Some of the New Testament language used about hell is unnerving. But I assume God inspired text that reflects hell as an undesirable outcome, as a potential state that is compatible with God’s love and justice, and as a final state that it is in our control to avoid.
If we have the freedom to control our own ultimate destiny, and if every one of God’s relationships with humans is grounded in God’s love for us, then the corollary seems to be that within the total expressions of God’s love for humanity, there is the inclusion of the liberty for us to self-choose hell as our final state, if we so wish.
That’s pretty profound, especially when you consider how we are also grounded in a striving for cosmic justice. It seems that, in the end, those who self-choose hell will be able to have no justified objections about the ultimate justice of their finality. A creature that chooses to place itself in rejection of God’s love, grace, mercy and justice may have no more natural finality than hell, whatever hell turns out to be.
One way to think more tolerantly about the idea of hell, is to think that whatever hell is in terms of punishment must be ultimately good for creation as a whole, because everything God does for creation is good. When Satan and his army of demons face their ultimate punishment, I assume most Christians think that those punishments are a positive thing in the creation story, just as a village that locks away a local serial murderer is good for the remaining inhabitants.
Perhaps if we can reconcile the punishment of the dark forces as being good for the creation story as a whole, it might be conceivable that the state of hell for some of the baddest people in creation is good for creation as a whole, especially if hell is a state of self-choosing.
It’s profound to think that when the time comes, everyone in heaven and everyone in hell will be bowing before God and recognising Him as Lord, to His glory (Philippians 2:10-11), although under very different circumstances, of course.
