Hell, Righteousness, and Love

Why does God threaten us with eternal punishment?

It seems like an extreme move on his part, does it not? An abuse of power, perhaps? Oh, sorry, I forgot to invite you to put aside your Sunday School answers for a minute. Why does God threaten us with hell?

Let us go at this in a way we can understand. As you may or may not know, I love to watch Law and Order. The cops find the bad guy, usually accompanied by a nice sarcastic comment or two, and Sam Waterston seeks justice for the state- for the "people". Sometimes cases are settled only by the judge, harkening back to days of yore, or whatever.

Certainly we can respect a judge for handing down the maximum sentence, right? We may be excited when the career criminal is finally found out and handed a life-sentence. We can respect the judge for putting him away for as long as the letter of the law will allow.

But personally, I would have a hard time loving a judge who hands out the maximum sentence on a regular basis. It seems a bit much to me. Are you with me? Maximum sentences may be just but merciful? Compassionate? Not the first words I would choose to describe such a judge.

What does it say about God that he would punish fully, eternally, and to the letter of the law? Is he still loving if he is willing to be just?

And what does it say about the infraction of the law we must have committed to warrant such a sentence? If God remains God in spite of my rebellion, what is it to him that I get angry waiting tables? He is still God and his will is still going to get accomplished. What is it to him that I hate both God and neighbor?

But is this not the very reason God must punish fully, eternally, and to the letter of the law? We are not jaywalkers but felons. We are not clumsy, we are perpetrators. We are not sick, we are evil. We are not guilty of manslaughter, its first-degree murder. To put it biblically, we are not bystanders, but enemies. Paul told us that we were enemies, hostile in mind towards God.

If you think long and hard, even making a list of the ones you have wronged, you too will agree with Paul.

What is exacting justice? Is it something like "Eye for and eye"? If you are a Christian, remember that Exodus 21:24 may be ugly but it is still in the bible. Even the taking a life may be ethically acceptable depending on the severity of the case.

So what happens when your offense, or standing as an offender, is against an eternal God? If he is boundless, would your offense and therefore your sentence also would be boundless, right? This is the one we have offended, and so goes our sentence. It is bad news but it is no less true.

This can bring us one of three places. First, you can try to make up your sentence on your own. How many hours of community service will it take, for instance, to work off the death penalties accumulated by being angry at your fellow-man? Good luck with that.

The second option is to completely give up. Well, God will never forgive me, so screw him! Why would I want a God who cares if I answer for my actions anyway? Who needs a God that is concerned with what he has made? I hope you see the problem with such a course of action.

The third option is to listen to this God. In Jesus Christ, God offers us a new identity. Instead of "sinner", he offers the identity "saint". In the place of "enemy", God, in Christ, offers us the title "beloved".

This is the new identity Jesus bought for us in becoming a man, living our life for us, dying our death for us, and raising to new life on our behalf.

Did you know that Jesus himself was not ashamed to be made sin for us? He took us from, as Paul said, "the domain of darkness" and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. Now we have all the love God has for Jesus applied to us. In Christ, God loves us fully, completely, eternally, and boundlessly.

Did you see that? It was not clever, but if I were you, I would read it again. And again. And again.

God is for us in Christ. He offers us a way out of owning all the guilt, shame, condemnation, and hell we deserve. He does by a simple invitation to life in Christ.

We have all tried to do community service to try and make God happy. It did not work. We have given up at other times and where did that lead us? Today God, in Christ is for us. What he offers not immunity from the law but fulfillment of the law because of Jesus.

As my pastor and friend Tal says "that's a really good day".