The Scripture makes it clear that man is condemned eternally. A. A. Hodge in his theology says there is no word more emphatic for eternal than the one used of hell in the New Testament. Leon Morris says the word was applied to an age that was never to end. Ajith Fernando in his outstanding book, A Universal Homecoming, reminds us that sixty-four times the same word is used to remind us of heaven's eternality. "Would it not be logical to conclude that in the seven occurrences of 'eternal' to describe the antithesis of these blessings (eternal punishment), the idea is that of duration without end?" Hell's eternality is also talking of an unending, physical, real separation from God.
Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions.
