Marakorpa,
If you slap me in the face, I may turn the other cheek and forgive you. If you drive over the speed limit, a police officer may give you a ticket. If you harm the police officer, you will be charged with assault. If you harm the judge at your court hearing, you will be charged with obstruction of justice. If you try to harm the president of the United States, you may either be shot by the secret services or serve a prison sentence. Why is that? Let’s say in those cases mentioned where you tried to harm government officials or magistrates all you did was slap them in the face as you did to me, why is the crime and the penalty different when you did the same thing to each of us? The dignity of the party offended determines the seriousness of a crime committed against them. God, the I Am Who I Am, is infinite in all honor, glory, and dignity that the punishment is most fitting to the equal extent. When you commit the smallest lie, you obstructed the justice of Almighty God who is the most intolerant of evil. If harming the rights of another human being is punishable under the law, how much more the one who created humanity and justice?
Since sin is the transgression of the righteous law of God, and the failure to measure up to its perfect standard, it deserves to be seriously punished. Jesus called that eternal state and place the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), our English bibles translate the words into “hell.” Why did he call it that? In the Old Testament era, the Valley of Hinnom was located outside of the city of Jerusalem, and it was the place where people burned their children to pagan deities. In Jesus’ day, it was by then considered accursed and descreted, and became the place where the people burned trash and dung. What a description he gave us! The parallel is that we are so guilty and corrupt that we stand before God as an abomination that deserves to be devoted to everlasting destruction, in the “fire that does not quench.” Fire is a strong metaphorical description that illustrates how horrific to the imagination the experience of that punishment will be. We cannot at the moment comprehend the depth of it. In other places, it is described as outer darkness and gloom to illustrate other aspects of that eternal state. Jesus said that there people will be weeping and gnashing their teeth at him, to show that even there people will throw their fist in anger at God.
What is amazing is that we read that Jesus suffered under the righteous wrath of God to cover the penalty that our sin deserves at Golgotha, just outside of Jerusalem. He suffered not just mere nails through his hands and feet, but he experienced the very outpouring of God’s justice toward sin while on the cross that we may be redeemed from the law’s demands. Through his resurrection and by his intercession in heaven with his precious blood, we can be forgiven in him for what he did on behalf of sinners like me and you, if we turn from our rebellion and rest our trust in his salvation alone to reconcile us to God. He even promises to impute that perfect righteousness that Jesus Christ earned as the reward of his work to all those who believe in him, justifying you as righteous independent of anything you have done, but for all that he did on your behalf. Repent and believe, friend.