Did Jesus die in vain? Believers of an eternal hell obviously think so. Author M. Chamberlain writes:
Isaiah 53:11 says “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.” Will He be satisfied to see that His death for ALL men was a failure? Or that out of the billions of precious souls He gave his life for, only a tiny fraction will be saved and the rest will be tormented forever? To me it is inconceivable that God’s plan to save the world should end in failure – that this would be the result of the agony of the eternal Son. The advocates of everlasting hell would have us believe that God Almighty devised a plan before the foundation of the world to save mankind and sent His only begotten Son to accomplish His plan by dying on the cross, and yet for most of mankind, His plan was a colossal failure. I can understand people who deny the deity of Christ, believing in His defeat; but it is incredible that those who believe in Him to be God Almighty are the loudest in asserting his failure.
A purpose of love declared for all that actually only reaches a few?
Honestly, none of the proponents of an everlasting hell actually live as if he believes that all around him are millions of people heading for eternal hell without a chance of escape without hearing and accepting the message that he possesses! It is impossible! Who would dare so much as to smile if he really believed that a member of his household was headed to a place of unending, unspeakable anguish and pain? Marriage would be a crime; every birth would be an occasion of awful dread. It is positively immoral to bring a new life into this world if you believed that your child could possibly end up being tortured forever! To perpetuate the human race would be to perpetuate endless misery for millions of souls. If people really believed in everlasting hell the world would be a madhouse!
To illustrate further that no one really believes this horrible doctrine, look at the way people act at funerals. A man dies, a nice guy, a decent man by worldly standards, but not a Christian. According to the popular creed, he has gone to hell forever. But who REALLY believes that? Instinctively, our words grow softer when we speak of the dead. Do pastors really believe what they profess? If they do, why are they so often silent? It would be impossible for anyone who really believed in everlasting torment to stay silent.
Isaiah 53:11 says “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.” Will He be satisfied to see that His death for ALL men was a failure? Or that out of the billions of precious souls He gave his life for, only a tiny fraction will be saved and the rest will be tormented forever? To me it is inconceivable that God’s plan to save the world should end in failure – that this would be the result of the agony of the eternal Son. The advocates of everlasting hell would have us believe that God Almighty devised a plan before the foundation of the world to save mankind and sent His only begotten Son to accomplish His plan by dying on the cross, and yet for most of mankind, His plan was a colossal failure. I can understand people who deny the deity of Christ, believing in His defeat; but it is incredible that those who believe in Him to be God Almighty are the loudest in asserting his failure.
A purpose of love declared for all that actually only reaches a few?
Honestly, none of the proponents of an everlasting hell actually live as if he believes that all around him are millions of people heading for eternal hell without a chance of escape without hearing and accepting the message that he possesses! It is impossible! Who would dare so much as to smile if he really believed that a member of his household was headed to a place of unending, unspeakable anguish and pain? Marriage would be a crime; every birth would be an occasion of awful dread. It is positively immoral to bring a new life into this world if you believed that your child could possibly end up being tortured forever! To perpetuate the human race would be to perpetuate endless misery for millions of souls. If people really believed in everlasting hell the world would be a madhouse!
To illustrate further that no one really believes this horrible doctrine, look at the way people act at funerals. A man dies, a nice guy, a decent man by worldly standards, but not a Christian. According to the popular creed, he has gone to hell forever. But who REALLY believes that? Instinctively, our words grow softer when we speak of the dead. Do pastors really believe what they profess? If they do, why are they so often silent? It would be impossible for anyone who really believed in everlasting torment to stay silent.We are embedded with instincts for earthly survival. Then, by the same means, if our souls are actually at risk of eternal damnation, we would all be equipped with hyper-state-of-emergency-soul-preserving instincts to panic and save, not only ourselves, but our kin and children for whom instincts tell us to take care of. I don't know many people who inately freak out to "save" their children and kin from "eternal damnation", let alone themselves. God speaks to us through our nature and our nature is to rejoice at such things weddings and births and to feel solemnity and reverence when someone dies. God extends Himself to us via these instincts. It is His way of lovingly directing us. Why do people have such a hard time believing that how they naturally feel in these instances is the way they are programmed to feel by The Creator? Our instinct is more powerful than the false doctrine of hell. It is much more consistent and much less dogmatic. It is supposed to be. Because eternal hell does not exist.
1 comment:
I love this..."Our instinct is more powerful than the false doctrine of hell. It is much more consistent and much less dogmatic. It is supposed to be." Well said. Here's to that of God that is in all of us.
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