Sermon Reflections from If God is Good then Why Hell | Alex Hardt | September 27, 2026
Mark 4:45 “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.”
In context, Jesus was explaining to the disciples that cutting off a hand or foot to avoid leading others into sin would be better that experiencing hell. In 2 Peter 2:4-5 Peter describes God’s actions when angels rebelled against Him. “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;” Peter continues with other examples but ends with 2:9 “ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,” So, hell is a place to be avoided and also a place where God can place rebellious ones until judgement day.
I particularly like the definition Pastor Alex used, a place of separation from the blessings of God. That would indeed be hell to a believer, a place without God, absent from the presence of God. The punishment for rejecting God, rebelling against Him it to be separated from Him. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God made them leave Eden. He cast them out from his continual presence and bared the way back in by an angel. Genesis 3:24 “ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” In His grace and mercy, He kept them from being anywhere near the tree of life. If they had partaken of the fruit of the tree of life, they would have been sealed in their sins forever. Moving them out of the garden was God’s gracious provision for the future restoration through faith in Jesus.
I particularly like the definition Pastor Alex used, a place of separation from the blessings of God. That would indeed be hell to a believer, a place without God, absent from the presence of God. The punishment for rejecting God, rebelling against Him it to be separated from Him. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God made them leave Eden. He cast them out from his continual presence and bared the way back in by an angel. Genesis 3:24 “ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” In His grace and mercy, He kept them from being anywhere near the tree of life. If they had partaken of the fruit of the tree of life, they would have been sealed in their sins forever. Moving them out of the garden was God’s gracious provision for the future restoration through faith in Jesus.
Another thought is that heaven is the complete union and time in God’s presence- the exact opposite of hell! I look forward to that time Revelation 22:4-5 “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
We know Hell is a place to be avoided but back to the question, why have a hell? As with the other questions this month, I looked into God’s character for my answer. God is Holy. He is high and lifted up. He is set apart from His creation. God is whole- perfect in goodness and righteousness. No one is like God. Even God’s holy angel’s tremble in reverent worship before Him. God sets apart His children from Himself and commands us to be holy as He is holy. Being holy make you whole, what God intended us to be! Leviticus 11:45 “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” God takes sin seriously because He loves us and wants us to be all that we can be- holy in His eyes. God knows our sin nature, He knows all about us, and He desires that we repent and come to Him. Romans 5:8 reminds us that God provided a way for our reconciliation, even before we knew Him, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God is gracious and wants us to be with Him- not in hell. However, sin cannot be overlooked as it is a barrier between us and God. We put it there ourselves through our rebellious nature in the garden. Yet God, loves us and provided a way for us to return to Him through Jesus’ death and sacrifice on the cross. He conquered death and rose to new life which we can have through faith in Him. Sin has to be reconciled and accounted for as God is holy and just.
God is JUST. God’s justice is perfect. His decisions are always based on His righteous character. God cannot ignore sin because He is holy. It would be unjust to ignore wickedness, rebellion and sin. God is just and does not show favoritism. Every penalty will be fair and right. God does not treat His children as their sins deserve because Jesus suffered the full punishment for our sins. Because God is just, He will never punish His children for the sin for which Jesus paid on the cross. To access that forgiveness, on must believe in the work of Jesus on the cross- his death for our sins and resurrection to new life.
We know Hell is a place to be avoided but back to the question, why have a hell? As with the other questions this month, I looked into God’s character for my answer. God is Holy. He is high and lifted up. He is set apart from His creation. God is whole- perfect in goodness and righteousness. No one is like God. Even God’s holy angel’s tremble in reverent worship before Him. God sets apart His children from Himself and commands us to be holy as He is holy. Being holy make you whole, what God intended us to be! Leviticus 11:45 “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” God takes sin seriously because He loves us and wants us to be all that we can be- holy in His eyes. God knows our sin nature, He knows all about us, and He desires that we repent and come to Him. Romans 5:8 reminds us that God provided a way for our reconciliation, even before we knew Him, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God is gracious and wants us to be with Him- not in hell. However, sin cannot be overlooked as it is a barrier between us and God. We put it there ourselves through our rebellious nature in the garden. Yet God, loves us and provided a way for us to return to Him through Jesus’ death and sacrifice on the cross. He conquered death and rose to new life which we can have through faith in Him. Sin has to be reconciled and accounted for as God is holy and just.
God is JUST. God’s justice is perfect. His decisions are always based on His righteous character. God cannot ignore sin because He is holy. It would be unjust to ignore wickedness, rebellion and sin. God is just and does not show favoritism. Every penalty will be fair and right. God does not treat His children as their sins deserve because Jesus suffered the full punishment for our sins. Because God is just, He will never punish His children for the sin for which Jesus paid on the cross. To access that forgiveness, on must believe in the work of Jesus on the cross- his death for our sins and resurrection to new life.
I love the words from Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” God’s forgiveness is complete and restores us leaving our sins behind and buried away!
I am grateful for the holiness and justice of God. It is something we can count upon and know that God’s character is reliable and true- always to be trusted!
Linda
I am grateful for the holiness and justice of God. It is something we can count upon and know that God’s character is reliable and true- always to be trusted!
Linda
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