Scott Downey
Well-Known Member
That gulf and being able to talk across it was before the resurrection.~
It's one thing to discuss Hell from the perspective of an armchair expert with
no emotional attachment, while quite another when one of your own might
be down there.
My kid brother decided early to live life on his own terms and not allow
religion to get in his way. As a result, he was secular his entire life before
passing away back in March of 2016 at 71 of pancreatic cancer. Well; if
there's a Hell, it's pretty certain my brother is down there; and that
suspicion has a very strong effect on my thoughts and feelings about eternal
suffering.
The thing is; my brother isn't just another nondescript skull in the gene
pool: he's my kin, my very next of kin actually, We were born the same
year: me in January and him in December. We grew up in the same home,
were nurtured by the same parents, ate the same foods, attended the same
church, and slept in the same bed for a while till dad got us some bunks. We
had mostly the same friends, and kept each other company and were
playmates together for quite a few years throughout childhood. Our life
together as juniors joined us at the hip, so to speak: forging a lifelong bond
that no amount of disagreement had ever broken.
My brother is a pretty tough guy, but Hell is designed to break people down,
and I fear that today my once-fearless adventuresome brother is now a
squeaky little whimpering gerbil wishing he'd taken an interest in religion
when it mattered the most.
There's an incident depicted in the 16th chapter of Luke wherein folks on
both sides of the afterlife are able to communicate. Well; I hope that's still
possible because I'd really like to visit my brother as often as I can before
he's transferred to the lake of fire depicted by Rev 20:11-15 because after
that, it's very likely I'll never get to see him ever again. And it appears from
Rev 21:3-5 that we're in for a memory wipe so I'll not even remember his
name and it'll be like he never existed; which is actually a blessing because
it would be very unpleasant to have thoughts of my kid brother haunting me
forever.
_
At his ascending, Christ led the captivity captive ( OT saints in Sheol) and gave gifts to men.
So that good place of Sheol, called paradise for the OT saints who died, ascended into heaven with Christ.
Christ tells the thief he will be with Himself in Paradise when they die.
Christ descended into hell - sheol, the part of which is called Paradise.
So they both went there at first, not heaven.
After the resurrection Christ ascends to the right hand of God in heaven, leading the captivity captive, so he took them with Himself when He ascended.
Ephesians 4
8 Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also [a]first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
In Revelation we see Paradise is in heaven, as also is the tree of life. So quite possible IMO, paradise or Eden remained on the earth until the Flood of Noah, and then descended into Sheol to become the dweilling place of the righteous dead before Christ was born.
Revelation 2:7
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’
This actually shows completeness, the salvation of all saints in both ancient times and up till today, God made a way for them to be perfected with Christ. Christ went after them in Sheol to bring them also into Heaven, following the pattern established by God for the salvation of all the righteous and just dead in the Lord.