Embark on an enlightening quest with us as we unravel the essence of divine love and its role in shaping our understanding of God's judgment. Venture beyond conventional beliefs to embrace a narrative where God's discipline is likened to that of a nurturing parent, not the harbinger of eternal punishment. As we dissect the notion of being made in God's image, we confront the illogical notion of predestined condemnation and the idea of an inherent sin nature. Using the book of Colossians as our foundation our discussion veers toward the empowering belief that each of us contains a divine spark, and that life, rather than death, is our ultimate destiny. We examine scriptural affirmations in the book of Hebrews to show our intrinsic value and God's loving correction, drawing parallels to the nurturing guidance provided by loving earthly parents. Through this lens, we perceive a God whose essence is love, offering us pathways to growth and transformation.
The journey continues as we grapple with the idea of purification in place of condemnation, proposing a vision of God's discipline that is temporary and corrective, mirroring the way we, as parents, aim to steer our children towards betterment. With a deep dive into the meaning behind Romans 8:1, we unpack the profound implication that through Christ's reconciliatory sacrifice, grace is a universal gift. This episode is an invitation to reconsider and share a perspective of grace that holds no room for condemnation, setting the stage for our future discussions on the misconceptions surrounding original sin and the reinterpretations of 'hell'. Join us as we forge ahead, hopeful and inspired by the ever-present divine within.
Embark on an enlightening quest with us as we unravel the essence of divine love and its role in shaping our understanding of God's judgment. Venture beyond conventional beliefs to embrace a narrative where God's discipline is likened to that of a nurturing parent, not the harbinger of eternal punishment. As we dissect the notion of being made in God's image, we confront the illogical notion of predestined condemnation and the idea of an inherent sin nature. Using the book of Colossians as our foundation our discussion veers toward the empowering belief that each of us contains a divine spark, and that life, rather than death, is our ultimate destiny. We examine scriptural affirmations in the book of Hebrews to show our intrinsic value and God's loving correction, drawing parallels to the nurturing guidance provided by loving earthly parents. Through this lens, we perceive a God whose essence is love, offering us pathways to growth and transformation.
The journey continues as we grapple with the idea of purification in place of condemnation, proposing a vision of God's discipline that is temporary and corrective, mirroring the way we, as parents, aim to steer our children towards betterment. With a deep dive into the meaning behind Romans 8:1, we unpack the profound implication that through Christ's reconciliatory sacrifice, grace is a universal gift. This episode is an invitation to reconsider and share a perspective of grace that holds no room for condemnation, setting the stage for our future discussions on the misconceptions surrounding original sin and the reinterpretations of 'hell'. Join us as we forge ahead, hopeful and inspired by the ever-present divine within.
Speaker 1:
Welcome and greetings to you. Today I want to continue on the same theme that we've been talking about in the past two episodes, but I want to stretch it beyond evangelism. Many may ask that question after listening to my first two episodes. Well, what about God also being a judge? A judge makes a determination of guilt or innocence right, and God has always addressed judge correct. And doesn't a judge, when guilt is determined, sentence the offender to some form of punishment? We're going to talk about that, but let's first get our theology straight. How we view God is how we're going to view what God does. Do we view God as a loving and merciful God who corrects, or do we view God as an angry judge just waiting for us to slip up so she can condemn us all to hell for eternity? If our destination from birth is hell which is not true, by the way we have to subscribe to the idea we are now born with a sin nature, even before we have sinned. Does this logic make sense in light of God's nature being that of love and that he is the light of the world, and the fact that we are created in their image? Let's think about this logic in practical terms. I give birth to my child, but before I've even given birth, I, their creator, have designated his or her eternal destination to be that of hell, a place of eternal torment and punishment, and I've done this before my child has ever done a thing wrong. I can't think of a thing that my child could do that would warrant punishment for all eternity. Can you Please know that I'm not referring to earthly parents who have been abusive to their kids. That does not reflect the God-given image or responsibilities that parents are supposed to have towards their kids. I'm referring to parents who take their roles and responsibilities seriously and who desire to have their children grow up to be the best version of themselves that they can be. If we, as fallible yet loving human beings, would never put our children into punishment for eternity, why would we think that God, who is love itself, would ever do that to his creation, his very own flesh and blood? He called us not just good but very good when he created us. She never took that designation of us away. We are still their children and we are still their very good creation.
Speaker 1:
Second Peter, chapter one, verses three through four, says by his divine power, god has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence. He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. As children of God, we are sharing in God's divine nature. We never lost it in the garden. We've always, as God's children, been sharing in that divine nature.
Speaker 1:
Some translations use the phrase partakers in the divine nature, but it's always the divine nature. Colossians, chapter one, verse 27 in the King James Version states to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory, of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Because Christ lives inside of us, we get to enjoy the divine nature that resides in us. We have not lost our divine nature. We will never cease to exist and we will not exist in a place apart from God for eternity. It's not possible. If you remove God's divine nature from within us, we would cease to exist at all. And this is not just for Christians, this is for everyone, the fact that we are here and this includes those who have gone before us should show us that we still have God's divine nature inside of us.
Speaker 1:
Seabachster Kruger, in his book the Great Dance, states For good or for ill, what happens to this one happens to us, for good or for ill. What becomes of him becomes of the human race. If he goes down, the cosmos goes down. If he dies, we die. He's referring to Jesus, of course. So if he dies and we die with him, why Paul says it this way in Colossians 1, verses 16 and 17. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. So if he dies, we die. If he lives, we live. And since he lives, we live too, not just in this lifetime but in eternity. We may have been born with a disease, like a child who was born with cancer, but the cancer is not the nature or the identity of that child. The child still has a divine nature, no matter what disease or condition they may be born with.
Speaker 1:
Committing your child to eternal damnation while they are still in the womb? Doesn't that fly in the face of the scriptures that talk about? Even before you were born, I knew you in the womb. And what about the one that says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? Or how about Jeremiah 29-11, for I know the plans I have for you. Declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. How do we justify eternal torment and punishment with loving God? Does God really punish, and for eternity at that? Oh, god does not punish. He corrects, she disciplines, they guide, he coaches, she mentors, they lead, but God does not punish. And he certainly never does any of that eternally.
Speaker 1:
Hebrews, chapter four, or, excuse me, hebrews chapter 12, verses four through 11 in the message Bible says it perfectly In this all out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through, all that bloodshed. So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, then, that God regards you as His children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines the child he embraces. He also corrects. God is educating you. That's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment. It's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us. So why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them, but God is doing what is best for us, giving us to live God's holy best.
Speaker 1:
At the time discipline doesn't seem much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off big time, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. So the discipline that God gives is for our own good and for our growth, not for our punishment for being bad or doing bad things. And remember discipline comes from the same word as disciple. The word disciple means a learner, a pupil. It also means to understand. In the book of Hebrews that we just quoted from the word. Discipline means a trainer, a teacher, a corrector and an instructor or a guide. Putting all that together means that discipline is not at all the same as punishment.
Speaker 1:
We referenced in one of our last episodes the verses from 1 John, chapter 4, verse 18, where there is no fear in love, because fear involves punishment. That word punishment means penal inflection, torment, mutilation, vengeance or penalty. Can you see the difference? God is a good parent and does not punish. He disciplines, and there is a vast difference between the two.
Speaker 1:
Could it be that God's eternal fire of judgment is more about healing and refining and correction and not punishment? God's fire is His passionate love for us, and that is what burns eternally. It is not us burning in some kind of lake of fire. His passion for all things, love, will burn up whatever is not of love and all creation, including humans. You and me, were created in love, no matter the circumstances of our birth. It may be that our actions, our words, our decisions that are all not out of love will burn up, but we ourselves cannot be burned because we are eternal, just like God is, and that is because we carry the divine nature within us. It is our identity.
Speaker 1:
We may go through the refiner's fire, but that is just to purify us, not to condemn us, and it's always temporary. Isn't that what we do with our own kids. We may correct them, we may put them in a timeout or we might ground them for a little while, but isn't it always temporary? There's an expiration date on what we would call punishment always.
Speaker 1:
So why would we think any different of God? Do we somehow think we're better than God, that we can limit our punishment for our own kids but God can't or won't for His or hers? If we think that we are good parents, the perfect parent, the dream parent? In fact, romans 8, verse 1, states that therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, which is everyone, since God in Christ reconciled the world to himself while he hung on the cross. Maybe we should just start believing this to be true about ourselves and about everyone that we come in contact with and share Jesus with them, and see where it goes. In the next few episodes I'll be getting more into detail regarding original sin and how we have drastically misinterpreted the words that are translated into the English word hell. I really look forward to getting into the nitty gritty of that soon. I hope you've enjoyed this. Thank you and have a blessed day.
