It's not the Child's fault you were not there.
God is still with us, with the holy spirit.
Though on the other hand, there were people before there was Jesus, are they in Hell?
Before Christ, sins were forgiven with the blood of a lamb by the Covenent of Grace, think of it like a symol or promise of what was to come. Once Christ died, he was the ultimate sacrifice cleansing all the sins of those who believe.
I put this question to a friend of mine who is a divinity student and here is the response....
"The Old Testament has no Hell; it has "sheol", which is simply a "realm of the dead". People were usually thought of as sleeping there; the New Testament frequently refers to those who have "fallen asleep" when it means those who have died. So, it's not so much they "went to hell" as they were just *dead*.
It's also worth noting that it's not entirely clear *when* people go to Heaven; Revelation makes it clear that some of the Saints are already there, but also has people making it in only at the End Of Things when the Book of Life is opened. There's also the apparent conflict between Jesus's statements about "Not all those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father" and his statement on the cross to the thief that "This day you shall be with me in paradise". The most common reconciliation between these two ideas is to point out that, since the End Times happen at the "End of Time", time functions oddly, and so it is possible for those who enter Heaven at the End of Times to *already* be there, despite the fact that the Earth has yet to end. Another possible reconciliation is it seemed like "this day" to the thief, because he didn't experience anything between his death and the Ressurection of the Dead (so that it seemed to him to be the same "day" as when he had died). The fine points of this doctrine have essentially no practical application, so it's not really very important. Suffice to say, though, it's clear that time acts kinda quirky when you're dealing with things that happen after time ends.
The traditional interpretation, though, which has some possible Scriptural support fot it, is that when Jesus descended into hell he released the Old Testament Saints, and this was part of what it meant to "break the chains of death".
Hope this clears things up a little.
Grace & Peace,
Daniel "
