Introduction:

Imagine that the Lord opened a portal, which would allow each and every Christian one minute in Hell. Any and all Christians who took the opportunity to spend one minute in Hell would never be the same. The torments and agony experienced in that sixty second interval would radically reshape their attitude towards sin, as well as their compassion for the lost.

Since no such portal exists, I invite you to read the following, and contemplate the depths of Hell. This is by no means an accurate account, but an imaginative, biblically informed estimation as to what Hell might be like. Hell is a frightening reality to contemplate because just as no one can conceptualize the glories of heaven, no one can grasp the horrors of Hell as the extent of both lie outside of our earthly comprehension.

The Portal

In the last waking hours of a person’s life, as he lies upon his death-bed with a weary body ravaged by the likes of cancer, heart failure, AIDS, etc. His mind vacillates from the terror of the unknown to the sweet comfort of believing that his suffering shall come to an end. Yet, when his eyes close and his heart stops beating a new reality awaits. He leaves the comforts of this world, filled with the common graces of fun, food, friends, and family, to an isolated chamber, devoid of any and all pleasures afforded to him in this earthly life. He enters a fixed and final state, an inescapable prison which will torment him forever.

Hell welcomes him with the roar of a blast furnace as his soul is submerged in the torrents of the flame.[1] While on earth, when he touched an iron with the tip of his finger, he had the luxury of pulling away rapidly. God gave him the common grace to provide abundant cool, flowing water to comfort his blistered finger. [2] God gave him Neosporin and aspirin to ease the effects of the burning surface on his finger tip.

Yet, in hell, much more than the tip of his finger is burning. Rather, his whole body is being consumed by flames. He might try to escape, but everywhere he turns he is greeted by the same wall of fire. Thoughts of cool water, Neosporin, and relief enter his mind, but only seem to worsen the pain as he realizes relief will never come.

Dave Hintz

[1] Luke 16:24 Note: this is a temporary holding place for the spirit.

[2] Acts 14:17; Mat. 5:45 Note: There is no common grace in Hell as one is separated from God.