" And that's what I was chewing on.
Incredibly (I say incredibly because I'm really not that bright when it comes to the ways of God), I had a revelation. You see, I could reword the question to: If God is a loving god, how can someone who has told one lie deserve the same punishment as someone who has murdered thousands of people? It does seem a little lopsided doesn't it. But here's my revelation: God is so in tune with each and every hurt, betrayal, grief, regret, pain, fear, sadness of His children (that's you and me) and no matter how small or minor these hurts are, God takes it seriously and seeks out the ultimate justice and retribution against the perpetrator.
Here's the thing: every sin has a consequence. Telling one small lie can hurt someone's feelings and God takes this so seriously because He loves you so much, that He has to justify your hurt. He does not leave one broken heart, hurt feeling, broken pride, or shattered hope unturned. To Him, His child was wronged and because He is so in love with His child, someone needs to pay.
That punishment is death. We have all at some point in our life, whether intentional or not, wronged someone, or even ourselves. And God is not okay with that because He is so in love with us and never wants us wronged.
But check it. His love goes even further. He is SO in love with the perpetrators (us), that He was willing to take this death penalty upon Himself. God is a loving God because He died for all of us who deserved death. We don't have to face the pits of hell because Jesus already went there in our place -- IF we choose to accept His offer.
"If God is a loving god, how can He send good people to hell?" Here's my answer: yes.
Yes, He does love you.
