The Fight Of Our Lives

"All questions from any direction cannot escape DESTROYED, DESTROYED, and ABOLISHED."

I FEEL like I should start this devotional with a blurping lake of gluttonous flames. Because what’s eatin’ at me is the sea of wrong doctrines about hell. Why does it matter? That’s question number one, and the answer involves the other topic people would rather swing a sword at than understand – Satan. Why did that sound like an old Saturday Night Live skit? O, C’mon People! I’m trying to make this lighthearted.

Because there’s certainly no need to be afraid. And knowledge is power. (That’s from a PBS cartoon commercial circa 1980). Ignorance is damaging, thinking of this in reverse. What we don’t know will hurt us.

So I’ll start with Pete and Repeat, who are sailing over to Hebrews 2:14 and 1 John 3:8 again. Hebrews 2:14 says the devil has been destroyed or rendered useless. 1 John 3:8 says the works of the devil have been destroyed or dissolved by Jesus. We can also mix in 2 Timothy 1:10 which tells us Jesus abolished death. The word “abolish” in this verse is the same one from Hebrews 2:14, rendered “destroyed” in the King James. Death is rendered useless. This is food for thought. And must be center of every conversation and any teaching on the devil and hell. We must know Jesus’ death condemned him for all sin and locked him up permanently.

I hear your head spinning and a sea of whys flying. But here’s a question from a reading in 1 Peter 3:10, which says Jesus “preached unto the spirits in prison,” meaning in h-e-l-l. Why would God lock up spirits, fallen angels, yet leave Satan loose? This must be seen in light of our need to fight. And it all comes down to that.

Now, I want to say here that there is much God has not said and is not going to say about hell and this mention in 1 Peter of fallen angels being imprisoned there. it is worth noticing that He told Peter of it and allowed him to write it down. Where Satan is has also never been stated. But there is no way to think of this subject and not end up back at Hebrews 2:14, 1 John 3:8, and 2 Timothy 1:10. All questions from any direction cannot escape DESTROYED, DESTROYED, and ABOLISHED.

It must also be said, sin exists and the end result of it – death. But turn with me to Revelation 21:4 because Jesus is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, and there in Revelation 21:4 the ending is written. God will have there be no more death, sorrow, or pain. Here is His heart. And this should tell us a great deal about what hell is not.

It is NOT Satan’s party palace nor his torture kingdom. Satan doesn’t have a kingdom. He’s in one. He has no authority over death and hell at all. Jesus has the keys (Revelation 1:18) and gave us the authority (Luke 10:19). Authority because we are His. This Light comes from the EasyEnglish translation of John 14:13, and how beautiful that is. Because the Truth is, Satan exists, he’s been condemned, and he’s rendered useless. We know this from the Word, so what are we preaching warfare for? Well, the battle is in the mind. This is in the Word, too. But what is said of it, too often, is how difficult it is. And it is – when you are doing it on your own.

God is the Healer of our thoughts. We lean into Him through worship and the Scriptures, putting them in our heart, and He heals us over time. Time is involved. We commit to the process, for however long it is for us individually, knowing He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We are too apt to take up the Sword OF THE SPIRIT (Ephesians 6:17) and make it human. It isn’t.

It is God’s. He holds it. We pray, and He swings it. We speak the Word, and it cuts deep. Freedom from mental trauma and wrong thinking comes from dedication to Jesus’ work. We know it, have revelation of it, and refuse to let go. Refuse to make it our battle. Here is the Truth we miss of hell. It is God’s. This seems harsh, but the Father has all things in His hands. Nothing is outside of His control. Nothing. People argue about this from both sides. One side, that God controls it all and so we might as well give up, and the other side, that He isn’t because it’s all up to us. Both are correct, except for the giving up part. The Father is Greater. He is all things. Nothing happens He isn’t involved in and everything meets justice. Which for misapplication’s sake is hell.

What does this mean? We humanize Him. We make His vengeance out of anger. It isn’t. The Father is so gentle, so kind. He hates hurting anything, even sparrows (Matthew 10:29). So hell isn’t what we’ve dreamt up in books, thought up in films, or misunderstood in Scriptures. Heaven is fantastic! Minister Duplantis says it is like earth, which is God’s taste. Hell is, then, the absence of God. He is there. He’s in all places. But for those condemned to that negative value, it means emptiness.

No God means no wisdom, no peace (shalom), no rest. What some have seen and labeled visions of hell is of mental agony. Hell is for those who just can’t forgive. Its torment is constant regret.

God isn’t behind it. Neither is Satan. And that’s the point.

The world shapes our pictures, and we must turn them loose. We are not of the world, we are in it, Jesus said (John 17:14). The world or secular society has no attachment to, no relationship with the Spirit, and so pulls what they think out of midair (John 14:17). We have Him as Teacher and Guide. We can rest in this and depend on Him where our doctrines develop, knowing Truth and avoiding errors that keep us in a battle Jesus has already won. This is our final Word in whatever we face. Jesus triumphed because God’s plan could not and did not fail (Isaiah 55:11). Our salvation – as new creations, with protection, deliverance, and healing, having all our needs met – is the glorious, joyful result.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com