This pastor's blog post draws directly from the sermon “Showcase - One Harbor MHC | Sunday Service” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.

What Hell Actually Is (And Why It's Good News)

Meta Description: Is the doctrine of hell cruel or unjust? This week we explored what the Bible actually says—and why it might be the most hopeful doctrine of all. URL Slug: what-hell-actually-is-and-why-its-good-news Featured Image: A dramatic image of light breaking through dark storm clouds over an open city, symbolizing the coming of heaven to earth

What if one of the most feared doctrines in the Christian faith is actually one of the most hopeful? This past Sunday, we worked through Revelation 19–20, and I want to share something with you that I believe has the power to completely change how you think about hell—and how you think about God.

The Story Most of Us Believe (And Why It's Wrong)

Most of us carry around a version of the story that goes something like this: If I'm good enough, I go up to heaven. If I'm bad enough, I go down to hell. Heaven and hell are two destinations of the same kind, and God is sitting up there deciding who gets which one.

Here's the problem—that framing is not the story the Bible is actually telling.

In the Bible, the counterpoint to heaven is not hell. The counterpoint to heaven is earth. There are over 200 places in scripture where heaven and earth are mentioned together. The central problem of the Bible is the rupture between heaven and earth that happened in the Garden of Eden, and the entire story of scripture is about how God intends to put them back together again.

So the goal of God is not to get us out of earth and into heaven. The goal of God is to bring heaven to earth.

Hell Is Already Here

This is where it gets uncomfortable—and important. When Jesus talked about hell, he used a specific word: gehenna. That's not a made-up spiritual place. It was a real location just outside Jerusalem, the Valley of Hinnom, notorious in the Old Testament for idolatry and even child sacrifice by wicked kings. It was a place of fire, torment, and destruction—and none of it came from God. All of it came from evil men under demonic influence.

James 3:6 puts it starkly: "The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness... setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell."

Gehenna is already here. The fires of destruction, the idolatry, the murder, the self-destruction—it's all around us. Think about the recent trial of a man who arranged the murder of his own wife, with his daughters in the house. I read one headline that said, "This is the face of Hades." That's not wrong. Hell is not just a future destination. It's a present reality that evil has dragged into God's good creation.

What God Is Actually Going to Do About It

So when Jesus returns, what does he do? He doesn't just sort people into destinations. He cleanses his creation.

The best analogy I can offer is a surgeon. If you have cancer, you don't want a surgeon who's afraid to hurt your feelings. You want someone with the skill and the commitment to get that thing out of you. Yes, it's going to hurt. But that surgeon is for you. What a surgeon does in miniature, God is going to do on a cosmic scale.

When the King returns, he is going to judge the hell out of earth. He is going to take everything that is evil—the dragon, the beast, sin itself—and separate it entirely from his kingdom. That action is not cruelty. It is mercy. It is love.

Revelation 20 shows us the final judgment: the great white throne, the books opened, and the lake of fire—the second death. And what we see is that God is not sending people to hell because he doesn't like them. He is giving people exactly what they asked for.

You Will Get What You Really Wanted

This is perhaps the most sobering truth of the entire passage. God is the one who is constantly, persistently offering himself. Throughout all of scripture, he is saying, I love you. Accept my love and love me in return. And yet people—even people who like the story—choose to love other things more than him.

C.S. Lewis said it well: "There will be two kinds of people at the end. Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'" Hell is God saying, Have it your way. It is the place where people receive the full, unrestrained version of the desires they chose over him—and those desires, taken to their ultimate end, look like destruction.

Any desire other than the love of God, taken to its most extreme expression, looks like hell on earth. The love of money. The love of power. The love of pleasure. God is the one thing you can never love too much. Everything else will eventually break your heart.

Your Name Can Be in the Book

Here's the breathtaking good news: if your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you have nothing to fear from this doctrine. In fact, you have reason to be grateful for it.

For those who have been hurt, abused, or taken advantage of—the doctrine of hell means that one day you will be entirely safe. Evil itself will be gone. No one will have so much as a thought to harm you. The gates of the new city, as Revelation 21 tells us, are always open—because there is nothing left trying to get in.

For those of us plagued by sin and addiction and shame—the doctrine of hell means that the surgeon is coming. He will cut it out. And you will live in eternity not just not doing the wrong things, but not wanting them. Can you imagine that kind of freedom?

And for anyone who feels like they've gone too far—I want you to hear this clearly. God loves people you would never love. He gives grace to people you would never give grace to. His arm is not too short to save. The only thing required is to ask for what he is giving: mercy, forgiveness, and himself.

I'd encourage you to watch the full sermon from this past Sunday, and if you have questions about faith, baptism, or what it means to follow Jesus, please reach out. We would love to talk with you.

Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): Most of us think of hell as the place God sends people he doesn't like. But what if we've been reading the story all wrong? This week we explored what the Bible actually says about hell—and why it might be one of the most hopeful doctrines in all of scripture. Link in bio to read the full post.