What Hell Will Be Like

 

Revelation 20:14.  “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

It may surprise you to learn that Jesus taught a lot more about hell than He ever did on heaven.  Why?  It was not because Jesus was trying to be negative, make people fearful or depressed.  Jesus taught on this subject for two important reasons.

• Because He loves people, He wanted to tell them the truth and warn them of eternal danger.  2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord is patient with people because He does not want them to perish, but come to repentance.
• Because people will not understand the need for salvation if they do not understand the consequences of rejecting Christ.  John 3:36 makes clear that those who reject Christ, the wrath of God abides on them.

The New Testament give us six descriptions of hell.

1. Hell is a real place.  Three terms, “Hades” (Luke 16:23-24), “Abyss” (Revelation 11:7), “Gehenna” (Revelation 20:14), are used multiple times in the New Testament to describe hell.  In each context, hell is descried as a real place, just like heaven is described as a real place.  Hell is not just a symbol of evil.  It is a real place.
2. Hell is a place of choice.  Romans 1:18 says the wrath of God is against those who choose to suppress the truth and pursue an ungodly lifestyle.
3. Hell is a place of truth.  Hell will reveal the truth about the wickedness of so called “evil people” and “good people” (Revelation 20:12-14).
4. Hell is a place of fairness.  It is the nature of God to be absolutely fair and just (Romans 2:11).  God is absolutely fair in the final judgment.
5. Hell is a place of torment.  This is a place of continual torment of body, soul, and spirit for all eternity (Luke 16:28).  You may ask, “Why is this such a terrible place?”  The answer is because sin is so terrible.
6. Hell is a place to be avoided at all costs.  Matthew 5:29-30.  Jesus uses hyperbole to make an important point; do whatever you have to do to avoid this place.