Love Wins – Synopsis

(Post 13, and last, of the current book selection “Love Wins” by Rob Bell)

People everywhere are being taught misguided concepts about God that are hijacking the truth about Him.  For example, that only a few select people will go to heaven out of the billions of people that have lived on the earth while the rest will suffer in torment and punishment forever in a place called hell.

OK…that’s one perspective.  But, what about other answers that are supported by Scripture and, at least to me, make more sense in the light of God’s nature and purpose? This lack of discussion on these important topics has led to mass confusion.  People are simply accepting teachings blindly without dealing with the massive holes in them.  Let’s start with heaven…

Heaven

People today have a general presupposition that the final place where those who go to heaven and spend all of eternity is a place or a realm that is somewhere other than the one we live in now.  But, you don’t find anyone in the Bible teaching that.  They taught that the final place would be in the physical realm we live in now in a new age free from evil and sin. Now, this changes how we look at the realm we currently live in.  Instead of viewing it as an evil place that we want to escape from, we now see it as a place that is being rescued and renewed.  We also see God not as one who is out to destroy, but to restore.

They also taught that there would be a day when the physical realm is finally purged of all evil.  It’s called the “day of the Lord.”  We can’t precisely know who will make it through to the new world and who won’t before it happens, but we do know that those who make it will receive an imperishable body to live in the new physical realm where heaven and earth have become one.

Heaven is also not just experienced during a separate time in the future.  Again, it’s because it’s not a separate place.  The merging that will be totally consummated in the future is also a present reality now.  The two realms are intimately attached together and both fully accessible right now.

Hell

The Bible isn’t really specific on what happens to people after they die.  Currently, we know that heaven is in an invisible realm separate from the earthly one where people stay without bodies until heaven and earth become one and they receive imperishable ones.  As far as hell goes, we know that it’s described as being like a pit, grave or underworld where fire burns to consume trash.  But, that’s it.  We don’t know if people stay there forever or exactly what goes on there.  We just know God is present and involved there.  So, where did all of the other concepts made up about hell come from?  Most ideas about hell are adopted from primitive, mythic religion that uses fear and punishment to control people for all sorts of devious reasons.

But, we do know that hell is literal and that we have the choice to experience it.  We choose it every time we choose to hold on to our plan for our life and the world instead of God’s.

We choose to live the kind of life that is death when we choose our own path and say no to God’s.  Those choices are literal.  The consequences of those choices are literal.  The experience of those consequences is hell.  But, when we choose to let our plan for our life and the world die and embrace God’s, we experience a death that leads to real life (heaven).  Just like heaven can be experienced now and later; so can hell.  We are taught to take both very seriously.

Judgment

Also, when it comes to the overall theme of judgment, we are taught that it is never enforced without a purpose.  And that purpose isn’t for God to prove himself or show anyone who’s boss.  Just like a perfect parent would never punish to satisfy their own anger, God doesn’t punish for that purpose either.  He punishes for the sake of the end goal of loving correction. It’s his strategy to get our attention.  To help and encourage us to make a different choice.  For example, He let the Israelites go their own way and Paul handed people over to Satan for redemptive purposes; not because they wanted them to be destroyed, but because they wanted to see them restored.  God is not in the business of punishment for punishment’s sake.  He’s in the business of transformation.  Judgment brought about in this life or the next should be seen in this context.

Salvation

God wants all people to be saved.  So, does God get what He wants in the end or not?  Does He find a way to save everyone or not?  Although we can’t know for sure, the Bible seems to support the thought that He does.  The overarching theme of this present age is about His love that makes this happen regardless of the cost. To think that puny little humans would thwart His plan doesn’t really fit into His perfect control.  While we always have and always will have a choice, God has the supernatural ability to help encourage each and every one of His creation to make the right one eventually, whether in this life or the next.  He has the ability to create an atmosphere where choosing His life is irresistible. Yes, it just may take a lake of fire for some to make the switch.  But, eventually even the hardest of hearts will be melted.  And when they are, God won’t say it’s too late (although He might say “it’s about time”).

Humans will always have the choice to resist, reject and rebel against God’s way for us because His love never ends.  That’s a condition of perfect love; that it always leaves room for the other to decide.  Although we can’t ultimately know if God gets what He wants, we do know that we get what we want.  We can be our own god, or we can let Him be God.  The gates of His world are always open. Will everyone come in and stay in?  We can’t answer this, but we should create space for the freedom that love requires and admit that it’s a possibility.

The Gospel

Why do we use metaphors that don’t make sense to the people we talk to when sharing the gospel?  Why do we talk about sacrificial blood to people that don’t sacrifice animals?  Also, why do we mostly only share part of the gospel in a very human-centered way?  We explain something to the effect that Jesus died on the cross for your sins because He loves you and so that you can go to heaven?  But, that’s not the whole story. In fact, it’s not even the main part.  Yes, we’re intimately involved in the cross and resurrection.  We are the ones that made it a requirement.  But, the purpose is bigger than us.  It’s for God.  All things were created in Him, by Him and FOR Him. God had a purpose in creating that is not human-centered, but includes all of creation.  Getting the whole story is important because it shapes the way we view life and therefore, the choices we make with it.

And why does everyone think that Jesus’ name must be used or known about to be saved?  The truth is that He is present throughout all of creation even if His name is not known. Yes, the only way to the Father is through Him.  But, He doesn’t say how, when or in what manner this has to happen.  He doesn’t say you have to know the name of Jesus.  In fact, He doesn’t even say that those that do come through Him have to necessarily know that it happened.

The good news is that Jesus is bringing unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Him.

He’s saving everything and everyone that is His creation.  We don’t know all of the sorts of ways this happens, but it does.  Therefore, we should be careful about judging people’s eternal destinies.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that because of His great love, we get to choose which story to trust and live in; the one in our minds or God’s.  In essence, humans always have the choice to choose God’s story and live in heaven, or their own story and live in hell. But, we have been taught that choosing God is urgent because there will be consequences (brought upon us by ourselves) for each moment that we choose not to.

He is Love.  Seeing Him as such rewrites the whole misguided story about Him and frees people from fear.  People can trust a God who is Love, for that’s what we were made to do.  He is endlessly inviting us to do so.

(Disclaimer:  The content of this post is the post author’s perspective on the book selection’s content and not the opinion of the post author.  To purchase the book, click on the link below)

Love Wins by Rob Bell