Wednesday, August 08, 2012

What If

What if Hell were real?

For one thing, all we would know about it authoritatively would be from the Bible.

In turn, that would lend credence to the premise that Heaven was real, as well, since the same Bible is also the authoritative source of information for that, too.

Further, if both Hell and Heaven were real places, as counterintuitive and preposterous as that would seem from a naturalistic worldly viewpoint, then all of the Bible is best taken seriously, since Heaven and Hell are the central themes of redemption, and redemption is the overarching theme of all of Scripture. Simply put, it details how to avoid the one, and attain the other.

So far, so good, yeah?

Here comes the disturbing part - as unimaginably good as Heaven is revealed to be, Hell is equivalently unimaginably bad. It is, in fact, the epitome of bad. There can be no conceivably worse fate than being imprisoned forever in Hell.

But what does that mean?

From what we are told, human beings are immortal. Conscious, and eventually tactile, existence endures after death without end. There is sensation. There is awareness with no cessation. There is no need or ability to sleep or become unconscious. For in Heaven there would be no desire for such, and in Hell, the un-requitable longing for those very things would be unendingly beyond reach or hope of attainment.

In either Heaven or Hell, you are inescapably alive and acutely sensate. In Heaven, these are blessings beyond measure. In Hell, unendurable torments - but endure them you must, for there is no escape, no hope of respite, no hope of relief. 

This is almost impossible to picture. All we experience here on earth, no matter how prolonged, comes with the prospect of an end. Sometimes the end is brought about by the simple passage of time, or by exhaustion leading to fitful sleep, or some other form of unconsciousness. Eventually, even the thought of death brings some hope.

But in Hell, the only prospect is more of the same unending torment.

Hard to really imagine, I know. But if Hell is real, then what I've attempted to describe is real, no matter how unthinkable.

Now here is the truly nightmarish stuff, so be forewarned.

Imagine, if you will, being trapped in an enclosed space, just large enough to accommodate your body laying flat on your back. There is nothing but solid blackness around you and hard, impenetrable surfaces surrounding you. 

You are isolated to the point of feeling as if you are the only being in existence. You can't move, not even to turn over, or bend your knees. You are physically capable of movement, but there is no space to make it possible.

There is absolutely nothing to distract you from your inescapable circumstances. You are alive, excruciatingly awake and aware, and entrapped forever. 

You can think and emote and have perfect recall of all of the opportunities you rejected that were presented to you to avoid this fate by simply accepting the gift that Jesus offers. You have no choice but to experience all of the "if only" regrets and unbearable remorse in raw, soul destroying intensity. Forever.

Would that be mental, emotional and physical torment sufficient enough to be described as immersed in an everlasting "lake of fire"? Or as being endlessly consumed by a "worm that never dies"? Or abiding forever in "outer darkness"?

If Hell were real, it would be like this… or worse.

Now, you can choose to discount or ignore these pictures, and live your scant few years on this planet striving to deny what will be ultimately undeniable.

Or you can accept the gift of redemption offered through the death of God's Son on the Cross, believing that He took upon Himself the payment for your sin.

What if Hell were real?

The only sane response would be abject terror and an unstoppable desire to go to the only Person who could save you, and to cling to Him with all that you are.

Jesus is available today. Today is the day of salvation.

Tomorrow may be too late, for one day, you will breathe your last.

Don't let that day come upon you without Him.