Saving Hell From Oblivion (Part 2): The Fierceness of God’s Goodness

In the first part of this series, I sought to challenge the modern, Western understanding of “goodness” by showing that the Bible has a completely different standard for what is good. That standard of goodness is God himself. God defines what is good, either by declaring it to be so, as in the case of his creation, or by working out his purposes in the lives of the saved and the damned alike. In this post, I want to consider the theological implications of a Biblical understanding of God’s goodness, and particularly how that impacts our understanding of Hell.

Fierce Goodness

The testimony of Scripture is that God’s goodness is a fierce goodness. It is not a goodness that meets the human expectation of happiness or pleasure. It is a goodness which displays all of the attributes of God in their beautiful fullness. His creation is beautifully good. A perfect sunset viewed from a mountaintop makes the heart soar with wonder at the creative beauty of this majestic God. But, the same majestic God who made that beautiful sunset also made great white sharks, and he declares them to be good, too. The beauty and wonder of God’s creation is wrapped up in its fierceness; that it is good because it points to the fullness of the God who made it.

God’s salvation is also good. It is good because God does not give us what we deserve, but from eternity past has purposed to save us through a foreshadowed, prophesied kinsman redeemer. God’s plan is beautiful in all of its wonder, from the election of Abraham to the trials of Joseph to the deliverance of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. All of it has a pace that says it is building to something grand. Then, a baby is born, and we witness that grand plan fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But, that good salvation involved vessels of wrath. It involved a flood of judgment on all of humanity (save eight), a Pharaoh with a hardened heart, the death of first-born Egyptians, the conquering of whole peoples, and it even involved the suffering and exile of God’s own people for their own good. This same salvation involves our own persecution. We are told by Christ to consider ourselves blessed when we face persecution (Matt. 5:11). James tells us that we are to count the testing of our faith as joy (James 1:2). The writer to the Hebrews notes the gruesome death of many who trusted in the promise of God as exemplars of faith and those who have received salvation (Hebrews 11).

God does not simply do good works, but He is the very essence of goodness. As Herman Bavinck says, “According to Scripture God is the sum total of all perfections. This is called ‘metaphysical goodness.’ His goodness is one with his absolute perfection. In him idea and reality are one. He is pure ‘idea,’ ‘purest actuality.’ He does not need to become anything, for whatever he is he is eternally.” (Bavinck, The Doctrine of God) Louis Berkhof agrees: “He is good in the metaphysical sense of the word, absolute perfection and perfect bliss in Himself.” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology)

In the Old Testament is found an experience that points directly to this idea of God’s fierce goodness. In Exodus 33:18, Moses asks to see the glory of God. In the very next verse, God allows that his “goodness” might pass by Moses, but He warns that Moses cannot see the face of God because if he does he will die. This glory of God which can kill the man who looks directly upon it is said to be his goodness. Not only that, but the essential concept that God wants Moses to get from this experience is exclaimed as he passes by: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” The direct New Testament application of this same verse is found in Romans 9:14–18, and it provides great weight to the idea of the fierceness of God’s goodness as well. In this passage from Romans, Paul argues that we have no right to question the justice of God in saving some and judging others for one reason, established in two points. First, as seen in Exodus 33, it is God’s prerogative to show mercy. Second, as seen with Pharaoh, God can make a king for the purpose of hardening his heart and judging him. The very act of doing such a thing is good because God does it. God is not bound by some external standard of what is good or fair. He does not ask anyone for permission to execute his saving purposes. But, when the history of the world has tracked to God’s appointed end, the redeemed will marvel at the glory of God in his saving purposes for all of eternity in much the same way that a hiker gazes in wonder at the beauty of a mountaintop sunset. His people will look upon his work and will exclaim with the Psalmist, “This is the Lord’s work, and it is marvelous in our eyes!” (Psalm 118:23)

Fear Is Supposed To Be A Good Thing

This fierce goodness of God includes a dreadful Hell of eternal torment. One may wince at the idea that a gracious and loving God might create such a reality for the damned, but as has been shown, the God of the Bible is not limited by our ideals. In fact, one of the apparent functions of Hell is the inducement of fear. In Jesus ministry, Hell serves as a warning against hypocrisy, as in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matt. 25:31–46. In this parable, the goats are those who do all of the good deeds that would seem, by worldly standards, to gain them access to Heaven. But, instead of obtaining Heaven, these hypocrites are associated with Satan and his angels, destined for the eternal fire and torment of Hell.

Fear is a major component of the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31. This passage is another warning against hypocrisy, and the consequences are consistent with the previously discussed parable. The rich man, who by worldly standards should have been worthy of Heaven, is instead found to be tormented and anguishing in Hell. The Rich Man hopes to be temporarily freed from his torment, not for his own sake, but so that he might go and warn those who, like him, care nothing for the eternal judgment that is coming. Of those who would argue that the point of this story was not to induce fear, Colin Sedgwick says, “If this is not part of the message of the Rich Man and Lazarus, one can only feel that Jesus has invented or passed on a tale that is at best misleading, at worst downright mischievous.” (Sedgwick, “Confessions of a Would-Be Annihilationist”)

So, to marvel at the creative and saving work of God in all of its beauty is not some naive exercise. God is good, but he is good on his own terms. He is good in what he has made, and one of the places that he has made is Hell. He is good in his salvation, and in that salvation, he purposes a place of eternal torment for those who in this life would find their salvation through outward appearances and the praises of men.

In the next post, I will bring all of this together by looking at the implications that a wrong view of God’s goodness, vis-a-vis Hell, can have the health and mission of the Church.