Our Divine Destiny- a few TheoLogues...

From my Facebook

7.18.10 Messiah Jesus- the Ground & the Goal of All Being,
of Whom All Humanity was created to be His Bride
and every individual created to be a Son or Daughter
by The Eternal Father & thru the Holy Spirit~ Amen.

7.15.10 The final destiny of every being is
to be enveloped in the Kindness & Fairness of YHWH God
through the Authority of King Messiah Jeshua (Jesus)-
each being's level of trust & surrender to YHWH-Jeshua
determines whether their destiny is Glorious Paradise or Gehenna Fire.

Mark C- Interesting. Is this your own theological formulation or are there other scholars/writers from whom you draw?

Me- The great CSL, of course, but also, the idea of Hell as the rejected Love of God shows up in a lot of Eastern Orthodox writings. I noticed the TONS of Fire-Imagery used for God in OT & NT both, and thought "Why are we taught that the Fire of God is different from the Fire of Hell? Couldn't it be the same Fire?" Well, Isaiah 30:33 says the Breath of YHWH kindles the Fire of Tophet (Gehenna) like a stream of burning sulfur. In Rev 14, the Beast-worshippers are tormented "In the Presence of the Lamb & His Holy Angels" with fire & sulfur, the Greek word for sulfur being "Theion"- sulfur used to fumigate & purify in the service of God. Then I found the idea had been in Eastern Orthodoxy for centuries & I wasn't just some heretical nut. (I may be a heretical nut, but not for that reason, anyway.)
Also, I will admit- it's a great way to reconcile my hope for Universal Salvation, my belief in free will, & my wariness of completely challenging the traditional view of eternal damnation. To confuse the issue further, I'm not at all sure we can be dogmatic about souls being immortal & I see no Biblical problem with God possibly allowing souls to pass out of existence.

Mark C.- Do you hope that in the end all people will be saved, as in eternal rest within the spirit/presence of god?

Me- Part of me does hope so. Altho there I am not really bothered by the idea of eternal torment for certain persons & types of people- Hitler, Mengele, Stalin, Mao, child abusers. But even with them, I know my salvation isn't because I'm so darn good but because of the Grace of Christ. Now, Christ certainly speaks of a time of Intense Suffering for people who neglect or hurt innocents- but that does not rule out a possible rehabilitative result. "Eternal punishment" in Matthew 25 in Greek is "kolasin aionion"- which literally is "cutting-off aion-enduring"- does that mean eternal torment or prolonged exile or even correction? I just can't be dogmatic on the issue

7.11.10 I worship YHWH God because He can squash me like a bug. I adore Him because loves me so much He came as Messiah Jesus to redeem me.