His Patience is Remarkable

I struggle with the concept of hell. I sometimes find myself hoping it's not really true. Then at other times I'm more than glad that it is when I see the evil in the world which seemingly goes unpunished. I suppose I don't take sin seriously enough and only think that those 'terrible' sinners deserve it. Surely God wouldn't send 'respectable' (albeit unrepentant) sinners there? The following has really helped me to see how skewed my thoughts can be and has helped me to match up a God of love with a God of absolute justice.

Clements

(When God's Patience Runs Out):

Jesus believed it was possible to escape hell, but he  never endorsed the spurious comfort of those who deny its existence. Such people live in a fools' paradise.

A student said  to me once, 'My God would never send anyone to hell!' No,of course he wouldn't! That student's God would have never said boo to a goose. He was nothing but a spiritual teddy bear, a plaything, a fantasy that existed nowhere but in that student's imagination. Neither Jesus nor Amos had any interest in such hypothetical deities. They tell us about the real God and he is a roaring lion, not a mewing kitten. He is a God who cares fervently about righteousness, a God who has destroyed worlds for the sake of that moral passion. Why should it be so unthinkable then, that he could destroy us?

Judgment would be inconsistent with the love of God only if it were embarked upon hastily or gladly. But as Amos has been at pains to show us, God's judgments are always delayed by extraordinary patience and reluctance. He has acted again and again in history and in individual lives to call people back to himself. He pours out blessing  upon us in spite of our  sin and gets no thanks in return. He chastens us through illness, accident and disaster, but sees no repentance as a result. He sends prophets such as Amos only to  find their words ignored. Finally, as a last resort, he sends his own Son. 'They  will  respect my Son' (Matt 21.37). But the men nail him to a cross of wood. And even on that cross he prays, 'Forgive them' (Luke 23.34).

Is this some vengeful monster of a God? No; his patience is remarkable. He does not want anyone to perish, but to come to repentance (2 Pet 3.9). It is we who are the callous ones. We care nothing for the pain which our sin gives to God. We can even look at the cross of Christ and refuse to change our ways.

When God sends people like that to hell they deserve it. Indeed, their moral obstinacy seems to indicate that they want it. Every step they have taken away from God has been a voluntary move in the direction of hell. If we insist long enough that we don't want God interfering in our lives, in the end he will grant our wish. He will leave us alone....forever.