Knowing He was going to spend only three days and three nights separated from His Father without a watch, was enough to terrify our Lord Jesus into sweating blood. If three days in hell was enough to pay for the world's sins, it hard to see how unbindividual believers would need to spend forever in torments to pay for theirs. For Christians who have begun to plumb the height, breadth and depth of God's love, the idea of even one day separated from experiencing the love of God should be terrifying.
The payment of sin IS NOT eternal damnation. The payment of sin is finite. A fixed amount of stripes for each sin.
Isaiah 53:5 KJV But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; AND WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.
Deuteronomy 25:2-3 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed
: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
The reason unbelievers have to spend an eternity in hell is because God chose never to wash them of their sins.
Remember, the sins of the elect are finite. The sins of the unsaved are infinite. Can one in the flesh stop sinning for a day?