Why? Because.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8 – ESV)

The question is often asked: if God were good and loving why would He send people to hell? Well, it is because He cares about you. “What’s that”, you say? Yes, that is what I meant to say, God sends people to hell because He cares about people.

Let’s think this through carefully. Isn’t it true that if someone hurts your child, you want to make sure they are punished and that they don’t do it again? You hurt so badly for your little one to have gone through the ordeal. Friend, God feels that way about what you have gone through. He hurts worse than you do. Think about it; wouldn’t it be terrible to see one of your children maliciously hurt by another one of your children? It would hurt, but you would have to separate them, wouldn’t you?

Now think about this; if someone brutally tortured and killed your family, you would want justice done, wouldn’t you? A person like that would deserve to die, wouldn’t they? Well, God thinks so too, because He loves your family even more than you do. He loves with an eternal love, and so He punishes the perpetrator with all the hurt He feels for you and for them.

Yes God is good and loving, and because He is good and loving He takes justice out on those who have done unloving acts, avenging those whom were unjustly hurt, including Himself. Because He is so good and loving He punishes those unjust acts with eternal punishment. That is how much it matters to Him that people hurt other people. And yet because He is so good and loving He also takes the wrath on Himself, for those who believe, by pouring it out on His own Son, Jesus. So why does God send people to hell? It is because He loves you.