It’s always difficult when we begin to consider eternal realities. Especially when we consider eternal separation from God. Maybe you’ve been asked this question - or have asked it yourself. “How can a God of love send someone to Hell?” Let me respond by quoting J. I. Packer, who wrote, “Scripture sees Hell as self-chosen. …Hell appears as God’s gesture of respect for human choice.”  C.S. Lewis summed it up this way: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'  All that are in Hell, choose it." Timothy Keller noted, “In short, Hell is simply one’s freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity.”

If someone ends up in Hell, it breaks the heart of God. They rejected God’s solution, and they charted their own course. General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, (and this would not be politically correct today) said that if he had his way he would, as part his training for evangelism, take his trainees and dangle them over Hell so they would be able to comprehend what awaits those who don’t know the Lord.  Tough stuff…

So, knowing the riches in Christ and knowing the horrors of eternal separation from Him, I would think that we would want to do everything we can to warn everyone we know so they won’t end up in that horrible place. I’m not suggesting we should call every unbeliever we know and say, “You’re going to Hell!” The Bible says, “The goodness of God leads [us] to repentance” (Romans 2:4 NKJV). However you should share with them what Christ has done for you. Tell them about the hope of Heaven. Tell them about the forgiveness of sin. Tell them of Christ’s great love for them. And tell them what the repercussions are if they don’t believe. Don’t leave that out. Don’t dilute it. We have the hope of Heaven, but we don’t want anyone to come to the end of life and face eternity without Jesus.