the choice to CHOOSE: Heaven vs. Hell

recently, my little 'spiritual bro' donavan tagged me in a Facebook post of his, referencing a convo we had this week that included some talking about Heaven and Hell and how to help people understand that God isn't just sitting on His throne damming people to Hell; instead His desire is that more and more people truly get to know and experience Him and the freedom He offers. 

here's donavan's post:

Donavan Elishu'a Jackson

Shout out 2 Twitters best topic of the night: #lasttimetheHeatwon. People were acting a foolio on dere. On another note: "God doesn't want 2 send people 2 Hell BUT because of their actions and rebellion against God, that's where they are headed." (Paraphrase) ~Melody Latrice Copenny. So basically, thru Christ, WE are able 2 choose which path 2 take in life? I think #WeknowtheTRUTH #Wejustdontwant2faceit!

i thought a little bit more about this, and desired to add a little more context for the statement above. here it goes:

i believe any place where God is not and where His presence is not is Hell. Hell is a place where God can never be. He's a God of holiness where sin can never abide, dwell or just hang out in His presence. it can't or else who He is could not be any longer. there are several scriptures in the Bible that reference and unpack what Hell is and what its realities are.

in the Hebrew translation for the Old Testament, one word for Hell used in the Bible is the word Sheol. a passage that uses this word is Deuteronomy 32:22. the outline of Sheol's biblical use includes the following:

1) sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit

a) the underworld

b) Sheol - the Old Testament designation for the abode of the dead

1) place of no return

2) without praise of God

3) wicked sent there for punishment

4) righteous not abandoned to it

5) of the place of exile (fig)

6) of extreme degradation in sin

in the Greek translation for the New Testament, another word translated for Hell in the Bible is Hades. passages that uses this word are Revelation 20:13-14. the outline of Hades' biblical uses includes the following:

1) name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions

2) Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead

3) later use of this word: the grave, death, hell

In Biblical Greek it is associated with Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the earth, the common receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually Hades is just the abode of the wicked, Luk 16:23, Rev 20:13, 14; a very uncomfortable place. (TDNT)

with that knowledge, it's very hard to turn a deaf ear or blind eye to the existence of Hell and its realities. that last box above says it's a "very uncomfortable place." i think that says it lightly. i've heard that some people just want Heaven and salvation to escape Hell, but don't really actually desire to know God personally or have a relationship with Him. they just want a kind-of "by-pass hell" free card. this type of thinking and heart cheapens the love He gives and the relationship He so freely offers to each human being on this planet. 

what He offers us is peace, freedom, forgiveness and healing through personal relationship. and that relationship comes only through His son Jesus. why is this significant and why is Jesus the only way to the true and living God? because we are sinners (sometimes we don't wanna believe this but it is true) and need a Savior to rescue us. as sinners, we choose that which is not God's best for us:

we fall morally, we hurt others emotionally, we make bad choices, we are selfish, we are angry, we take, we steal, we murder, we sex up and sex out, we adulterate, homosexualize, masturbate, fornicate, fill our eyes and hearts with pornography, we molest and we rape, we drug, get high and stay stoned, we pig out and fill our bodies with fat in gluttony and food lust, envy pervades us and we lie, we covet and we idol, we stay jealous and we live busy, we think we are good but our hearts are so bad, desperate and increasingly dark. and those sins are not even the tip of the iceberg. if we really saw what our omniscient (all-knowing God) saw, we'd be silenced forever by the shock of it all. we are so deceived by sin we don't even know what it is and how depraved and in bondage we really are to it. 

we're just riddled with imperfections because of the sin we commit and the sin that's committed against us and we need a way out. Jesus is the way because He is the only person in the history of mankind who died for the sins of the world. but He didn't stay dead. never forget that part. through his burial and resurrection (yes, He's alive) He provides new life from a dead, sinful life to all who will believe. He is the only way to the true and living God. all paths don't lead to God. only Jesus does. God is love and in Him there is no darkness. A loving God would not send His only Son Jesus to die for a world that constantly rejects Him if His sole purpose is to send those same people to Hell with no mercy or forgiveness. 

that kind of thinking is unwise theology. instead, consider this: God's hands are constantly open to the world. His hands are ready to redeem and heal people of their sins and forgive and restore them into a new life. many accept God's invitation and are being re-made in His image as i type. millions that have come before our current place in time have also accepted this invitation, became followers of Jesus Christ and are now dwelling in the presence of God in the Heaven that believers today earnestly look forward to. but many others look at those same hands of God, then look back at their lives, and again they look back at His hands and they make a choice. they say no:  "no. i don't want you, i don't want to let go of how i live. i love it more than what you want to offer me. you're asking for too much. i love my life this way it already is. i'm not ready for this. no." so, they reject God. 

But God does not reject us. He's constantly working in this world, loving, pursuing, and at time providing discipline and challenging seasons to draw our hearts and our eyes back to Him. God passionately and doggedly continues moving toward people, not away from them. and yes, this world is full of pain, senseless death, indescribable heartache and hurts. many times people look to God and wonder why doesn't He stop it all? if He's so loving why did this happen and that happen? i wish i had the answers. but i don't. but what i do know is choosing to reject God because of pain and loss only hurts you more. He's the healer and through His love and growing in a thriving personal relationship with Him, even though all the answers to "the why questions" may not come when you want them, His love will heal. and give you a bigger picture for it all in the scope of eternity. 

people who don't choose God are in essence saying they don't want to receive the gift He offers. they don't want Him. so what's the next option? a life that is lived a part from Him and a life that doesn't have Jesus as Savior, which means if you don't receive the salvation He offers and forgiveness of your sins through His death on the cross, you are saying that you instead want to be the one to pay for those sins. and there has to be justice for the sins committed. the Bible speaks more of this justice and the judgement necessary for sin in specific scriptures that i'd like to share in a follow-up post to this post. there's much more to unpack theologically here, but the big picture is this: God gave His son Jesus to stand in the gap for our sins, to die in our place for the sins we committed, commit and will commit, and He destroyed all of our sins for all time so that we would not have to die and stand in the gap ourselves. He also defeated death and conquered the fear of death so that those who trust in Him have the promise, the gift of new life and eternal life with Him in Heaven. God loves us that much. Jesus' death is where God's wrath to judge sin and his mercy to redeem fallen mankind was satisfied. 

so, i don't believe God "sends people to hell." i believe people choose Hell because they reject God. if you reject God's salvation and lordship in your life, if you reject His love and open arms to have a relationship with you, does it make any sense for Him to then invite you to 'hang out, chill for a while' in the Heaven He's created for those who do love Him and desire to be in His presence and worship and love Him forever? and here's the thing: God doesn't need us to love Him, worship Him, honor Him. He's so self-sufficient all by Himself, smile! His invitation to us to love Him, to worship Him, to be in relationship with Him is so much more for us than it could ever be for Him. in His presence, there is joy. in His love, there is healing. words don't adequately describe all that He gives those who call Him Savior. 


and get this too: there's not a section in Heaven roped off for nice unbelievers who are 'good people', or not so nice unbelievers who have been setting it off on earth who don't like God, but just don't want to go to Hell. it just doesn't work that way. it can't work that way. it would be like someone that really, really don't like you, who in essence has said, "i hate you and can't stand to be around you and really don't want to be in your presence," this same person upon learning that you've just won 1.5 million dollars and became the ruling king or queen of the largest super power country in the world, this same person asking you for good chunk of that money and full access to your nation to rule with you. um, really? how does that work? now granted, my not so great illustration isn't the best way to describe the dynamic of Heaven and why it is a gift for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, but it does help to shine a little light on this. 


this even begs the question some ask, "why can't i just go to Heaven without believing in Jesus? what's the big deal?" well, Jesus is the all-exclusive pass into a place that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, but God has prepared for those who love Him and are called by His name. and those in Heaven all have this in common:  A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. wouldn't you want to spend eternity with God with a foundation of a relationship where you already know Him, there's intimacy in that relationship, knowing of one another, a deepness, a connection forged through the immense joys, the amazing answers to prayer, and breath-taking moments, but also lessons gained and deeper faith developed through hardship, tragedy and pain? all these the things build the beauty that is the relationship the believer has with God. 


God's doing way more than we can ever imagine to keep people from being in Hell. He wants the people He created in His presence so we can experience His love forever. but many have chosen to reject Him and many still will. please understand, it is not God rejecting people; it is people rejecting God. God is such a gentleman. He never forces His love on us. we have the gift to choose: 1. Him, His son, a restored and redeemed life through personal relationship with Him that means we turn away from our sin and broken living and invite Jesus to be not only Savior but Lord of our lives, and we receive the gift of Heaven, eternal life in God's presence. 

OR

2. Us, we choose to reject Him, reject His son, continue living a broken and painful life on our own, blinded by sin and the spiritual and physical death it leads to, continue to be separated from a personal relationship with God because of a choice to reject him, and stand willing to pay the price for one's sinful rebellion, where eternal separation from God is the result. this separation is Hell.  

i admitted to God nearly 12 years ago that i needed a Savior and Jesus was it. i humbled myself. my heart was so open to God in that moment. so soft, so very aware of how much i needed His love, His freedom, His direction in my life. i let go of pride. and i grabbed hold of Him. i was a sinner who became saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. and in that moment of inviting Jesus into my life and surrendering to Him all that was me, i began my personal relationship with God. 


the road i've traveled since has been quite simply the most exhilarating, joyous, painful, challenging, unexpected journey of my entire life. God never said my life would be free of difficulty. but the difference now that i'm in relationship with Him is that i have something that unbelievers in this world don't have but so need in those tough moments: i have HOPE because i have God. and i trust that because i belong to Him, all things, all things will work together for my good because i love Him and i'm called according to His purposes in my life. 


the Heaven vs. Hell conversation is a very juicy one for many to chew on and chop up together. there's controversy, there's conversation, there's agreement, there's accusations. i believe John 3:16 makes it real clear where God's heart is in this matter. The Message Translation really unpacks this even better:

¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (New International Version)

^6-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him." (The Message Translation)

where's your heart in this matter? have you made a decision? when one comes face to face with Jesus Christ, a decision must be made, one way or the other, one of belief or one of rejection. but there's no in-between place, no middle ground. you have to make a choice, fully, 100% for God or fully 100% not for Him. if you find yourself battling feelings in yourself, your heart, where you really want to be for Him but something's holding you back, ask Him to free you of that thing or those things holding you back so you can be fully, 100% all His. if you're just not sure at this time about a decision, ask Him to reveal Himself to you, to show you who He really is, to help you learn more about Him. He's waiting, patiently, for you. i pray you choose Him.

~ m