Some define hell as everlasting and utter separation from God. This certainly is supported biblically. However, many believe that people can be endlessly and utterly separated from God — Life Himself — and still be alive, experiencing unending suffering. How can someone be alive if they’re endlessly and completely separated from the Creator and Sustainer of all?
When people are alive, they’re connected to the Life Source; they have the breath of God in them. Even people who are far from God now are connected to Him enough to be alive; they’re still tethered to the Creator. God maintains that connection to give them an opportunity to choose Him. That opportunity spans their lifetime. When they die, their choice is sealed.
At the last judgment, God will honor each person’s choice and accordingly grant them either everlasting life or the second death (the death from which there’s no resurrection). After that point, there will be no life connection — not even a tether — for those who, in their lifetime, chose to stay in rebellion against God.
What would be the purpose of such a tether between the unrepentant and the Life Source? What would be the point of God keeping them alive? I can think of only one purpose: cruelty on the part of the One who is Love. That’s one of the many reasons why the notion of everlasting suffering in hell isn’t just unbiblical; it’s unthinkable.