Hellish Love

Ponder for a moment the promises of Heaven from Revelation 21:1-7:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Try to imagine and understand and comprehend how glorious these words are. We will dwell forever and ever with God Himself, being ever-increasingly overwhelmed by exultant joy in His presence. There will be such a fullness of serenity and satisfaction as to practically take one’s breath away — except that death, too, will be no more (1 Cor. 15:54-55). Death will die.

Now, prepare your mind for the antithesis of all that is good. Hell. The Bible speaks about Hell in terms just as heart-pounding as those about Heaven. It is described as a place where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50) and is compared to a consuming, unquenchable fire (Isa. 33:14; Matt. 3:12). There will be an absence of rest, eternally (Rev. 14:10). Those who go to Hell will drink of the pent-up wrath and fury of an infinitely holy God who will no more patiently forbear in the face of lawlessness (Rom. 2:5, 8; Rev. 14:10). It will be only a place of torment.

There will never be a moment’s peace. Forever and ever.

Juxtapositing Heaven and Hell, consider the Apostle Paul’s words to the church at Rome:

I am speaking the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit — that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers. (Romans 9:1-3a)

The word accursed is the Greek word anathema, “which means ‘to devote to destruction in eternal hell’ ” (MacArthur 1665). I can say in all honesty that I have never known this kind of love, and, even knowing that I cannot be separated from God’s love (Rom. 8:38-39), I still cannot make a bona fide confession that I wish I would go to Hell for the sake of another, even if many others. This is radical love. And I am struck by the absence of it in my life.

Think of the impact it would have. If I could wish out of the deepest, most sincere longings of my heart to lose even my relationship with God in order to bring others to a point of salvation, there would be nearly nothing to keep me from loving others for the glory of God.

It is almost an unbelievable thought.

~ Bennett S.

Works cited:

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible. Crossway: Wheaton, IL: 2010.