November 16: "What the Hell?"
Last week at Quest we talked a lot about heaven, but we didn’t say anything about hell. If heaven is a physically, reconstituted earth where people dwell bodily and God restores all of His creation to its intended state then where the hell is hell going to be? Most prominent scholars have concluded that hell is going to be a contained, geographical section on God’s reconstituted earth. While there is some disagreement on the exact location, most scholars locate this future site at what is today: Latitude: 25°50′N to 36°30′N Longitude: 93°31′W to 106°39′W – also known as the great state of Texas. JUST KIDDING!! Texas is awesome!!
To be frank I’m not really sure what hell is going to look like or much about hell at all, but I do know that there is one major misconception that I believe most of us have when we think about hell. Whenever I see hell depicted in cartoons or paintings there is always this picture of Satan holding a pitchfork with a huge smile on his face telling people what to do. It is almost as if Satan rules hell! But this could not be further from the truth. What the Bible says about hell is that it is not the destination where Satan goes to rule in glory, but it is a place where he goes to suffer – check out Revelation 21:10. This is not something that Satan can negotiate, it’s a done deal and he knows it. Satan has already been sentenced, it’s just a matter of time before he gets what is coming. If you are wondering why Satan keeps messing with people if he knows no matter what he is going to lose – pay careful attention next time someone is getting thrown into the pool with their clothes on and they realize there is no way they are going to stay dry. They don’t mellow out and wait to get dunked, they do everything they can in those last seconds to bring as many people down with them as they can.
The interesting thing is that if there is any place where one might say “Satan rules”, it would be here on earth. The Bible talks about Satan as a “roaring lion,”“the prince of the air,” and a being who is not to be trifled with. However, even here on earth Satan still does not have the power or the authority to out muscle God. The devil’s only hope is to take advantage of the free will God has given all people and deceive us into thinking that pursuing his kingdom or our own kingdoms is better than pursuing the Kingdom of God. Regardless, the fact remains that hell is not a place where Satan will go to rule and be a total punk for all eternity, rather it is the place that has already been determined for him to go to and receive his due justice.
By Steve Smith