Can We Thank God for Hell?

We ought not be shy about or apologize for hell.  It is a clear teaching of Scripture, and it is foundational to ourunderstanding of the Christian Gospel.  The prophets preached the wrath to come, and Jesus warned often about coming hellfire.  Faithful ministers proclaim hell as a natural part of Christian teaching.  And hell is something for which Christians should be thankful.  That's right.  Thankful.  Below I offer several reasons as to why Christians should thank God for hell.

We Must Be Thankful For Everything  

We are to give "thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).  Everything includes hell.  Further, if you look at that passage closely you note that giving thanks for everything is one of a few ways to show that we are full of the Spirit.  Again, everything includes everything.  Similarly 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says we should give thanks in all circumstances.  Scripture commands us to give thanks for everything and always.

God's People Rejoice at His Judgment

When God displays His glory in judgment God's people rejoice.  For example after the exodus when the Israelites had safely crossed the Red Sea, God drowned the Egyptians.  Their dead bodies washed upon shore, and Israel under the leadership of Moses burst into jubilant praise at the sight of their bodies (Exodus 15:1-18).  Moses sings of God's majesty, awesomeness, and glory.  Later Miriam similarly broke out in song (Exodus 15:21).  God's people have historically rejoiced in thanksgiving at His judgment of the wicked.  So we can too.

The Bible Teaches us to Pray for Judgment

The Psalms are a compilation of divinely inspired hymns and prayers given to us so we can express ourselves to God.  In Psalm 137, we find a prayer against the enemies of God's people.  It is one of several imprecatory Psalms, and it closes with "Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!" (Psalm 137:9).  This past summer Will Schuurman preached an excellent sermon on that Psalm at our church, and you can listen to it here.  He explained correctly that Christians should pray for and long for the judgment of God upon the wicked.  These types of prayers are very much part of our Christian vocabulary, and we miss something when we miss that vocabulary.

The Martyrs Pray for Judgment

We can join with the holy martyrs who pray that God will avenge their blood.  "They cried out with a loud voice, 'O Sovereign LORD, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?'" (Revelation 6:10).  Here the martyrs find comfort in the coming justice of God that will cast their persecutors into hell.  And when He answers that prayer we will give Him thanks.

Everything that God Does is Good

God is good, He only does good, and God made hell.  So we can thank God for hell.  "You are good and do good" (Psalm 119:68).  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  God is working all things for the good of His people, and all things includes hell.  So ultimately hell is for our good.  So we can thank God for this good thing.

Hell is God's Final Triumph Over the Wicked

Revelation 20 records the defeat of Satan who will be thrown into the lake of fire to be punished forever (Revelation 20:10).  Then it says that the dead who knew not Christ will be given up to judgment and cast into fire (Revelation 20:14-15).  Then comes the new heavens and the new earth, the new Jerusalem, and the consummation of our salvation when God dwells with us and makes all things new (Revelation 21:1-7).  The rebels are kept from the city and designated to burn in fire (Revelation 21:8).  This all marks the final triumph of God to punish evil and completely redeem His people.  We can thank Him for His certain triumph.

Hell Keeps us from Avenging Ourselves

The human heart longs for justice, but God forbids against taking justice into our own hands.  Instead we are to patiently wait for him to deliver on His wrath (Romans 12:19).  Not acting vengefully is not merely a matter of self-restraint.  It is a matter of faith.  It is faith that God will carry out vengeance and punish the wicked in due time.  We restrain our own vengeance because we trust that vengeance is the Lord’s, not ours.  We don't seek vengeance because we wait for hell.

Conclusion

Thoughts of hell are absolutely dreadful.  But dreadful doesn't mean evil.  When we think that hell is evil it's because we think sin isn't evil: the problem is with us, not with hell.  Hell was designed by the good God to punish sinful people perfectly for their sin.  To think otherwise is to think too well of sin and too poorly of God.  So there we have several reasons to thank God for hell.