Why God created Hell

One of the most common questions I hear from people is "If God is so loving, why does Hell exist?"  This is an excellent question to ask.  God is the author of creation and through Him alone, everything is possible.  There are good things and bad things, rights and wrongs, yet even amongst those, there is a more important distinction...things that God participates and things in which God is absent.  Hell is a real place that has the complete absence of God.  God loves us so much, that He would rather give us a choice to spend an eternity without Him, than force us into spending an eternity with Him.  

There are many scripture passages to illustrate this point.  Tonight, let us focus on this:

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16 ESV)

I love this verse because it takes things to the very core of who we are...to where our allegiance lay.  We choose to either be enslaved by sin, or children of obedience, through faith in Christ and the forgiveness of sins.  

So to those who ask the question about why God would allow anyone to go to Hell, the answer is simply this.  God loves us so much that He will not force us to love Him...even if that means great suffering for us for eternity...because that is what we chose.