Introduction
“How could a loving God send people to hell?”
“We tend to think of heaven and hell primarily as places to be sent. Some imagine our destination depends on our deeds: if we are on balance “good people”, we can expect heaven, while bad people like Hitler and Stalin languish in hell. Others think Christianity sorts people into heaven and hell on the apparently arbitrary basis of their assent to certain statements. Those lucky enough to have been told about Jesus and credulous enough to believe he died in their place are sent to heaven. Those who have not heard, or have other religious preferences, or are simply too smart to believe this crazy story of a resurrected man are capriciously dispatched to a place called hell.”
Tonight we’ll try to answer the question: how could a loving God send people to hell.
Getting connected
1. What has God been up to in your life lately? Any obstacles, difficulties, and successes in noticing God at work?
2. As we closed last week, we reviewed eight biblical practices for building up the body of Christ. Were you able to practice one of the practices this week? How did it go?
Practice 1: affirming one another’s strengths, abilities and gifts
Practice 2: affirming one another’s equal importance in Christ
Practice 3: affirming one another through concern and affection
Practice 4: sharing one another’s space, goods, and time
Practice 5: sharing one another’s needs and problems
Practice 6: sharing one another’s beliefs, thinking and spirituality
Practice 7: serving one another through accountability
Practice 8: serving one another through forgiveness and reconciliation
Teaching
Watch the brief video on the end times and take a few notes (What Christians Ought to Believe, Lesson 16, )
3. In the Bible, heaven refers to
“the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) = “the cosmological world above and beyond earth” (Bird), “the visible sky above our heads” (Lange”
“the dwelling place of God” (Lange), “the divine command center from which the Almighty orders the cosmos” (Bird)
“our treasure” (Matthew 6:19-20)
“our citizenship” (Philippians 3:20)
the place where believers go upon death (2 Corinthians 5:1-4, Philippians 1:23, Revelation 6:10-11)
4. Heaven is not our final destination. Heaven is a waiting place for people who belong in the new ____________ and the new ______________. “Christians do not believe in the ________________ of the __________, but in the __________________ of the _________. “ (13:10) A lot of people think about eternity as they grow older. But how do you think of eternity? As a spirit life, a body life, or something else?
5. In the biblical view, both Christians and ______________ will rise from the dead.
6. The biblical teaching of hell is another difficult one. There have been many attempts to explain it and even justify it. Take a look at the following ideas about hell and see which matches what the Bible teaches, as best you can tell.
metaphorical
eternal death = “eternal separation from God’s grace and mercy” (Deutschlander, pg 548)
annihilationism = the belief that those who are not approved of by God at the end will cease to exist
purgatory
“the eternal and punitive quarantining of a humanity that has ceased to be human” (Bird, pg 217)
7. About the timing of the end, there are basically four major ideas. They’re summarized on the chart below. We’ve never spent much time talking about these different ideas. Use the chart below to try to explain one way of thinking about the end of the world.
8. The Bible saves it most beautiful truth for the idea of the new heavens and new earth. We’ll look at that teaching more carefully in our Bible study below.
Bible study
Read the following introductory paragraph, then read Revelation 21:1-8.
Please read Revelation 21:1-8
9. The book of Revelation reports the revelation John received when he was taken up into heaven. Let’s assume that Revelation 20 and 21 report the end of the story. According to these verses, what is the end of God’s big, cosmic story (i.e. what are the events)?
10. Verse 1 tells us that a new heavens and a new earth will replace the first heavens and earth. This is the end of the story; not heaven. Then it makes this strange comment “there was no longer any sea”. What do you think that might mean?
11. Describe the new heavens and new earth according to these verses.
12. Compare and contrast the two groups of people in verses 6-8. In a world with so many shades of grey (i.e., things aren’t black and white), what do you think of God’s strict black and white world?
Application
13. “How could a loving God send people to hell? Every other question pales in comparison. This one is about the end of the story, and it is the most difficult thing Christians are called to believe.” What do you think? How do you answer the question, “How could a loving God send people to hell?”