Why do we laugh at hell? It's a nervous
laughter! Even in our humor, there is the underlying sense
that it all might be true, after all. This joke is typical:
The Pope, Billy Graham, and Oral Roberts, (famous
as a healing fundraiser) die unexpectedly. Saint
Peter realizes to his consternation that their
places in heaven aren't quite ready yet. So he says
to these famous men, "I'm so sorry, but, your places
in heaven aren't ready yet! Would you mind terribly,
spending a few days in hell? We'll leave you there
the shortest amount of time possible."
The 3 men reluctantly agree.
Well, after the first night, heaven gets an
urgent phone call from Satan demanding that
heaven do something! Peter stops Satan's
screaming long enough to ask him, "What in the world
is wrong down there?"
Satan starts ranting again: "You see, these 3 men
you sent down here are ruining everything! Billy
Graham is evangelizing the whole place, and everyone
is repenting! The pope is forgiving everyone and
granting them absolution! And, worst of all, Oral
Roberts is raising enough money to get this whole
place air-conditioned! Get these guys out of here!"
Now, that joke is funny at first reading! However, its
theology is really bad Biblical theology. So, what's wrong
with it? Consider the following points:
Satan isn't the prince of hell at all. He is its
prisoner! Revelation chapter 20 makes that quite clear.
No one's death is unexpected. Psalm 139 makes that quite
clear too.
Once people do arrive in hell, there is no forgiveness.
There are no second chances. Luke 16 makes that point clear
as well. The greedy rich man in this parable knows that he
will never escape his terrible fate!
And, regarding air-conditioning? Well, . you get the
idea! A bottomless lake of burning sulphur as described by
Revelation 20 has no chance of being air-conditioned!
Jesus took hell so seriously that He willingly let the
Romans drive half inch spikes through the median nerves in
his wrists! This produced waves and waves of unimaginable
spasms of pain through his whole nervous system!
There he hung in that horrible condition for hour after
agonizing hour! Why? Because, for Jesus, hell wasn't funny!
Matthew 25:41 tells us that hell was never even designed for
humans. It was designed only for the devil and his wicked
angels. It is an inhuman place to which humans do go, but
only over the dead body of Jesus.
How do we know that Jesus has the power to rescue us from
hell?
Jesus overcame hell by never committing a human sin.
Jesus overcame the grave by resurrecting himself from a
human death.
Jesus fulfilled enough prophecy to leave no doubt that He
knows all about our future. If he says that hell is coming,
we can believe him. If He says that a rescue is possible, we
can trust him.
Jesus went through inhuman suffering to rescue us from an
inhuman place! And, yes, hell is a place-not a state of mind
- not the hell we make for ourselves here on earth-and not
something to laugh about.
With all the passion I can humanly muster, I say, cry
over hell and rejoice over heaven! What would you be willing
to do to escape a raging fire here on earth? Would you jump
out of a building? What would you be willing to do to rescue
someone else? Would you warn them, grab them, throw them out
of a window into a net they couldn't see through the smoke?
How much more urgent then is the eternal raging fire!
© Chris Hansen
Books by Chris Hansen:
"Revelation Revisited," is a very dramatic retelling of
John's amazing visions of heaven, hell, worldwide
cataclysms, antichrist, and the glorious return of Jesus!
"Secret of the Psalms," walks through the life of Jesus
prefigured and predicted in the Psalms, centuries
beforehand.
"Grandfather's Journal," is a touching illustrated
children's book in which a young boy, who is bored with
Sunday school, and terrified of dying, finds a reason to
love going to church, a reason to smile again, and a reason
to pray for the first time. He discovers that because Jesus
really rose from death, then Jesus can be trusted, and
Jesus can give real hope, at Easter or any other time.
Check local bookstores:
If local bookstores don't carry some books, call the
publisher day or night:
1-888-795-4274
Go online to http://www.xlibris.com (sometimes this link
has a few bugs in it, though.)
Chris
