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Hell is a horrible place. For years, I have tried to get permission to put on the church sign outside Kenbridge Christian: “Come let us scare “the ‘Hell’ out of you”. It’s a biblical concept! As followers of Christ we are to reach the lost. The duty of the church is to go out and draw folks to the saving grace of Jesus. In other words, it’s our duty to introduce people to the saving way of God in order for them to have sin/evil/hell removed by accepting Christ in their life and having all that nastiness washed out in baptism as they clothe themselves in Christ.

In Genesis 2:7 we see that when God created humans He “breathed into their nostrils the breath of life (NASB).” God is The Breath of Life. In fact the name Yahweh when pronounced sounded like one was breathing. This name shows how all come to exist through God.

In Isaiah 9 we see that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

2 Corinthians 1:3 tells how God is the Father of compassion and all comfort.

1 John 4:16 tells us that “God is love”, and earlier in that letter in chapter 1 verse 5 we see that He “is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all”.

Why am I telling all of this? Because Hell is a horrendous place. Hell is awful. When folks are having a hard time they often say they are “going through hell”. Nope! Not even close. Hell is nothing to joke about nor take for granted. Allow me to try and scare the hell out of ya:

Hell was created for Satan and his demons. They chose to be tossed from Heaven and to live without God. Hell is the total absence of God.

From the verses above, we learn that there is no air in Hell because God is the breath of life. There is no peace in Hell because God the Son is The Prince of Peace. There is no comfort in Hell because God IS all comfort and care. There is no love in Hell because God. Is.Love. Hell is darkness because God is Light.

People picture Hell just being folks hanging out… some fire around them… bad, but possibly tolerable. Hell is reliving your worst nightmares. Hell is regrets replaying over and over again. Hell is knowing what could have been but remembering you chose to not put God first. Hell…well…is Hell.

The best thing about this: You ain’t gotta go! It’s your choice!

Choose Life. Choose Hope. Choose Jesus. Only He can save you from hell (Matthew 25:31-46). It’s your choice!

Rev. J. Cameron Bailey is pastor of Kenbridge Christian Church. He can be reached at jamescameronbailey@gmail. com.