Is Jesus the World's Greatest Sinner? No.
By Gary Amirault
"To Sin" from Strong's Concordance: Greek "hamartano"-to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), to err.(number 264) Hebrew from the root "chata"- to miss.(number 2398)
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF JESUS CHRIST'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION?
* God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)
* Who comes down from heaven and gives Life to the world. (John 6:33)
* The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. (Luke 9:56)
* And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. (John 12:32)
* As you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as you have given Him. (John 17:2)
* The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. (John 3:35)
* God, Who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the worlds. (Hebrews 1:1,2)
His purpose is very clear: to reconcile all things back to His Father. (Col. 1:16-20)
His purpose is very clear: to reconcile all things back to His Father. (Col. 1:16-20)
According to Scripture, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, created all things, reconciles all things, is Heir of all things, has authority of all things, will have all men to be saved, His grace comes to all men, He takes away the sin of the world, He gives His flesh for the life of the world, He is the propitiation for the sins of the world, whose gifts are irrevocable of which life is one of the gifts, He manifested to put away sin, holds the keys to death and hell, who changes not, He is Lord of both the living and the dead, he will destroy all enemies of God the last one being death, Who made all things alive, Who completes the work the Father gave Him to do, Who restores all things, gave Himself a ransom for all, He takes away the curse and said He came to do the will and work of the Father who wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth so that God, the Father may be all in all! I could lengthen this paragraph considerably, but I think the point has been made.
Jesus said He finished the work and accomplished His purpose which was also the Fathers purpose...to be the Savior of the whole world...to reconcile everyone back to His Father and our Father!
According to many Christians, billions of people are going to a place called Hell to be tormented by God for all eternity. Please hear this very carefully. If Jesus loses just one soul, he will become the world's biggest sinner. How so you say? Because He will have missed His mark...that is , to reconcile all things back to His Father. "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And he is before all things and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the ecclesia, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:16-20) Please understand that when the scriptures talk about "things" being reconciled back to God, He is not talking about rocks and trees. It was descendants of Adam who were cast out of the presence of God in the garden of Eden, remember? We need to be restored, reconciled, redeemed and the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that His purpose, goal, will and work was to reconcile all.
These Scriptures make it abundantly clear what the goal, the mark, the target which Jesus was aiming at when He went to the Tree of Crucifixion. The majority of the church says Jesus either will not (Calvinist) or cannot (Arminianist) due to the power of "free-will," save all mankind. The majority of the church says He will sin, that is, miss the mark. There has always been a minority in church history, (which used to be the majority before the dark ages) who believe the Scriptures that declare Jesus Christ the actual Savior of the whole world. This minority pays close attention to Scriptures and notices things like the fact that Paul, the apostle to the nations, never preached salvation as deliverance from our modern concept of Hell. As a matter of fact, he never used the word "Hell"! That should make one think Go to a concordance and see for yourself.
As Bibles get closer to the original languages, Hell and "eternal" punishment passages in Bibles are disappearing. The King James Bible used the word "Hell" 63 times. The best present-day Bibles such as the NIV, NASB, and NRSB, do not contain the word in the Old Testament at all, and only about a dozen times in the New Testament. Many translations do not contain the words "Hell" nor "eternal punishment." When one looks at Bible translations such as Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young, author of the famous Young's Analytical Concordance, one will find Hell completely gone and the incorrect and very pagan "eternal punishment" replaced with "age-during punishment." Other translations have "age-abiding correction," "eonian chastening," "punishment of the ages," etc.
This article is much too short to get into the subject, but none of these Hell or "eternal punishment" type of phrases should ever have been brought into English translations. The Roman Catholic Church, with its "convert or die" policies, took almost all of the pagan and idolatrous practices of the countries it forced to convert and "christened" them, that is, incorporated them into the church. Thousands of pagan ideas and practices became Christian that way. When one seriously studies the Reformation, we realize that Protestants did not go all the way in clean up the "House of the Lord." They left many false doctrines in tact. One of these false doctrines which came from pagan countries is the idea of a place of eternal punishment called "Hell." A quick look into an encyclopedia should tell a person this word in its religious form comes from Norse mythology, not from the Greek and Hebrew in the Bible. The whole concept of a place of eternal torment comes from a mistranslation of the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek words Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus all being translated into the Anglo-Saxon word "Hell." The Reformation translators translated from their traditions, not from knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. As Bible translations get closer to the original languages, our pagan concept of Hell will fade away. Paul never preached a place of eternal torment to anyone! That is why he could say in 1 Timothy 4:9-11, "This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe." He could also say and mean, "Love never fails!" (1 Cor. 13:8) John tells us that "God is Love." (1 John 4:8) Therefore, God never fails! He never misses the mark! We, in our short-sightedness may have brought Him down to our image, that is, a sinner, but He will be vindicated. When He is, will you hang your head in shame? It is not too late to "study to show yourself approved" and see for yourself the glorious Truth that the salvation of the world does not depend upon a hypocritical, lazy, selfish church. No, the world, all of it, is in much better hands...Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, Who gave Himself a ransom for all, including you, whether you presently are aware of it or not.
"It is finished," He cried from Calvary. Ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, Who will lead you into all Truth to reveal to you the full meaning of those three words which declare Jesus hit the mark at which He was aiming. It is important for you to do this. You, also, have a mark set for you. To give God full Glory. Don't fall short by saying He will fall short.
1 comment:
You are onto something there ...
NO SUCH HELL
proof
http://gracehead.com/index.php/2007/10/28/p287
the myth
http://gracehead.com/index.php/2006/03/01/p258
God, hates "hell"
http://trumpetcallofgodonline.com/index.php5?title=Proclaim_NOT_the_Hell_of_the_Church_of_Men...In_Their_Word_is_No_Mercy_Found%2C_Only_the_Makings_of_Satan
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