The word “hell” doesn’t exist in the Bible!
Whenever I am asked my opinion on the subject of hell, I usually answer with a counter-question: “What hell do you mean?” The word hell doesn’t exist in the Bible! Rather, there are 4 different words in the Bible, all of which have a different meaning, but unfortunately, all of them are often translated with the word hell. However, none of these 4 words has the meaning we often associate with the word hell. These 4 biblical words are often translated as hell:
The Gospel of the first Christians
How did early Christians define and share the gospel? Is there a biblical summary of the gospel? In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, we find a kind of mini-summary of the gospel of the first Christians. What does this passage teach us about the message the first Christians proclaimed.
Paul introduces these verses by passing on what he himself has received, which indicates a firm confession that was probably memorized and used to summarize the gospel. Exactly how many verses the creed comprises is disputed, but verses 3-5 form the core. This is the confession:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (RSV)
Four verbs are crucial: Jesus died and was buried. He was raised and appeared.
The death and resurrection of Jesus are central to the gospel, so Paul devotes the remainder of the chapter to the subject of the resurrection. The death and resurrection of Jesus solved the problem of sin. How exactly Jesus remedied the sin problem is not explained here, it is only mentioned as a fact (v.3: died for our sins). However, the passage gives us a crucial indicator of how we must understand the death and resurrection of Jesus, namely “according to the Scriptures”.
An interpretation of the death of Jesus and his resurrection which does not take into account the history of the Old Testament (OT) is dangerous. The events around the cross must be understood in the light of the OT. “According to Scripture” can be interpreted in two ways:
1. Based on specific parts of the OT.
2. Based on the overall picture of the AT.
If we look for specific passages in the OT that help us understand the death and resurrection of Jesus, we cannot get past Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53 makes it clear that it was our sin that brought Jesus to the cross (v.5a). And through his suffering, we humans can find freedom (v.5b). Isaiah also makes it clear that it was not God who punished Jesus (v.4b). So it’s not about God pouring his anger on Jesus and punishing him.
How then is it to be understood that Jesus’ death resolved the problem of sin?
Galatians 1:4 uses a phrase similar to 1 Corinthians 15: 3 and helps us better understand the “died for our sins” part:
In order to set us free from this present evil age, Christ gave himself for our sins, in obedience to the will of our God and Father. (GNT)
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are set free from the present world and the evil that rules it. So it’s about liberation from powers that enslave us. This fits perfectly into the OT overall picture in which Jesus puts his own death. Jesus gave us a meal to understand his death, he gave us the Lord’s Supper. Jesus explained the meaning of his death to his disciples while he celebrated the Passover meal with them. The Passover meal reminded the Israelites of the Exodus from Egypt and how God freed the Israelites from the slavery of the Egyptians. Exodus is the image that Jesus gives us to understand his death. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus brought about a new exodus. He sets us free from the spiritual dark forces that have enslaved us.
With this, he fulfills the first Messiah prophecy that he will crush the head of the serpent from the very beginning of the OT (Gen 3:15). All human beings are slaves of these powers and are thereby prisoners of sin and death. Whoever makes Jesus King of his life will find freedom from these powers and thus also forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death, 15and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15 (GNT)
God has rescued us from the dark kingdom which had power over us. Now we belong to the kingdom of His beloved Son Jesus. Through Jesus we are no longer slaves, all our failures are forgiven.
Colossians 1:13-14 (translation by the author)
Conclusion:
The gospel is not that God, in anger, punished Jesus on the cross for our guilt. No, it was not God’s wrath that brought Jesus to the cross, but our sin (Isaiah 53: 4-5).
The gospel (according to scripture) is that Jesus defeated the dark forces that enslaved us. Through his victory we have freedom from these dark forces, freedom from sin and death will lose its power over us if we accept Jesus as king over our life. Through Jesus alone, we can become free from the kingdom of darkness and enter the wonderful kingdom of God.
The only way to know God’s character for sure!
There are different images of God in the Bible. How do we know what God really is like? What is the standard by which we evaluate different images of God in the Bible? Is there a revelation from God that trumps all others?
Even though Moses spoke to God face to face (Ex 33:11) we find in John’s gospel that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18; 5:37). In contrast to this, Jesus is emphasized as being one with the father and that everyone who sees Jesus sees the Father (John 10:30; 12:45; 14:9). Thus, when reading the Gospel of John, the impression arises that in the Old Testament no one has clearly recognized God’s character, but in and through Jesus’ work and life he reveals God’s true character.
In Hebrews 1:1-3, Jesus is referred to as “the exact imprint of God’s nature” (ESV). The NKJV Study Bible explains that “the Greek word translated express image can mean the instrument used in engraving or stamping, but usually it means the image engraved or stamped. In this context, the word means that Christ is the exact representation of God’s nature. Since God’s essence, nature, and being are invisible, the Son reveals God to us, for He is an exact visible likeness of God” (Radmacher 2009: Heb 1:3).
Col 1:15-20 is very probably a hymn of the first Christians and thus a confession of their Christology. Here, too, Jesus is understood as the image of the invisible God. Patzia explains that the Greek word for “image” in verse 15 is εἰκών(eikōn). It communicates that Jesus made God visible and revealed him perfectly. Through Jesus the invisible God became visible to people (2011: Col 1:15). Col 1:19 and 2:9 add that God dwelt in Jesus in all his fullness. In doing so, Jesus reveals not just a part of God, but him in all his fullness.
In 2 Cor 4:4 we speak of the fact that the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that they cannot see “the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image”. Here, too, Jesus is understood by Paul as an image (εἰκών eikōn) of God. In verse 6, Paul makes it clearer by declaring that we know God’s glory in the face of Jesus.
John 1:18 makes clear that no one has ever seen God, but that Jesus revealed God to us. Cavey explains that the word “exegesis” and the Greek word for “revealed” (ἐξηγέομαι exēgeomai) have the same root and therefore describes Jesus as God’s ultimate interpretation and description of himself (Cavey 2017: 57). Unger confirms this reading and adds that Jesus is the only true revealer of God (“the unique revealer of the Father”) (2014: John 1:18).
John defines God as love (ἀγάπη agapē) (1 John 4:8). This agape love is God’s essence. Love is now a word which many people understand and define very differently. We don’t have to guess how God fills the word love. God revealed his love, his being, to us humans in his Son (v.9). But not only in general through the life of his Son, but especially in the fact that Jesus solved our sin problem for us on the cross. On the cross, God’s being, his character, his love become visible for all people to see.
Is Jesus the highest revelation from God?
Jesus revealed God’s nature to us. But how is his revelation higher or more important than what was revealed by God in the Old Testament? Isn’t everything in the Bible equally important? In John 5:36 Jesus says that his testimony is greater than that of John the Baptist. In Mt 11:11 John is referred to as the greatest of all human beings born so far. This makes John greater than any of the other Old Testament prophets, but Jesus’ testimony is greater than John’s. The same idea can be found in the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain (Lk 9:28-36). Moses, who stands for the Old Testament law, and Elijah, who stands for the prophets, appear on the mountain and God speaks to the disciples and commands them to listen to Jesus, his son (v.35). With this God lifts his Son Jesus above the law and the prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus explains that the Torah refers to him (Jn 5:39) and thus rises above the Torah. The same thought is communicated in Hebrews, in which Jesus is compared to the Torah, Moses, Melchizedek and the sacrifices and is shown to be above and surpass them all. Jesus proclaimed that no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son reveals the Father (Mt 11:27). It can be assumed that Jesus is speaking hyperbolically here when he says that no one, which includes all persons of the Old Testament, knows the Father. Presumably he is indicating that he knows God much better than all people who can only partially recognize God and for that reason alone can fully reveal the Father.
Conclusion: God has always been like Jesus and he will always be like Jesus revealed him. Ramsey says on the subject “God is Christlike, and in him is no un-Christlikeness at all” (1969: 9).
The essence of God is love
If Jesus is really the supreme revelation of God’s nature, then we must ask how Jesus revealed God’s character to us.
In his teaching, Jesus placed love at the center (Mt 22: 36-40), which fits in with the fact that John describes God as agape love (1 John 4:8). Bonhoeffer put it this way: “Love… is the revelation of God. And the revelation of God is Jesus Christ”(1995: 53). If agape love is really the essence of God and thus also of Jesus, then all of Jesus’ works were born out of this love and motivated by it. With this, Jesus shows us how agape love practically looks like in daily life and thus gives us an example that we can follow.
The sermon on the mount is a practical guide how love is lived out in daily life. Jesus demonstrated God’s love by teaching love for enemies (Mt 5:44) and exemplifying it (Lk 23:34). He taught his disciples to forgive at all times (Mt 18:21-22) and he did forgive them when they failed (Jn 21:15-17). He was humble (Mk 10:45; John 13:2-7; Phil 2:5-11), rejected violence (Matt 5:9 + 38f; 26:52-54; John 18:36) and was full of mercy (Mk 6:34). Jesus did not have large possessions (Lk 9:58) and through this taught and exemplified that it is not good to hang on to objects and money with your heart (Lk 12:15). Jesus revealed God to us as the God of agape love. If we want to know how God is, then we have to look to Jesus! Jesus alone reveals to us how God really is.
God is (agape) love! (1 John 4,8)