Is God a Monster?

Last week I introduced the sobering topic of hell.  Hell is not something we like to think about.  Even so, hell is real.  We would be insane to ignore it.  Many people ask, “Doesn’t the reality of hell make God a monster?”  The problem with the question lies in its implied—and less than subtle—accusation.  In our struggle to grasp hell’s gravity, we must remember that God’s character is not subject to our judgment.  Ultimately, the existence of hell demonstrates, not that God is monstrous, but that we are!  Hell is nothing more, or less, than God’s necessary and just response to human sin. 

Tragically, an increasing number of professing believers reject the notion of an eternal hell.  Most do so on the basis of Scripture’s declaration that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  It is, of course, true that God is love!  At the same time, however, it’s just as true that God isn’t only love—or even primarily love.  In addition to love, God’s perfections include holiness, justice, righteousness, omniscience, omnipotence, infinity, immutability and more.  We must remember that not one of his attributes can be expressed in isolation from all his attributes together.  To dismiss the reality of hell on the basis that “God is love” is to wrongly isolate his love from—or elevate his love above—all his other perfections.  Those who do so not only distort God’s character—they distort the nature of divine love itself.  In his book, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, D.A. Carson writes, “I do not think that what the Bible says about the love of God can long survive at the forefront of our thinking if it is abstracted from the sovereignty of God, the holiness of God, the wrath of God, the providence of God, or the personhood of God—to mention only a few nonnegotiable elements of basic Christianity.  The result (of doing so) is that the love of God in our culture has been purged of anything the culture finds uncomfortable.”

This explains why so many, in the name of “God’s love”, foolishly dismiss the Bible’s warnings about final judgment and hell.   

So, no.  The existence of hell doesn’t make God a monster.  Apart from repentance and faith in Christ, we are the monsters.  Again, because God is holy and just, hell is his necessary response to human rebellion and sin.  

But what about God’s love?  Since no single attribute of God can be expressed in isolation from all his attributes together, how does hell express God’s love?  In regard to God’s love for his people, we must remember that if there is no hell, there can be no heaven. The consummation of our salvation requires the purging of all evil from our eternal home.  God’s final condemnation of Satan, demons, and unrepentant sinners to hell assures us that heaven will be a place where only righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). 

Of course, the ultimate expression of God’s love in the face of hell is Jesus.  In Christ on the cross, God himself died our death and suffered our hell so we can have heaven.  In his resurrection, Jesus forever conquered death so we can live forever with him. 

God is no monster.  If you know Christ as your Savior, worship him.  Stand in awe of his willingness to bear hell’s sufferings in your place.  If you’ve never repented and put your trust in Jesus, why not make today the day of your salvation.