ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tusite Sanuali 23, 2018

Ko e natula ‘o e ‘Otuá pea mo ‘ene fakamaau ta‘engatá

( hell and God’s nature . . .)

Fehu‘i #28

Ko e hā e me‘a ‘e hoko ki he kau pekia ‘oku ‘ikai te nau kau mo Kalaisi fou ‘i he‘enau tuí  ?

‘I he ‘aho ‘o e fakamaaú, te nau ma‘u ‘a e tu‘utu‘uni fakalilifu kae angatonu ‘o honau tauteá. ‘E kapusi kinautolu mei he ‘ao ‘o e ‘Otuá, ki heli, ke fakahoko ai honau tautea fakamamahí  ke ta‘engata.

What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?

At the day of judgment they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favorable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever.

SIONE 3:16-18, 36

He na‘e ‘ofa pehē ‘a e ‘Otua ki māmani, ko ia na‘a ne foaki hono ‘Alo tofu-pē-taha-ne-fakatupu, koe‘uhi ko ia kotoa pē ‘oku tui pīkitai kiate ia ke ‘oua na‘a ‘auha, kae ma‘u ‘a e mo‘ui ta‘engata. He tala‘ehai na‘e fekau ‘e he ‘Otua ‘a e ‘Alo ki māmani ke fakamaau? ‘a māmani; ka koe‘uhi ke mo‘ui ‘a māmani ‘iate ia. Ko ia ‘oku tui pīkitai kiate ia ‘oku ‘ikai ke fakamaau? ia; ka ko ia ‘oku ‘ikai ke tui, kuo ‘osi fakamaau? ia; koe‘uhi kuo ‘ikai te ne tui ki he huafa ‘o e ‘Alo tofu-pē-taha-na‘e-fakatupu ‘e he ‘Otua. . . .Ko ia ‘oku ne tui pīkitai ki he ‘Alo ‘oku ne ma‘u ‘a e mo‘ui ta‘engata: ka ko ia ‘oku ‘ikai te ne talangofua ki he ‘Alo ‘e ‘ikai te ne mamata ia ki he mo‘ui; ka ‘oku nofo ma‘u kiate ia ‘e he houhau ‘a e ‘Otua.

JOHN 3:16-18, 36

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal Life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. … Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Commentary – JOHN LIN

One of the Bible's more difficult and often misunderstood teachings is that of hell being a real, conscious, eternal punishment. And this is understandable. All of us have people in our midst who don't know Christ - friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues – about whom we would rather not think that hell could be their future. In fact, people have had discomfort about the idea of hell throughout history, because on the surface it seems inconsistent with everything we read in the Bible about God's mercy and love. And yet the Bible's teaching on hell as conscious and eternal suffering is unavoidable. Actually, without the existence of hell, much of what we know about God's love comes into question.

First, Jesus, the most loving man who ever lived, spoke about hell more frequently and vividly than all other authors combined. He described it as Gehenna, which was a garbage heap where fires burned constantly, or as the outer darkness, where there's no illumination but only misery. In the story he tells of the rich man and Lazarus, hell is a place of conscious and real suffering. Jesus warns us about hell again and again (Matt. 13:41-42: Mark 9:42-48; Luke 16:19-31).