The Good Of The Father (To Sheol And Back)

 

In which, being gone to the spirits in jail also 

Peter to the Dispersion 3: 19, Concordant New Testament 

This past Easter, I noticed a few videos going around which raised the question, what did Jesus do in those 72 hours until He was resurrected.  Well, the scriptures tell us exactly what He was up to in those three days, and it might just lead to a larger discussion on the truth of the Fathers desire that all His children be saved.  While His physical body lay entombed in the earth, Jesus in spirit would descend into sheol, the Hebrew underworld or abode of the dead.  Now, it's important to note here that it is NOT proclaimed that Jesus ministered in hell.  For sheol, as mentioned, is simply a place where those who have passed on from this world go to wait for their own resurrection.  It is interesting that sheol is often referred to as the abode of the dead and not one of eternal punishment we often associate with hell.  This would seem plausible knowing that the Fathers desire is that all be saved {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  However, the concept of a universal salvation is a touchy subject for the mainstream church.  For it seems that they are of the mindset that the good should be rewarded and the wicked punished.  Yet why, then, is it written that even the wicked should be rewarded with salvation?  Why did Jesus descend into sheol to preach to the good and wicked alike?  For we know that sheol was not just a place for the departed spirits of the wicked, but of the good as well.  Again, the idea of sheol is not one of the punishment of hell.  So, what was it that Jesus was doing in the underworld?  Well, if the desire of the Lord is that all of His children be saved, I believe that Jesus was delivering the message of His gospel unto those who either had not the opportunity to hear it while alive, or who flat out ignored it.  Again, this is Jesus doing the will of the Father, Who desires that all will be saved.  For those who believe in the reward of the rich and the punishment of the wicked, this might be a tough pill to swallow.  But, at the end of the day, I'm glad that the Father is in charge of my salvation and not you.  

'And in all this, between us and you a great chasm has been established, so that those wanting to cross hence to you may not be able, nor yet those hence may be ferrying to us.'  "Yet he said, 'I am asking you then, father, that you should be sending him into my fathers house, for I have five brothers, so that he may be certifying to them, lest they also may be coming into this place of torment,"  Yet Abraham is saying unto him, 'They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them!'  Yet he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone should be going to them from the dead, they will be repenting.'  Yet he said to him, 'If Moses and the prophets they are not hearing, neither will they be persuaded if someone should be rising from among the dead.'  

Lukes Account 16: 26-31, Concordant New Testament 

I have heard those in the mainstream church refer to the passage written in Luke that there is a gulf between those in sheol and the living {Lukes Account 16:19-31}.  But is Jesus referring to sheol in this passage?  One would assume so.  Yet if there is a gulf between us, then Jesus has overcome it to speak to those waiting there.  We know from the scriptures that the Father is merciful.  We also know that it is His desire that all be saved through Christ Jesus {Johns Account 3:17}.  Therefore, it is Jesus who has transversed that void to deliver the good news of Gods salvation to those who are in desperate need of it.  They may have somehow never heard of the salvation through Christ or chose to ignore it altogether.  Yet through His love and mercy, the Father did not write these souls off as lost.  He has dispatched His Son that they would hear of the gift given to them from the Father.  While the mainstream church is big on judging between the good and the wicked, they leave out one important fact.  That being that we are ALL created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  That He has breathed into all the breath of life, thus creating a living soul {Genesis 2:7}.  We are ALL a part of Him.  Our life is indeed in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  Knowing this, it is easy to see how the Father would desire to go to any length to save His children.  Jesus also speaks to this in His parable of the one lost sheep {Lukes Account 15:3-7}.  If God did not desire to save all of His children, that one lost sheep would have been counted as lost.  But not with God.  Which begs a question for another day, are there truly any lost souls?  

I am saying to you that thus there will be joy in heaven over one sinner repenting, more than over the ninety-nine just persons who have no need of repentance

Lukes Account 15: 7, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~