I shared in church last night about the Kingdom of God and how not understanding it causes us to misinterpret many biblical concepts. Then today I was reading a blog that I enjoy from time to time. The author was talking about an atheist’s perception of hell. I realized that the reason few people understand hell is because they don’t understand the Kingdom of God. The atheist’s concept of hell was that it is a place people go for not accepting Jesus, an idea he probably got from a Christian. Let me show you why this is not Truth.

First we must understand that Jesus came to earth to retake it for the Kingdom of God. Mark 1:14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” Earth was established as a colony of Heaven, a kingdom ruled by God. He planted this colony on earth and made mankind governor. God’s enemy, Satan, provoked the citizens to rebel and assumed dominion of the earth through deception. (Genesis chapters 2-3) The Bible refers to Satan as the prince of this world. John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Through sin, Satan has held mankind captive since that time. Jesus’ “gospel”, or good news, was the return of the Kingdom of God to earth and setting the prisoners free.

All humans are prisoners of Satan under his government. He used God’s laws as his authority to imprison us. After a long period of incarceration, the sentence of death will be carried out. Romans 6:16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?  It does not just mean physical death but eternal separation from the source of life, God. Jesus is God’s Navy Seal team sent to rescue the prisoners and retake the land. Rejecting Jesus simply means we refuse to be rescued because we are sympathetic to the enemy. We’ve aligned ourselves with the enemy and given up our allegiance to the King. The problem with that decision is the King is returning with forces sufficient to topple Satan’s government and rout his forces. Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” When this happens we will be deemed as traitors and banished from the kingdom.

The issue now is where to banish us. The Kingdom of God will cover the entire earth and God already rules everything else. The only place left to send us, will be a place made for Satan and the angels that rebelled with him in Heaven. Revelation 20:  This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. It was not designed for humans but since our allegiance is to Satan, it’s the only choice available. In essence we have created our own hell. Our choice is to be free from God’s rule and with that we are free form God’s blessings. Every good thing in our life is a gift from the benevolent Monarch. Hell is a place devoid of God’s goodness, the result of our wish to be free from God’s intervention in our life.

Many people do not object to the rescue but object to the rescuer. Why does it have to be Jesus? There are many other religions and belief systems. The reason is because God is real. He is not an idea or a concept. The reality of a King who created the universe and rules over it, dictates the way we gain access to His kingdom. If we want to travel to a make believe country, we can be admitted by any means we can imagine.  If we want to travel to China, we will have to comply with the entry requirements of China. The only way the King will allow us to enter the Kingdom of God is to be born into it through faith in Jesus Christ. John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. First the penalty for our crimes against the King must be paid and the sacrifice of Jesus is the only payment sufficient. Next we must be reborn spiritually by God’s Spirit coming to live in us. Finally, we must submit to the rule of the King.

As you can see, we don’t go to hell for not accepting Jesus. We go to hell because we have to live with the king we are loyal to. We can allow Jesus to repatriate us to the Kingdom of God or we can be vanquished with the kingdoms of this world. The King is coming! Where are your loyalties?

All Scripture is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible

Note: The blog referred to can be found at exreligiouschristian.wordpress.com