That’s not how it works – Hell and Damnation

Greetings Dear Reader,

Before anyone thinks I am about to be extreme on either end of this issue I wish to be clear that I am not.  What I wish to focus on is that a focus on eternal torture is not how it works.  I believe that we can find ourselves in this situation but this is not the focus of the Gospel.

When I first found Christ I found myself associated with two groups of people.  One of them, not the church I chose to attend, focused on the anger, judgment, and condemnation from God.  So much of the constant message form this group was that we are worthless fallen humans with no value until we give ourselves over to Christ.

That is not how it works.  Are we fallen?  Yes, we are.  Do we have the power to do anything of eternal value outside of Christ?  No, we do not.  The problem with a focus on hell and damnation is that it ignores how God works.

Whilst I believe in value the Bible I try not to thump on it.  It is the source and filter for my beliefs.  The most commonly known passage in the world is written by Jesus’ best friend.  “God love the world so deeply that he gave us his only natural Son so that anyone who believes in him would have everlasting life.”

That is how it works.  The prime mover of the Gospel is love.  The benchmark of those who believe is supposed to be love.  The plan for our redemption is that God loves us and wants to bring us back to his family.  He is also not someone who forces us to be a part of that family.

If someone spends the life they are given rejecting God they send the message they want no part of his family.  Over and over they push back the natural and specific calls to follow Christ home.  At the end of life if one has told God clearly that his Son and his followers are not what one wants, is not then separation from that God giving one what has been requested?  Is it not a Father giving a recalcitrant child exactly what that child demands?

For me, I must devote my life to showing the love and compassion of Christ.  I must do what I can to be an example of love and redemption.  Judging and condemning others is not my place.  By living out the example of love and kindness that Christ commanded perhaps I can help others reconnect to the Father that loves them.  “By this will all men know that you are my disciples: By your love for each other.”  That is how it works.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)