Hell, it seems, has lost a lot of its fire over the last few decades, and perhaps even through recent centuries. The reason for this lies in the fact that mankind has forgotten one simple precept: God hates sin, and He will punish those who refuse to repent and turn to Him. When you deny the existence of hell, you deny the Bible. When you overemphasize attributes like love and mercy, and neglect attributes like wrath and justice, you deny God. While God most certainly is a God of love and mercy, He is also a God of vengeance (Deuteronomy 7:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). It does not take long to find proof of this; simply read Genesis, and you will find two major events in the first 19 chapters. Genesis 19 records the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the neighboring cities in the valley, on account of their great wickedness. Prior to this is the greatest catastrophe this planet has ever seen – the great flood. Genesis 6-7 details the account of the flood that destroyed “all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spiritof life, all that was on the dry land…” (Genesis 7:22 NKJV), man and animal, because of sin. Since the Bible unequivocally declares that the wicked will be punished, it behooves us as Christians to make sure that we warn as many as we can, and show them the way to safety. “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2 Corinthians 5:11).
