In Gen 3:22-24 it is written, “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’– therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” If mankind was not created to live forever except that he or she would eat from the tree of life, how is it that it is taught that evil men and women shall live forever in the fire? In Isaiah 5:24 it is written , “Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” And in Malachi 4:1 it is written, “‘For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘That will leave them neither root nor branch.'”

In Second Peter 2:4 it is written, “God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast down into hell and delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” In Revelation 20:14 it is written, “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.” If the angels (fallen angels) delivered in to hell are in chains of darkness and Hades (hell) is to be cast into a lake of fire (which burns with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8)), why is it taught that hell is already a place of fire and brimstone? Hell is the absents of God and is darkness (void of light).

Who cares? We, Christians, have not been called to teach the kingdom of darkness and the good news is not, “You aren’t going to hell.” We are called to teach the kingdom of God. We are called to teach the good news of the kingdom of God (Mark 16:15) – that through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven (Luke 24:46-47) – that all authority has been given to Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18) – that through Jesus Christ we are united with God (John 17:21) and can live in the kingdom of God (Matt. 25:34). We are called to be one in God (John 17:21). We are not called to be in hell or have any part of hell. Jesus Christ overcame Satan (Matt. 4:1-10 & Luke 4:1-12). Jesus Christ is how we overcome the kingdom of Darkness (John 8:12). Darkness is where the fallen angels dwell (2 Peter 2:4). We, Christians, are called to be a light (Matt. 5:16) and not darkness.

Praise God that He has given (granted) to us a King. In John 6:65 Jesus said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” Our King prepares our place in the kingdom of God. In John 14:2-3 He said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” That is the good news we are to be speaking. What a wonderful God we serve!

Jesus Christ is the answer to life so we do not need to ask the question, “What is hell?” It is a place that God has reserved for the Godless and not a place for the faithful if your faith is in Jesus Christ. What Christians should be teaching is the love of God that sent His Son to die for our sins (1st John 4:10). In Second John 1:9 it is written, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.” What is the doctrine of Christ? “Not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it” (2nd John 1:5-6). We walk in Jesus Christ; we walk in the forgiveness that is Jesus Christ – the love of God. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1st John 4:10). We walk in God’s love that is His Son sent as the propitiation ( the act of favorably disposing of) for our sins. That is the Good News!!!

© 2004 Tim D. Coulter Sr.