By Scott Tibbs, July 1, 2010
On Sunday evening, a cousin shared a video on her Facebook page memorializing Mariah Lopez, a baby who was abused for her entire life and was beaten to death at 5 months old. I did a bit of research and found that the abuse this baby suffered was unbelievably brutal and sadistic. It can only be described as demonic. I was literally shaking with anger and went on a long walk to clear my head and calm down. If I had the opportunity to do so, I would have murdered Mariah's abusers without a second thought. (This is a sin, too.)
I had the opportunity to think about the nature of God, the Father in Heaven. I have often said "Thank God for Hell" in response to horrific brutality, and that is not something I say lightly. Part of the reason I love my Father in Heaven so much is that He is the ultimate example of righteousness and justice. God cares for and loves the oppressed and hates those who harm them. He will seek vengeance on their behalf.
There are those who hold to the wicked heresy known as "universalism" - the belief that there is no Hell and that all will be reconciled to God. I cannot think of any heresy that is more blasphemous to my Father.
First, if everyone goes to Heaven, why did God send His only Son to be tortured to death on the cross? That "god" would be a sadistic monster who does not deserve our worship. You better believe that if universalism were true, I would worship Satan, because I could never worship a "god" that is so evil. I would dedicate my life to persecuting the followers of that evil "god." Thankfully, the "god" of universalism is a fabrication. Those who worship that "god" actually worship demons, and the true God will deal with them.
Second, universalism means that "god" endorses and rewards every evil and disdains righteousness, mercy and kindness. If there is no punishment, then what is the point of doing good? In that case, you can do whatever you want. You can engage in the most horribly evil actions possible and get the same reward as those who devoted their lives to Jesus Christ and to being merciful. Again, that "god" would be pure evil and certainly not deserving of worship.
(Of course, it is not possible to be righteous apart from Jesus Christ. Every good deed we do in this life is a gift from God. In fact, many of our so-called "good" deeds are done of evil motives.)
As I said above, God is a just and righteous God who loves the oppressed. I profusely and enthusiastically thank God for Hell, because Hell is where all of the wicked will be punished by suffering in horrible burning agony for all eternity. This is a Biblical view: The psalmist writes that his foot almost slipped when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:2) until he went into the house of God and saw their end, meaning eternal damnation. (Psalm 73:17) God will avenge the murders of the oppressed, like Mariah. Thank God for Hell!
