HOW EMBEDDED IS THE BELIEF IN HELL?

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1 HOW EMBEDDED IS THE BELIEF IN HELL? Some thoughts to ponder: 1. If God did not create hell and Satan, by deception created a myth, you are attributing an act of Satan to God. This is Blasphemy. 2. If God is the creator of hell and I am giving Satan the credit, this is only a mistake. 3. A mistake is much less offensive than blasphemy. 4. Blasphemy is an unforgiveable sin that means you will not receive healing if you are sick. 5. Jesus said, Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say be healed? 6. Only the Perfect Love of God casts out fear. Fear is the source of Stress. Stress is the source of innumerable diseases. 7. Emulating the love of a God that punishes for disobedience does not have power to impart the Perfect Love of God. For a year I have been confronted with different answers to the question of hell being a myth or a fact. Here is a summary of a few answers I have received: 1. I know hell is probably a myth but don t try to change my mind. 2. I would rather be wrong about hell and die than to be right and live. 3. Changing my belief in hell, although incorrect, is less painful than admitting I have been wrong for so many years. 4. My ego prevents changing my mind. 5. My pride, what will my friends think if I admitted being wrong for so many years? 6. If I changed my mind I would be called a Heretic. 7. If I changed my mind about hell being a myth, I have fear that hell could be real and a place where God really punishes for eternity and that would cancel my acceptance of Jesus forgiveness. 8. What will God do if I admit being wrong about hell? 9. If I stop believing in hell I ll have to throw the rest of the Bible out. 10. My life is comfortable and I am satisfied with my relationship with God and I am not willing to change any of my beliefs. I realize my belief has a great influence on my family and in my sphere of contacts. The belief that hell is a location designed by God for everlasting punishment for everyone, excluding Christians, does not have a single scripture for proof. 1

2 Hell s only foundational substance is a cultural belief, without any scriptural proof, that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Jesus death and resurrection enabled the world to live under a New Covenant that starts in the book of Acts. Hebrews 8:12, 13 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he said, a new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decayed and waxed old is ready to vanish away. God is repeating what He prophesied to Jeremiah that under the New Covenant, Sins and iniquities will not be an issue with Him because Jesus will unilaterally expiate or eliminate the power and consequences of sin for the entire world. John 1:29 God made a New Covenant with humanity at the expense of His Son s experience on the cross. The Old Covenant is ready to vanish but there are countless Christians hanging on to the Old like a security blanket that has no security. Revelation 20:14, 15 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This sounds scary if taken literally. Remember the translators were all raised under the cloak of Catholicism. Dante s Inferno using Pagan gods of wrath and anger to emulate the real God had, for three centuries, falsely portrayed the real God of love and mercy. Dante was an Italian poet and artist that influenced masses to fear a Pagan type of God who was substituted for the real God of unconditional love. Pagan gods were always angry and showed no mercy for mankind. Death and hell are combined four times in the New Covenant because Death requires a grave or hell. Death and hell cast into the lake of fire means that death is totally destroyed. The Lake of fire is a Jewish idiom that implies, Total destruction or elimination. The second death follows Jesus first death on the cross that initially abolished death. Whosoever should be Whatsoever. Not found written should be, Not described. Verse 15, now reads, Whatsoever is not described in the New 2

3 Covenant will be totally eliminated. These two verses are addressing a time when Jesus has returned. Allow a detour in this discussion. Jesus spoke from the cross that the thief would be with him in Paradise after he died. I believe Paradise is an education academy where God dwells where everyone who has died have gone to learn what they should have learned here on earth. The resurrection will be Graduation Day in Paradise where departed spirits will receive a new body and return to earth. I Peter 4:6 For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. The gospel of the kingdom will be taught in Paradise and the things men did on earth will describe their errors and they will learn how to live the way God has planned. Paraphrased. Hell is mentioned 8 times in the New Covenant and it is impossible to glean any evidence of hell as a location for eternal punishment: 1. Twice in Acts as a grave where Jesus spent 3 days and nights. 2. Once in James referring to an unruly tongue causing harm. 3. Once in I Peter and the word for hell is Tartartoo is used once in the entire Bible as a position that a fallen pastor occupies for Godly correction. 4. Once in Revelation about Jesus locking or destroying death and hell the first time. 5. Three more times in Revelation where death and hell are combined for ones who have already died and have gone to Paradise. 6. Hell is spoken 16 times in the four gospels as Jewish idioms and a Babylonian metaphor about a gulf separating a rich man and Lazarus. 7. The only definition of hell is a grave or a burning trash dump outside Jerusalem where bodies were cremated or we would speak today, in a contemporary idiom, about something worthless, Throw that in the trash. 8. Jesus said Pluck your eye out simply means to change your wrong perception about something. Cutting a hand or foot off is an idiom describing an act following an incorrect perception. 3

4 The humanistic odds or probability for anyone to change their mind about hell are slim or none. The same odds of probability existed 517 years ago last August for anyone who considered the world was a sphere or globe and not flat. A Genoese mariner named Christopher Columbus believed the world was a sphere because the word of God, contrary to religious perception and the majority of people, spoke that the world was a sphere. Anyone who opposed the Flat World Society were met with violence. Some were tortured and killed. Others were put into insane asylums. Just 120 years ago a young medical doctor was declared insane when he proposed that infant death after birthing was due to infection and could be avoided by washing hands between child births. He died in an insane asylum at the age of 45. What I am attempting to illustrate, An embedded wrong belief has enormous affect on a life and in the sphere of influence of that life, including family. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. Columbus s voyage experience proved the world wasn t flat by sailing beyond the Edge. Cleansed hands by experience were proven to reduce infant s death. My personal experience, that removed a belief in hell, happened without trying to twist my mind or change what I had accepted my entire life as a fact. I believe the process started when I asked God to reveal truth to me, regardless of the consequences, and what others would think. The revelation began to manifest the moment I agreed to believe and accept as truth, II Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. It was easier for me to eliminate the possibility of death than to eliminate the belief in hell. John 3:14-16 verses all speak of immortality. As Moses lifted up the serpent to prevent physical death so should the Son of Man be lifted up to prevent physical death. Once I moved into the dimension of Immortality I have been amazed how much Immortality is talked about. It is everywhere in scriptures. 4

5 Death requires a grave which is one of two synonyms for hell. The other is geenna and was a burning trash dump outside of Jerusalem. Death is believed and accepted as a fact because, so far, everyone dies, Jesus, Enoch and Elijah excluded. My focus, If Jesus abolished death, as God spoke through Paul in his letter to Timothy, I made a decision by faith to believe God and not the universal fact, Everyone dies. Once I made the decision to accept the belief in immortality, death and hell disappeared as something out of the distant past. I actually do not understand Immortality because it exists in a dimension of time that is not linear. It is impossible to understand a dimension unless it is lived in. What I do know, my decision to believe the impossible, has transformed my life more than anything I have experienced in 55 years walking with the Lord. Just the fact, to focus on life instead of death, has an incredible reaction for health and prosperity and attracting the things I set my heart on. Faith is trusting God s words even if opposed to facts or circumstances. Miraculous things began to happen in my life when I choose to trust God s word, realizing the ridicule believing in immortality would create: 1. I started feeling better because I stopped believing in sickness, disease and accidents that cause death. 2. A belief in death is a belief in sickness, disease and accidents that cause death. It is hard to pray to be healed and believe in sickness. 3. Physical symptoms relating to aging stopped. Actually aging is a disease that God promised to heal in Psalms I continually experience Peace, Righteousness and Joy in the Holy Spirit. 5. I am aware that I am living in the Kingdom of God where there are no diseases, sicknesses or accidents that cause death. 6. There is no fear in my life because I am emulating the Perfect Love of God that casts out fear. 7. My love for God, my Father, Jesus, my brother and the Holy Spirit is beyond anything experienced in my 54 years walking with the Lord. 8. My love for all humanity has eliminated judging others based on their performance. I lost the ability to criticize anybody or any religions and now I see and love people through the eyes of Jesus. 5

6 9. I have noticed that anyone in my presence or on the phone seem to respond to the love of God flowing through me to them. I expect and receive favor from ones in my sphere of contacts. To believe that I have total knowledge and there is nothing remaining to learn or everything I know is not subject to change means I am going to continue to believe the same way and disregard new spiritual revelations. My 84 years of an exciting and fulfilling life has been wonderful. 25 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren is way beyond my expectations, and I am very grateful to my heavenly Father for choosing me to be His son and representative on earth. Looking back at my life, I asked myself, If I knew then what I know now about the unchangeable and immutable laws of God would I have done things differently? The answer is, Absolutely. But here are the facts, I followed and obeyed my Father to the then existing available spiritual revelations and knowledge. Today, in the year 2009, Quantum Physics has unveiled an incredible new opportunity to know and experience a relationship with God that has only been available a short time. Some continue with the same beliefs and expects different results. Einstein said, It is impossible to correct a problem using the same beliefs that created the problem. An easily understood principal, Believing in death means I also believe in sickness, disease and accidents that will cause death. Or in another way, I accept Satan s authority over my life to steal, kill and destroy. I elected to refuse the Death in process package Satan had been attempting to have me accept for 50 plus years. I made a decision to believe God and accept and sign for the package Jesus came to earth, To abolish death and give Chuck Wardman immortality. My personal experience is not conveyable to anyone but the process to acquire your own personal experience is your choice and responsibility. The experience of a new reality is not transferrable but should be a motivation to seek how the experience was created. Here are a few suggestions to discover a new reality: 6

7 1. For a test question and to recognize God voice, ask God if He has a Son named Jesus. In your spirit you will hear, Yes. 2. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice. 3. Ask God if His love for you is unconditional, like the Prodigal Son. 4. Ask God if He meant My kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven 5. Ask God did Jesus come to earth to prepare for an abundant life now. 6. Ask God if Jesus was the Last Adam. 7. After hearing from God, consider that Life is always, Zoe in the original Greek and speaks about living now and never suggests a life after dying. 8. Eternal life is before death and is another term for Jesus abolishing death. 9. Adam introduced physical death to humanity. 10. Jesus, as the Last Adam reversed the first Adam s introduction of death. 11. Jesus message was the Gospel of the kingdom. There are no new truths. All truth has always existed but a belief in a new truth makes it new as though it never existed. Accepting a here-to-forth unknown reality has nothing to do with a perception of Right or Wrong. Does the new reality have evidence to support the belief? In the scientific world a new fact must be supported by evidence. Newtonian Physics is the Hallmark of science for this world. Mathematical formulas were unquestioned and inerrant in scientific circles. Newtonian physics has innumerable applications to the human experience of living. Gravity is one. Quantum Physics has application to the spiritual dimension but was not discovered thinking about or using spiritual principals. The exploring and seeking truth scientists had no concern for proving the basis of God creating the Universe with His words. It is the first time in the history of the world that the Spiritual and the Scientific are in agreement. Or, science has finally agreed with what God spoke many centuries before: Faith is the substance (matter) of things hoped for and the evidence of things (matter) not seen. Hebrews 11:1 The science of Quantum Physics discovered that the last element or particle in an Atom when reduced to its final or last facet was a Vibration of energy as in spoken words. 7

8 The seen world was created by the unseen world. In the beginning God spoke nine times and the universe and its contents, including man on planet earth, were created. The Universal Law to create the seen by the unseen is God s design and plan for man to create his own abundant life and fulfill what Jesus came to earth and promised as spoken in John 10:10b. An individual believing God is responsible to fulfill His promises will live in John 10:10a, Satan has come to steal your health and make you sick or cause an accident to kill you. God does not create the substance of your faith God s law enables you to create the substance of your faith. The following thoughts are a summary of our discussion: 1. God is a Spirit and covenants with the spirit of man. 2. God created Adam in His spiritual image and likeness. 3. Humanity are all descendants of Adam and are children of God. 4. God does not covenant with the flesh or body of man. 5. Man s sin has earthly consequences and does not separate God from man. 6. God sent Jesus to earth with a cure for the earthly consequences of sin. 7. Moses said in Numbers that the spirits of all flesh are from God. 8. Solomon said, at death the flesh returns to the earth from where it came and the spirit goes to God who gave it. 9. The heart or blood pump is the spiritual connection to God and compares to the brain s relations with the flesh or body of man. 10. The heart has 60 times the electrical and 5000 times the magnetic energy of a brain. 11. The heart and the brain have dialog. 12. Words emanating from the heart overpower the brain s subconscious. 13. Out of the abundance of my heart my mouth speaks. 14. Whatever I desire to happen in my life I visualize and speak to my heart that sends the creative words to my brain. 15. My brain receives the creative words and signals my flesh to respond and create what the spoken words represent. The abundant life. c.wardman@cox.net October 10,