As you can see in my previous posts, the existence of Hell is debatable to say the least. But if you are to believe the Bible to be anything other than complete BS, then you can't deny the fact that Christ is the Messiah sent to save us all from eternal damnation. There is far too much indisputable scripture in the Old Testament pointing to our need for a savior and predicting exactly how he would come and what he would do.
Christ himself was either a mad man or the savior. He can't possibly be seen as just a good guy or a prophet. He claimed over and over again to be God's son, and the messiah. So if you believe he is not the Messiah, then you have to believe he was insane. I choose to believe he was the messiah, and his sacrifice was made because God loved us and wanted to give us eternal life, but he couldn't do that without first having our sins paid for.
The story of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis is perhaps the greatest allegorical story to truly explain what Christ was doing. A sacrifice had to be made. Our sins could not go unpunished, and God chose to take the punishment himself instead of giving it to us. Darkness can not exist inside of light. Our sins had to be washed clean in order for us to enter the presence of God.
So then if there is no Hell, then what is Christ saving us from and who is he saving? This is certainly up for debate. In my humble opinion Christ is saving us from eternal death. We literally would cease to exist. You could also argue that our soul somehow would live on in a void apart from God. Maybe even a purgatory type of place where you go and wonder? Maybe you believe in Ghosts and our spirit roams the earth, or reincarnation. But one thing is clear. You can't enter God's presence or Heaven for that matter without the sacrifice Christ made.
Who did he make it for? I believe he made it for everyone. The Bible is pretty specific about that. The bigger question is whether everyone will be allowed to take advantage of that sacrifice. The Bible says there is a book of Life and either your name is in it or it isn't. It paints the image that either you accept God's grace and you can enter heaven or you don't. “too often, I am afraid, [heaven is] desired chiefly as an escape from Hell” – Reflections on the Psalms, chap. 4, par. 18 by CS Lewis.
In my opinion the ideas of both Heaven and Hell are simply that. A way God could use to describe two states of being. To be in Hell is to be stuck in your own self centerdness. Trapped in a world where only you matter and cut off from the love and Mercy of God and others. Apart from love, your mind goes to a very dark place. Because of how our mind works, always pursuing the highest pleasure, when Love and Humility are overrun by hatred and pride and we start making decisions based on that, we are essential in Hell. And only God can truly help us achieve Heaven, which is filled with nothing but Love and Humility. You can only enter the presence of God by recognizing your need for a savior and accepting Christ's forgiveness.
I don't believe there is a judgement day where you either believe or you don't and therefore go to one place or another. I believe all of life, both here and in the afterlife is a pursuit of these things. That we are always somehow reaching and striving for a higher "heaven" Always working to let go of ourselves and cling to God and others. I'll dive more into this when I discus how our minds work, and the constant pursuit of pleasure.
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