Heaven and Hell

"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.  (2 Peter 2:4-10 ESV)

Make no mistake, God punishes sin.  And since we've all sinned (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) then we all deserve to die.  We declared war on God when we decided in Eden that we didn't need Him anymore.  We figured we could do things on our own.  "Claiming to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22).  We decide we do not need or want God here on Earth, so He does not force Himself on us for eternity.  That is Hell.  Hell is eternal separation from God.  If you don't want God on Earth, you don't have to have Him in eternity.  That is your choice.  God does not send people to Hell, people choose Hell. 

On the flip side, God in His steadfast love prepared a way for us to re-enter His presence.  Since sin is punishable by death, and sin entered the world through one man (Adam), God sent His Son Jesus to live the life we could not live, and die the death we should have died, to take the punishment for sin so that through one Man (Jesus) we could have life. (It's all Romans 5).  Heaven is the presence of God.  If we seek God here on Earth, He promises we'll be with Him for eternity.

God is not a rapist.  He won't force Himself on you.  Consider these words from God Himself:
"Who then is he who can stand before Me?  Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him?  Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine."  (Job 41:10-11 ESV)  I could quote more Scripture (Romans 6 mostly), but I am tired.

For the Kingdom,
Stuart