Hell Part 3 (A new Family)

The idea of hell is not a palpable concept. The thought of anything unpleasant being eternal is horrifying. If the Christian Gospel is true, then the cross shows at what lengths God will go to ensure we do not end up there. If my father, mother, or brother were to suffer this eternal fate, how could I enjoy heaven while they suffer in hell? The answer may not be anymore pleasant than hell itself.

These are only my thoughts and not God ordained revelation; I am only trying to work out a difficult concept. In Mathew 12:48 Jesus said, “He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Jesus answers his own question by stating that those who do the will of the Father are his mother, brother, and sisters. When the final judgment comes and the dead are raised, we will enter a completed new heaven and a new earth, but we will also enter a completed and renewed family.

Jesus said, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother[f] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” Some of us will lose brothers sisters, mothers, and fathers to the gospel, but Christ promises hundred fold returns. In a world where those who have done the will of Christ’ Father, we will become ourselves, fathers, brothers, mothers, and sisters to one another. The fullness of Christ love through God and the body of believers will encompass and fill every need with overflowing peace, joy, and fullness of God’s righteous family.

Those we once loved, we will no longer love with pity and mourning, but with knowledge that they are where they wanted to be. They wanted judgment more than the compassions of a righteous God; they wanted freedom from the yoke of Christ more than his or our presence (better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven). We can rest in their eternal state because they wanted nothing more than to be where they are, so there is nothing left to want or hope for them. This is tragic but it makes sense to me. All souls will be stripped bear, and all nakedness exposed; our tragic fallen state revealed in it entireness. There will be no pity, only a universal desire for everything to be made right.

TOTT