Inner Musings

It is quite interesting what developed yesterday after writing my thoughts and frustrations. I started listening to the series Victory in Jesus by Bill Liversidge and my heart was warmed by a clear presentation of the real gospel. My wife and daughter were invited to training for a job and I was invited to work for some friends building an addition on their house. Are these all connected somehow? I suspect so because God often works that way though always unpredictably. Is that last sentence betraying a hidden lie about God? Maybe. Craig Hill says unpredictability is an attribute of people who use shame to control others. And one of the lies we often entertain about God is that He is arbitrary and unpredictable and we can never know His will for our lives. That is anti-covenant thinking. I need to understand much better the concept and arrangements provided for me in the Covenant and start living, thinking, feeling and resting in confidence and assurance. God never changes His mind about me and He has already placed me in His salvation arrangement. I am free to live from my heart and make mistakes without worrying that I will suddenly lose salvation or God's favor. How I need to understand this much more clearly and have it permeate all regions of my brain and heart.

Jesus in Hell

The belief that Jesus went to “hell” after He died and suffered and/or fought the Devil is a subtle and fatal twist on truth from Satan himself. It reinforces the lie of righteousness by works. It teaches that there is no resting from works even for the Son of God, that He had to fight and struggle even after His ultimate sacrifice to force His victory onto the enemy. It totally undermines the whole critical concept of Sabbath rest that God wants us to experience to enjoy His salvation. It puts the focus on continual achieving and always needing to do a little more to change God's mind about us. It puts God and Jesus in an adversarial relationship if Jesus came to quell God's wrath.

If Jesus and God are one in thought and heart, how could Jesus suffer the wrath of an angry God toward sinners as is mostly believed and taught? Was Jesus' wrath burning against Himself? Did Jesus suffer the pain and penalty of “hell” before or after He died? If Jesus descended after death to a place of physical burning and torture, why was just one day enough punishment for Him who carried the sins of the whole world but an eternity of suffering is required for each lost sinner to be tortured by God as most Christians believe?