Why did God create hell?

If there is no hell, evil wins.

What do I mean by that? Eternal life is an extension of this life which has in it pain and pleasures. As hell is the worst outcome of this life, so heaven is the best where all sin and all sadness will be gone and every injustice will be counted for. All that is evil will be removed and all that is good will be preserved, purified, and intensified. But if there is no hell and no God, where is your hope? For this means evil will win in the end. Our God is too good and He cannot allow evil to win. There is no future for evil, evil will be destroyed.

Yes, God made it because John 1:3 says “through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” But hell was a place of suffering originally made by God for the devil and his angels. Since we rebelled too… it is a place meant for any created being that rejects God and rebels. Friend, you deserve to go to heaven because that is where God our Father is and that is where we all come from!

God is a gentleman: He chose to partially limit His power and gives us free will and does not force Himself on anyone. So, if a person does not want to be with God on earth and rejects Him, it would be unloving and cruel to force that person to spend eternity with Him. In other words, if we follow Jesus on earth, we will follow Him to heaven. If we express no desire to follow Him on earth, what would make us think we would follow Him to heaven? God has given people the choice since the beginning as we read in Deuteronomy 30:19 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” From personal experience, the reason free will is so important is because, if my best friend ain’t free then what does she mean when she tells me I love you? The most precious thing that you and I have in life is love; the ability to enter into a relationship with a person based on free will.

The truth is, God had to create it, but that is not what He desires. Peter says that the Lord is delaying His return because He’s “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) and “who wants ALL people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) He never forces you to choose Him. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock...” (Revelation 3:20). He does not force His way in, rather He waits at the door for the person to let HIM in.

The concept of hell puts the seriousness of how God views unrepentant sin. It’s not a place where bad people go; it is a place where those who refuse to repent go. I pray whoever is reading this chooses God’s love and grace. I have deep sorrow when I contemplate the thought of souls in hell. I can see why Paul said “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” (Romans 9:2). This aligns with what God said in Ezekiel 33:11 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” Also, “good” people don’t go to heaven. Forgiven people do. Trust in the One who died the death you deserved.

In His hands,

Karla Cervantes