Someon please answer a question.
To what end does God need hell? Why? What does he get out of it.
A masochistic being would derive enormous pleasure from seeing his rivals, opponents, enemies suffer everlasting torture. I would think this would cause God nothing but grief at the wasted potential of the people who “chose” hell over him.
What does God get out of hell? The entire universee exists to serve God. If you believe in a physical realm called Hell where everlasting punishment is meted out, then to what purpose did God make it.
You see, I don’t believe God has a single mean, vindictive, masochistic bone in his body. I don’t believe he is capable of deriving joy from hurting people. You can say he is only dispensing justice, made doubly fair because people have freely, knowingly chosen their lot in hell.
But God is the father of all of us. He created all of us to serve him and wants all of us to join him in Heaven. I’m pretty sure he does not hope to lose even one soul. So then, what does God get out of Hell?
FWIW, I believe the opposite of God is lack of God, not a physical dimension of everlasting punishment called “hell”. If anything, I believe your soul ceases to exist if you knowingly reject God, if that is even possible as I wrote above.
To what purpose did God create Hell and what does he get out of it?
The final, most drastic method to get your attention?
“But God is the father of all of us.”
No, He’s not! Those of us whom He has redeemed, are His adopted sons and daughters. Everyone else is an enemy of God.
Here is what I was taught, and it makes some sense to me:
God created Hell as a place to put Lucifer and the fallen angels. It was not meant for His creation. However, if we choose to follow Satan, rather than God, then we get put in the same place as those we follow. It is not something He would choose to do to His children, but something we have chosen for ourselves (which you have already said you understand).
That is the reason for Hell.