For many years, one of my main objections to Christianity was the subject of Hell.  When approached by Christians, I would often tell them, “Hey, I never asked to be born, why should my only choices be Heaven or Hell?” I wanted door number three, a third option.  Not that I hated God or anything like that, but like many, I just wanted to do my own thing.

While that may have been an appealing option for me at the time and perhaps many of you right now, let me please explain why I don’t think there can logically be a third option in the afterlife.

Suppose you are a loving parent of four children, of which, one is an adult living in your house and the other three are still young and in school.  How would you manage your home.  Would there be rules to follow, or would it be a house without boundaries?

Would the rules for your adult child be different than the rules for the younger ones?  I’m sure the answer to that is probably yes, but there would still be some expectation that the adult child would honor and respect the general house rules and values of the home.

Given that understanding, suppose you have an adult child living in your home that doesn’t respect your guidelines for living there and is on a dangerous or self destructive path? What do you do? Do you throw them out, or do you allow them to stay? And if you do throw them out, do you pay for them to do their own thing in another home or apartment?

I suspect if you are the loving parent you say you are, you are not going to encourage, or contribute to your child’s self destructive behaviors. Nor are you going to allow them to continue such a path in your home when it is disruptive to the peace and tranquility of the other family members living there.

Here I believe lies the crux of the whole heaven and hell issue.

We know that children without boundaries and guidelines are prone to become spoiled and ill-mannered or “spoiled rotten”  as we sometimes say, and yet we fail to recognize the need for boundaries in our own life.

We not only want God to stay out of our lives and let us do what we want while we are here, but we also want him to continue to provide for our reckless behavior even though it doesn’t conform to his guidance.  Then, when our life of disregard and disrespect is done, we either want him to let us come back and live with Him in comfort, or more likely want Him to continue to leave us alone while providing for our comfort in some alternate eternity.

So in reality, if you think about it, we are really already living in the 3rd option as we prepare for the afterlife.  God has provided this earth as a training ground, or testing facility if you prefer, giving us free will to decide how we want to spend our eternity.    For those who submit to his authority and accept his offer for salvation, he offers eternal life, peace and happiness in heaven (His house).  For those who do not want to submit to his authority and accept his offer for salvation, he has established another location, hell.

Hell is a place where God will not be living or paying the bills to keep the lights on for us to live however we want.

The only possible 3rd option really, is here…, right now, where we both see and feel the effects of the struggle between good and evil.  This present situation is a place where God is currently allowing us to experience both the beauty of this world he has created, while at the same time allowing us to see the depth of evil man is capable of in a life without God.  What we choose to do with God’s offer determines our final eternal address.

While Hell is, according to scripture, a literal place of punishment, it is not a place God desires to send people.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 

In fact, Jesus made it clear that hell wasn’t even meant for mankind, but for Satan and his angels.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”   Matthew 25:41

Unfortunately, there will be plenty of people there, whom we as humans personally feel fit the description of good, but we are not privy to the same information God is because we are not God.  Again, It is God’s House, and he has given us a clear path to getting there, and that path goes through Jesus Christ.  Your approval or disapproval is irrelevant, however, your choice is the same.  Even rebelliously not choosing because you don’t like the options is inherently still a choice.

Rather than ask why a loving God would allow so much pain and suffering in this world, or why would a loving God send us to hell, perhaps we should ask an entirely different set of questions?

Perhaps we should ask:  How long would it take billions of disobedient children to turn an eternal heaven into an eternal hell if God allowed everyone to come?  If this world is what it looks like when everyone is allowed to do their own thing, why would heaven be any different if He let everyone in? If you recall, God already did that when he gave us the Garden of Eden in the first place and look what happened in that paradise.

If people reject God’s influence in this present world, what possible leverage would God have on us in the next, unless he completely remade us at death to be more like our obedient dogs?  But then, wouldn’t we really just be exchanging our free will for comfort?

We do have a choice and it’s here while living in this 3rd option, but know this up front, your choice will determine your eternal destiny whether you approve or not.  It’s His house.   God’s standard is not based upon what we consider good or bad behavior, but our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior.  He alone is the gateway to Heaven.

As clearly spoken in the book of John, 14th Chapter, verse 6,  – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

And of course , we’re probably all familiar with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ”   

But are you familiar with the very next verse?  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

The path has been set, the choice is yours.