Do you choose life or death? - The Bible Concealed

Foreword

In this article, I will tell you how you can get immortality. You may have to die, of course, but only once. Many will also experience a second death. After that, there is nothing. A promising future lies ahead for those to die only once: immortality and life together with God in his New World.

The biblical account of the coming of sin into the world, through Paradise, is bizarre. It would seem to be an eyewitness account, but who has witnessed this event? A witness present who saw and heard what God said to his angels: Gen 3:22″ Jehovah God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever,” 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

– Did Adam and Eve even know about the existence of the tree of life? Another question: wouldn’t it have been easier to cut down this tree on the ground, in which case angelic guarding would not have been necessary at all?

The traditional interpretation of the Bible says that this is how sin came into the world, and Satan rejoiced in his success. Why in the world did God not punish Satan, who was guilty of seducing people into sin? Why did God give the world to Satan? – I will consider these in this article.

People have not even come to think about how big things are. Will sin lead to the destruction of the tens of billions of people who have lived in the world over time and who do not meet the conditions for salvation?

Have God and Christ failed, and Satan won? Does not God’s will be done? He said he wanted everyone to be saved, didn’t he?

Why does man have to die?

Rom 5:12″ Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to everyone, because all have sinned. – 13 For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law.”

3:23″ for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

The consequences of sin in Paradise are enormous. I am sure Eve did not come to think that all mankind would suffer for her transgression. When I first wrote my thoughts on Eve’s transgression years ago, I compared it to a little child going to a biscuit jar, even though the mother has denied it. Adam and Eve had not previously violated God’s command. Could they understand what God meant when he said that they would “surely die” if they ate the fruit of this tree?

Why had God placed such a tree in the middle of Paradise at all? If it was not allowed to be eaten, wasn’t it to test the obedience of Adam and Eve? There was also another tree in Paradise whose fruit would give eternal life. The significance of this tree is also worth considering. It is also worth considering that the whole account is figurative.

Someone won: Satan had a great victory. Satan took control of all mankind. Didn’t God have any alternative to such a great punishment? God, who also sees the future in advance, has, of course, also seen the consequences of this fall. He has had a plan ready; Romans 5:18 “So then, as the fall of one man is come to destruction for all men, so the righteousness of one man is for all men to justify life.” – God’s son Jesus was involved in the plans, perhaps from the very beginning.

More than one hundred billion people have lived in the world over time. The vast majority of these have been Gentiles who knew absolutely nothing about God Jehovah. Indeed, God gave them the celestial bodies to be worshiped (Deuteronomy 4:19) and took only a tiny Jewish tribe as his own people. Are these billions of Gentiles outright doomed?

Romans says: “no record of sin is kept when there is no law.” The explanation is as follows Rom 2:15″ They show that what the law requires is written in their hearts, a fact to which their own consciences testify, and their thoughts will either accuse or excuse them. – Gentiles will not perish if they have lived their lives by doing “works of the law” according to their conscience. In other words, they have been “good people,” even though they have worshiped the planets of heaven or other pagan gods.

What are these works of the law of salvation?

Knowledge of Jesus Christ can be decisive. If a pagan has received sufficient understanding of the gospel of Christ but has not received it, he cannot rely on his pagan history. Knowledge brings with it responsibility. Ignorance is not punished by perdition.

Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 All the nations will be assembled in front of him, and he will separate them from each other as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;

36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”

The works of the law are deeds to show charity. Christ further specifies:

25:40 “And answering, the King will say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it to me.”

Those who do not show such love of neighbor in their lives will be condemned by King Christ to eternal punishment, no matter how believing they may be. Thus, even a Gentile may prove righteous when he conscientiously fulfills the most important commandment of Christ, at least the other side of it, even if this person does not know God Jehovah: “He answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

The good deeds done for the love of a neighbor are considered by Christ to be directed at him.

Mat 25:46″ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.”

How many are the Gentiles who are considered righteous and worthy of eternal life, and how many are those who believe they are righteous but who do not have the love for their neighbor and who do not receive eternal life?

Who are immortal?

God (the Father)

Paul wrote 1 Tim 6:16:” He alone has endless life and lives in inaccessible light. No one has ever seen him, nor can anyone see him. Honor and eternal power belong to him! Amen.”

Jesus Christ

The Bible tells how God the Father gave his son eternal life, i.e., made his son immortal. Joh 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the son to have life in himself. 17:2 Just as you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.”

How did Jesus achieve eternal life? By fulfilling the will of God the Father, living his life without sin, and sacrificing his life for all who believe in him. At the beginning of this article, I told how God gave the world dominion over Satan. With it, humanity as a whole lived in the power of sin — contrary to what God had intended. This sin of mankind meant the power of death, and Christ redeemed mankind from this Kingdom of Satan.

Does God give eternal life to the saved, as he gave Christ, or do they have to eat from the tree of life to survive? In Paradise, Adam and Eve would have gained eternal life by eating from the tree of life, but this tree constantly produces new fruit in God’s New World. I interpret this description as symbolic. People are spirits in God’s New World and do not need fruit to eat. The tree of life that continually bears fruit is a symbol of the continuity of eternal life.

Before the Son of God received eternal life, he sacrificed his own life so that people who believed in him would have the opportunity to have eternal life for themselves. Except for the gift of eternal life, God made his Son “Lord” and “Christ,” or Messiah. Act 2:36 “Therefore, let the entire house of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”

The two verses quoted above are extraordinarily significant. However, most ignore them without realizing their importance. Did you notice my reader? When God the Father gave his son eternal life, it shows that Jesus was before this an ‘ordinary’ mortal. In other words, the son is not God in the same way as the Father because God has always been and always will be God, and as God, he has always been immortal. Why do proponents of the doctrine of the Trinity, that is, the vast majority of Christians, ignore this important argument?

The second verse I quoted tells us that God the Father exalted his son to be Lord and Christ. This, in turn, shows that Jesus was not originally “Lord” and was not “Christ.” It is self-evident to us believers that the Son of God is our Lord and Christ. This would not be the case if God did not make him Lord and Christ.

The most important thing for us is that the purpose of these promotions is for Jesus to “give eternal life to all that you [Father] have given him.” The Bible says this in other words: Joh 3:16″ For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

This means that anyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God will receive eternal life or immortality. It is enough to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. There is no need to believe in a triune God or any other piece of faith. You are allowed to be wrong.

I will tell even more about salvation and the future immortality of people.

Angels

Are angels immortal? Angels are immortal, and their powers exceed the powers of men. They are faithful to God, more intelligent than men, and immortal. Sure, God can undo the immortality of these, but otherwise, they would.

Some people think that after they die, they become angels. Angels and humans have no such connection. Angels and people are dependent on God and accountable to God for all their actions. Angels have been given the ability to appear to humans in human form (including the high-ranking angel Rafael). None of the angels are omnipotent like God. The power of angels always comes from God, and they use their power as representatives of God, never to accomplish their own purposes.

Angels are sometimes referred to in the Bible as “Sons of God” (Gen 6: 2-4). When disembodied, angels do not grow old or die. As spirits, they should not have the same physical needs as humans. However, the Bible tells how they found human daughters lovely and sexually united with them, having children with humans. So, they were also able to take on the human body.

What about Satan? Satan had perhaps the highest position of the angels. According to the Bible, he is the highest angel, the “son of the morning.” He abused his freedom and forsook God. The reason for his fall was pride (1 Tim 3: 6) in his beauty and power. He wanted to be equal to God Himself.

What was Satan’s position based on? Satan is older than Christ, the Son of God. God created angels, and with them, Satan and other high-ranking angels and countless other “Sons of God,” or ordinary angels, servants of God, long before man was created.

Satan could therefore be the highest angelic prince. He is described in the Bible Isa 14:13 “You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north.”

What was the significance of Satan’s high position? He would not have had the right to oppose God’s will. Even other high-ranking angels did not dare to rebuke Satan. Therefore, they could only say, like the archangel Michael, “But not the archangel Michael, when he argued and argued with Satan about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said: May the Lord rebuke you!” (Jud 1:9)

What about the relationship between humans and angels? God created angels before man was created. Angels can be characterized mainly as servants of God. The future of human beings is to become God’s co-workers in God’s New World. The book of Hebrews confirms God’s choice: Heb 2:16 “For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham’s descendants.”

Satan, the god of this world

God created angels and Satan with others. God did not plant the seed of evil in disobedient angels, but Satan was proud of his own beauty and exalted position. He was estimated to be joined by about a third of the heavenly angels. How Satan managed to get so many angels to his side is a mystery. It is not known exactly when Satan’s rebellion began. To Bible readers, Satan appears pretty soon after creation, enticing Adam and Eve in the form of a snake to break God’s command.

God then gave the world domination to Satan. Couldn’t God simply have destroyed Satan when he settled against God’s will? After all, God is omniscient and knows everything in advance. Why has God planned in advance for everything to happen like this? Could it be possible that Satan’s deception came as a surprise? Doesn’t God know everything? After all, God asked Satan when he appeared before God where Satan had been. Walking on earth was Satan’s answer.

The Bible also tells how Satan, to whom God had given the dominion of this world, promised it to Jesus if Jesus would just bow down to Satan, confessing Satan as supreme. Mat 4:8″ Once more the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 4:9 He said to Jesus, “I will give you all of these things if you will bow down and worship me!“ Luke clarified: 4:6 and said to him: “I will give you all this authority and the glory of these kingdoms. For it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please.“

Satan said that the world had been given to him, and he would give it to whomever he wanted. Who could have given this world to Satan? Only God himself can give the dominion of his own creation to whom he wills. God had created the world, and Jesus is the creator of the coming New World.

Jesus probably knew all this, but he also knew that the reign of Satan would come to an end, and Jesus himself would sit next to God on his throne. It is quite possible that Jesus, at that time, when Satan was tempting him, did not know that God the Father would give all power to his son, both in heaven and on earth.

Isaiah predicts the future: Jes 14:12″ Oh shining star, son of the morning, how you have fallen from the heavens! You weakening the nations, you are cut down to the ground. 13 You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit.”

Verse 15 repeats the general narrative of the future in the Bible; some future event is told as if it had already happened.

About the coming war in heaven and the casting of Satan on earth, I have written in a different article and justified its timing and events only at the second coming of Jesus. Most biblical scholars disagree; they believe that war in heaven has already taken place and Satan and his angels have been cast upon the earth. Satan and his demons were already on earth in the time of Christ. The following points support my view: Satan will be thrown into the “deep tomb, or depth.” In other words, he will be imprisoned at the Second Coming of Christ for a thousand years.

Rev 12:10″ Now has come the salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ…” This verse is crucial in interpreting the timing of the above verse. The result and outcome of the war should be the Kingdom of God on earth and the power of the Son of God. These have not materialized, so we continue to await the war and the power of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on earth.

Rev 20:3″ He threw him into the bottomless pit, locked it, and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set free for a little while.”

Christ has not yet come, the Millennial Kingdom has not yet been established, and therefore Satan has not been imprisoned. Nor have Satan’s helpers, the Antichrist, and the false prophet been seen or imprisoned. These will appear and function before the Second Coming of Christ.

Ezekiel 28: 12-15 has an accurate picture of Satan: The Apostle Paul calls him “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4).

The significance of the first resurrection

“How blessed and holy are those who participate in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and Christ, and will rule with him for a thousand years.” (Rev 20:6).

1 Thes 4:16″ With a shout of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

– Jesus promised his disciples to return soon. Here you can read my article. I cannot avoid interpreting this letter to Thessalonians so that Paul and the other apostles must have been waiting for Jesus to come soon. After all, he writes that “then we who are alive…”

The first resurrection will take place at the second coming of Christ. There are two kinds of participants in the first resurrection: the dead in Christ who are resurrected and allowed to rise in the spirit body to receive Christ. In addition to these, some are alive at the coming of Christ. They, too, change from the physical body to the spirit bodies and rise to receive Christ together with the previous group. 1 Cor 15:51,” Let me tell you a secret. Not all of us will die, but all of us will be changed [in spirit bodies].

The Bible calls them “the little flock.” Luke 12:32″ Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” – This little flock has been chosen to rule under Christ in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. Christ and the saints mentioned above will rule, if necessary, with an iron scepter. Rev 19:15″ A sharp sword comes out of his mouth to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” – No sword really comes from the mouth of Christ. This, too, is a figurative expression that is easily understood. After all, we are generally talking about the “sword of the word.”

The Millennial Kingdom of Christ, as its name implies, reigns for about a thousand years. Satan is imprisoned, and his helpers are captured and thrown into the “lake of fire.” Isaiah describes this time of peace and happiness.

The participants of the first resurrection will reign with Christ throughout the thousand years; they have received eternal life, and the second death has no power over them. Revelation 20:6 “How blessed and holy are those who participate in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and Christ, and will rule with him for a thousand years.”

Eternal life

Gen 3:22″ And Jehovah God said [to the angels], Behold! The man has become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and also take from the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever.”

Rev 22:2″ In the midst of its street and of the river, from here and from there, was a tree of life producing twelve fruits: according to one month each yielding its fruit. And the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.

When Adam and Eve were in Paradise, there were two trees specifically mentioned. One of the trees was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were not allowed to eat from this tree, but then Satan, in the form of a serpent, lied to them and caused them to disobey God’s command not to eat the fruit of this tree. This account of the beginning of the Bible, and another account of another tree at the very end of the Bible, is a symbolic narrative, but nevertheless particularly interesting and significant.

After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden tree, the angels were in their throes, and God said: Man has become just like us. Now man can distinguish between what is good and right and what is bad and wrong. And now, lest he put forth his hand and also take from the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever, – The people of Paradise were not originally created to live forever like the angels.

According to the above, the people of Paradise would have been allowed to eat the tree of life and have eternal life for themselves. This was not forbidden to them. Instead, they were forbidden to eat from the tree, which would have resulted in the ability to distinguish between what is good and right and what is bad and wrong. It must be understood that in Paradise, two people hardly needed such an understanding. It was not before the population grew and there began to be a wide variety of people and events in society that it was necessary to distinguish between right and wrong.

What harm would this ability have had to the people of Paradise? Why shouldn’t they have known what is right and what is not? I have asked if this is not the ultimate goal of all Christian education!

However, God and the angels were more concerned with eating the fruit of another tree; by eating from the tree of life, they would live forever. The book of Revelation also talks about this tree. We also get more information: In the new world of God, the Paradise of the saved, there are these same trees. The trees produce a new crop of fruit every month. This suggests that the intention is for people to eat these fruits because the tree constantly grows them. Why should they be eaten? Maybe because they would stay alive indefinitely. Why else?

Very remarkable is John’s statement: the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. How would this be possible? By the time the saved people eat the fruit of the tree of life, the nations have done their job and exist no more. Only the individual saved people eat the tree of life. The “nations” have nothing to do with the holy city descending from heaven, and nothing can heal the nations anymore.

Let’s get back. It is again a figurative expression. There are no trees in this golden and diamond-decorated city. Saved people do not eat any fruit at all because they are spirits. After all, spirits do not eat fruit or any other food. The depiction of the tree of life in God’s new Paradise is intended to reinforce the idea of the eternal life of saved people. Or do you believe that dead people have risen and transformed into spirit bodies and received a saving judgment? Then they have moved back to the physical body to be able to eat the tree of life. I think not!

The significance of faith for life and death

Joh 11:25″ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

A bit cryptically formulated, but the purpose is to say that Christ gives the believer eternal life through the resurrection. Verse 26 means the same thing; even if the believer dies, death is still only a dream-like intermediate journey on the path to eternal life. God’s original purpose is realized through faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:22″ For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.”

What does it mean to die in Adam? Let’s first look at what it means to live in Christ. “Making alive” means “having eternal life in faith in Christ.” Faith in Christ simply means believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Sure, you can believe more about Jesus than what the Bible says. In this article, too, I will say a few important things. Less than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church made salvation conditional on faith as they describe it. It was not based on the Bible, like many other teachings of the Catholic Church. Yet, I believe that Catholics are, as a rule, good believers; their Church just keeps them in its iron grip.

What about “dying in Adam” then? I interpret it as meaning that if you have no faith other than Adam and Eve had as told at the beginning of the Bible, who received upon them the curse and death of God, then you have no hope but to die.

The little child has not sinned, but as he grows up, sin takes hold of him. Man has the opportunity to turn away from evil and return to God, at which point he will receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit and, over time, the fruits of the Spirit. In this way, he becomes a born again, a new creation, and a child of God. The Epistle to Ephesians describes how God makes the dead alive:

Eph 2:1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,

2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air [Satan], the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;

2:5 even we being dead in sins, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are being saved),

According to Paul, people who live according to the way of this world are already dead in their sins while they are alive, but God has saved them by grace through faith.

In the final judgment, Christ and the saints, or participants in the first resurrection, will divide their judgment upon each resurrected according to works. There are two kinds of judgments: favorable judgment, which means eternal life in God’s New World. Second, the second death, which is the final judgment.

See now that I, even I, am he, There is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; There is none who can deliver out of my hand (Deu 32:39)

Isa 25:8″ He will swallow up death in victory! And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from all faces. and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for Jehovah has spoken.”

Eternal punishment: eternal destruction

The Bible uses various names for the eternal punishment imposed by God or Christ, such as the second death, perdition, fiery lake.

Rev 20:14″ And death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. 15 And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.”

Rev 21:8″ But for the cowardly and unbelieving, and those having become foul, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the lying ones, their part will be in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Dan 12:2″ Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

2 Thes 1:9″ Such people will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power,”

Mat 7:13″ Go in through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to destruction, and many people are entering by it.” – Destruction: Greek ἀπώλεια apōleia in Engl. Perishing, ruin, destruction, perdition, utter and ultimate destruction.

Mat 18:14″ Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

Mat 25:41″ Then he [Christ] will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!

The second death

What does the second death mean? It refers to the final punishment given by Christ based on the Last Judgment. The book of Revelation states 20:12″ I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened—the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.”

How would I interpret this verse in Revelation? It clearly states that the dead Christ judged according to what they had done. Verse 21: 8 contains a list of those who will be in the lake of fire. So, they end up in a metaphor called a lake of fire. An old grandmother is afraid to cross the street when the traffic is heavy (coward). The idolaters end up in the lake, even though God showed the Gentiles to serve the celestial bodies. Lying is not beautiful, but it is not explicitly forbidden in the Ten Commandments. And so on. Besides, all of these can be forgiven by asking.

Revelation:

2:11″ Let the person who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will never be hurt by the second death.

20:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire…

21:8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving, and those having become foul, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the lying ones, their part will be in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

What is that punishment? A lake burning with fire and flint: I think it describes the thoroughness and finality of destruction. Many interpret the fiery lake as eternal and endless torture. Would God be such a terrible torturer? What if the “fiery lake” is just a metaphor? That metaphor has been used by the Catholic Church, which has been in power for nearly two millennia, and since then by Protestant churches, and thus has held incomprehensible members of the Church in its grip.

My interpretation is that the second death signifies the complete loss of consciousness.

Who will have to experience the second death? Those who are not saved. There is no conditional punishment, but either or.

What is God’s will? 1 Tim 2:4 “who wants all people to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of the truth.” If this is God’s will, wouldn’t God want to influence humanity so that his will is fulfilled?

How would I define perdition myself?

Perdition is eternal, unchanging, permanent separation from God. What is darkness? When Jesus Christ makes an acceptable judgment, those who receive it will receive the glory of God. Darkness means precisely this lack of brightness. It is not the torture of a lake of fire, but the complete destruction and complete, cessation of all bodily functions and thought activities forever and irrevocably. That person no longer exists, and he doesn’t even know it. After that judgment, it is not possible to have mercy.

Could not such punishment be commonly accepted as annihilation?

Death is defeated

1 Cor 15:26″ The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

Rev 20:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Rev 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be death anymore. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.

What does it mean to “throw Death and Hades into the lake of fire”?

This verse, in my view, is a clear indication only that Death and Hades have been unnecessary since the last judgment. No one sins anymore; all the remaining people have received eternal life. No one dies anymore, and no graves are needed. Death and Hades are figuratively destroyed.

Will the second death also be defeated?

If [the first] death is destroyed so that it no longer exists, what about the second death? Has that too been destroyed? There can be no second death if there is no first. By this question, I mean a new second death. And what about the fiery lake and the punishment of those who suffer there? Will it continue, or will the whole lake wither?

I am sure the fiery lake is just a language that depicts eternal destruction. With the final judgment, those who are not saved will not end up in the fiery lake if it is once removed. But where do they go? Annihilation is one of God’s most unique solutions.

1 Cor 15:53″ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.”

What then does 1 Corinthians 15:26 mean that the last enemy to be destroyed is death? Does God seek to punish Death and the Grave? Have Death and Hades sinned against God? According to the old interpretation, the second death is forever continuing torture in the lake of fire.

So, the second death is defeated; that is, it ends. There is no torture in the fiery lake. Never has been.

Annihilation may be the same punishment as “black darkness,” “deep darkness,” etc. Judah writes about his contemporaries who feast at the love meals of the Church. They are twice dead, for whom “the gloom of darkness is reserved forever.”

Jude 1:12″ These are sunken rocks in your love feasts, feasting together with you, feeding themselves without fear, waterless clouds being carried about by winds, fruitless autumn trees, having died twice, having been plucked up by the roots; 13 wild waves of the sea foaming up their shames, wandering stars for whom blackness of darkness has been kept forever.” – So easily “in your love feasts, feasting together with you, feeding themselves without fear,” is severely punished? They would fall into the gloom of darkness forever. It’s not corporal torture, but Imagine yourself in a dark space, in its black loneliness.

The fiery lake was a figurative expression from the beginning. It was probably based on the punishment of Christ, but it didn’t really happen in the fiery lake, but somewhere else that just used the phrase ‘Fiery Lake.’ I interpret a fiery lake to mean a profound and severe punishment that does not receive mercy. When this punishment now goes away [dies], what will be replaced? When the second death — whatever name it was used — no longer exists, what happens to the people who received this punishment?

A) An eternal and final separation from the glory of God and Christ to the emptiness of darkness, the non-existence of everything.

B) Pardon and forgiveness

Death and Hades are utterly unnecessary because no one will die anymore or sin. The destruction of death and Hades are also figurative expressions. The most important thing is to understand that the first and second deaths are gone, destroyed.

But, let’s go back to the above two options. Both are possible, but what does the judge Jesus Christ agree to? I dare say that even a brief visit to the “lake of fire” or the emptiness of darkness, completely separate from the glory of God, is enough to punish even the most hardened denier of God. It seems best to leave the matter to Christ.

Punishment for angels

Jude 1:6″ And those angels not having kept their first place, but having deserted their dwelling-place, he has kept in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of a great Day.”

Although shackles are “eternal,” however, angels do not have to be chained forever. When you read the end of the verse, it becomes clear that the shackles are until the judgment of the great day (the day of Christ’s judgment). Only then will the final punishment of the angels be known.

The punishment of eternal fire is confused: Jude 1:7, which speaks of the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah, a fire that burns “forever.” Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.”

“Eternal” is a word translated from Greek that has been translated to mean eternal, but which is not. Eternity is a time-bound expression, and a correct translation describing it would be “eon” or similar for a certain, long but predetermined period of time. This also applies to the punishment of angels mentioned above. The translators of the Bible, the Catholic Church Fathers, have indeed taken the opportunity in their translation work. “Eternal suffering in the lake of fire” if you don’t believe as you are taught! This message has made listeners stay in line.

The punishment of the fiery lake is called the Second Death. Or, should its name be “Second Life”? Thrown there, they never die but live and suffer forever. So this is how the word of the Bible has been interpreted for ages. Thus, members of the Church have been ruled with fear for hundreds of years.

Eternal punishment is not eternal. Even Jews believe that the punishment is a year long. If the punishment is not eternal, that is, infinite, what happens to those who have been punished and who are then free from their punishment? Is there a new trial for them? Or will they be among the others saved?

Forced conversion

During the lifetime of the apostles, Saul was a high-level Bible-study leader tasked with capturing Christians and taking them to judgment. As he walked the road to Damascus, the following happened to him:

Act 26:13″ On the road at noon, O King, I saw from heaven a light that was brighter than the sun flash around me and those who were traveling with me,

14 All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice asking me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the goads.’

15 I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you to be a servant and witness of what you have seen and of what I will show you.

17 I will continue to rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you.

18 You will open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that they might receive the forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

In Galatians 1, Paul testifies of Christ’s proclamation of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Saul became the apostle Paul of the nations, the author of many letters, and a devout servant of Christ. I ask: if once a fierce opponent of Christ turns into a devout servant of Christ so easily and quickly, wouldn’t it be logical to think that Christ would convert the judgment-worthy sinners at the Last Judgment in the same way that he converted Paul?

The underlying idea of the Bible is in volunteering. Nevertheless, human history is full of forced conversion; the Gentiles have often been forcibly converted, but Christians have also been held in the “only true faith” using the most horrible coercion. If we could, we would ask Paul himself what he thinks of Christ’s conversion. I guess Paul would testify that Christ’s conversion was the most blessed act of his life.

At the beginning of this article, I wrote how the deeds of charity could save a person who knows nothing about God or Christ. Instead of enforcing the judgment, I wonder if Christ could convert the condemned in the same way that he successfully converted Paul. When Paul was happy about Christ’s interference in his erroneous faith, couldn’t other people be just as satisfied if Christ acted with them in the same way?

Heb 2:16″ For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham’s descendants.” – Will Christ embrace all the more than 100 billion people who have lived in the world over time as the universalists believe and hope? I don’t know what Christ is going to do, but he has some solution. After all, we are all God’s children created in the image of God.

Rev 21:3″ I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

Finally

About three years ago, in December, at the darkest time of the year, late at night, I was going to bed. That’s when I got a vision.

The vision ended, and I was awake for a long time thinking about what I saw. I realized that God promised me his light of truth and required me to boldly write about the truth of the Bible as his truth brightens for me. Therefore, I am sure the Holy Spirit has been involved in my writing. The vision I received required me to write boldly according to my faith. It has not been difficult because the truth of the Bible has opened up to me as I write. “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).

Both I and others who say they know the truth need to think about where to base their message. I don’t want to condemn those who believe otherwise; there is far too much such intolerance in the religious field of the world.

I am not a member of any church. This allows me to write independently without having to care what my own Church thinks. However, I am not trying to offend anyone. Of course, I point my finger at those whose doctrine or action is not following the Bible. Sometimes I also rebuked my God. I often ask why, why? I don’t always remember Isaiah’s reminder: 55:9

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”