‘Hell’ is a Misunderstood Concept in Christianity

Someone asked in Yahoo Answers this question: “Do you believe in hell?” The following is a very good answer that is based on sound Biblical interpretation and historical research.
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‘Hell’ was a borrowed term from pagan tradition by Roman Catholic Church during the reign of Constantine.

In the Bible, the term ‘hell’ was mistranslated by the translators. So yes, it is an invention of the Church empire for the purpose of controlling of masses.

As for ‘heaven’, the apostle Paul stated it in Ephesians 2:6 that the entire Human race has been raised to heavenly places IN Christ Jesus. As in Adam all die, so in Christ ALL and the entire human race will be made alive as they come to knowledge of Christ. And it is my conviction that hell or heaven is in one’s consciousness. When the apostle John mentioned heaven in Rev 21:1, “a new heaven and a new earth” is not referring to terrestrial or celestial bodies, etc. Rather he was talking about ‘covenantal transition’ – the ending of the Old Covenant Mosaic world of sin and sacrifice and the coming in of the endless New Covenant age of mercy and GRACE – the ages to come, a “world without end” Eph 3:21; Isa 9:7; Isa 54:17.

I encourage everyone (NOT ONLY YOU) to not buy into the popular Church idea that “If you believe in Jesus you will go to heaven, and if you don’t believe in Jesus you will go to hell” — it is the most ridiculous idea that has been sold to us by the man behind the Curtain. The Bible says that when we die, the body returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). We don’t go to heaven or hell. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life and there is nothing spiritual about it. It is all Pagan. The Christian religion set back history at least by 2000 years. We think the way people in Old Testament time thought because of the lie that we have been told all our lives.

You know what is the negative side of it all? Hell is nothing but ignorance or the absence of the love of God. Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of HADES (most translations say ‘hell’) will not overcome it”. So, what is ‘hell’ in this context? Ignorance, living in the absence of love and grace and darkness is ‘hell”, so Jesus was telling Simon, “Son of Jonah, I tell you, you are Peter, son of God, upon this rock (UPON THIS UNDERSTANDING OF WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST) I will build My church.” (petros = a portion of rock from petra = a mass of rock) A chip of the old block! The ekklesia is the expression of the fact that the son of man is the son of God, the fact that man began in God, and His image and likeness is redeemed in human form! So, hell is nothing but “Identity crisis”. In my opinion. Be Free!!=:)

(Adapted from Yahoo Answers)

Related links:
Hell is a Christian hoax
Has God been misrepresented by Christianity?
Bible Translations that Do Not Teach Eternal Torment

When we discover Jesus’ identity, we discover our own identity

We all may have some sort of identity crisis at some points in our life – we may either have a poor, beaten down image of ourselves, or an elevated view of ourselves. We would ponder over questions like “where do we come from?”, and “what is our purpose in life?” But once we realise who Jesus Christ is, we will actually discover our true identity – that we are made in His image. Jesus has come to be our perfect representative, and all His divine attributes of power, love and sound mind become ours.

The only accurate picture of ourselves we can have is to see ourselves in Jesus’ image. The following is an awesome revelation shared by Francois du Toit.

“In Matthew 16 Jesus asks the most important question in the Bible, “Who do men say that I the son of man am?” By revelation, Simon asserts in response that Jesus is not the son of Joseph, but the Messiah. He is the promise of man’s redemption, the image and likeness of God fully displayed in human form; the son of the living God.

Notice how Jesus responds to him: “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Father. If I am the son of God, then so are you. I have come to reveal that man began in God, and not in father’s seed or in his mother’s womb! Jer.1:5. Your surname is no longer derived from your father in the flesh but from the Rock that begot you. (“You have forgotten the rock that begot you and the God who gave birth to you…” Deuteronomy 32:18. “Look to the Rock from which you were hewn…” Isaiah 51:1) Upon this Rock, I will build My church (Greek, ekklésia).”
- Francois du Toit

“Hades is a compound word like most Greek words, ha, negative, or not + ideis, to see. Thus the blindfold that traps mankind in ignorance about their true identity will not prevail”
- Francois du Toit

The gate of hades in Caesarea Philippi, Israel, where Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is a rocky place, where the main cave was traditionally known as the 'gate of hades'. Jesus took the opportunity to give Peter the revelation of his true identity in Christ, and said the gates of ignorance shall not prevail against the church upon this revelation of their identity in Christ.

Hades is a place of ignorance, where there is an absence of knowledge of God nor the true identity of humankind. Praise the Lord for the revelation, for when people’s eyes are opened to see who Jesus is, and realise He is their true identity, the gates of ignorance shall not prevail against the church. Instead, the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth, as more and more people shall see their true identity in Christ, through the preaching of the gospel. And they and we all shall continue to be transformed from glory to glory into His same image, as we behold His glory and see ourselves in Him as in a mirror reflection: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and “as He is, so are we in this world”.

It’s all about relationship. God created us to have fellowship with Him. Because of Adam’s disobedience, man lost his original identity. But by Jesus’ obedience at the cross, man was restored to fellowship with God.

We now realise the significance of Jesus giving Simon bar Jonah (son of Jonah) a new name Peter, which means “rock”. It’s wonderful how Francois drew out the revelation from the old testament to explain the new testament concerning Jesus as our new identity. Jesus is the Rock of Ages, and He has hidden us in that Rock - “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (who is our Rock)” (Colossians 3:3)