A loving God would not send anyone to Hell. In fact, a loving God would not create a universe that contained a Hell. If He truly loves the creatures He made, He would not make them suffer.
This is the common belief outside Biblical Christianity. This view is held by many leaders of churches identified as Christian. "You evangelicals," someone might say, "would be more acceptable to us if you would lay off the teaching about Hell!"
But can we do that? Are we free to decided what we must teach and what we must not? Of course not. As long as we are Biblical Christians, we must teach what the Bible says. And the Bible is emphatic about this. There is a Hell, and people will wind up there.
Hell is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. Jesus taught about Hell. So did Peter and John. And although Paul does not use the word "Hell" in his writings, he does teach that there is due punishment for those who do not please God.
The fact is, according to the Scriptures, a loving God did create a universe that included a Hell.
The Bible indicates that Hell was not created for human beings, however. It was "prepared for the devil and his angels," (Mt 25:41) that is, for Lucifer and the angels who followed him in rebellion against God. Hell was prepared as an eternal place of suffering for Satan and his angel followers.
However, the Bible makes it clear that many human beings will also be cast into Hell.
The first two human beings to be cast into Hell are the beast and the false prophet who dominate the world during the Tribulation. Revelation 19 describes their fate at the end of the Tribulation (Rev. 19:20). This occurs just before the Millennium, the thousand years when Christ will reign on this earth.
After the thousand years, the devil, Satan, Lucifer will join the beast and the false prophet in Hell (Rev. 20:10), where "they will be tormented night and day for ever and ever."
Then comes the final judgment for all human beings who failed to have their names placed in the Lamb's Book of Life. Here is what Revelation 20:11-15 says:
