25:41) It's above our pay grade to fully comprehend it, but that doesn't make hell any less real. And so does the reality of hell, which by the way, was originally prepared for the devil and his angels. God hates sin a lot more than you or I do.and He punishes it far more severely than you or I would punish it. It is the second toughest thing that Spirit-filled Christians think about, or talk about.the toughest thing is the painful ordeal which our Lord suffered on the day of His crucifixion. Hell is so horrible that our words and thoughts can barely begin to express the torment which takes place there. But when he addressed it, he gave us a glimpse behind the veil. Jesus talked about many things, and hell is just one of the topics he discussed. The question he should be asking is simply, "Why did Jesus talk so much about hell?" And why did our Lord spend more time talking about that subject than most Americans ever talk about it? (see Matt. Wright has asked on various occasions, "Why are Americans so fixated on hell?" On a subject of this magnitude, he is asking the wrong question. Other than God.and those who are in hell right now.who can truly grasp the reasoning behind the doctrine of hell? Frankly, I don't think any definition of hell makes much sense when funneled through our human reason. He has adopted a theory that makes sense to him. In an interview a few years ago he stated, "My description is neither an annihilationist view nor an eternal conscious torment view." And so he lands somewhere in the middle. Wright doesn't, however, completely rule out any judgment in the next life for some people. He tends to view hell more as a "progressive shrinking of human life" in this world, rather than as a literal "lake of fire" in the next world. But he becomes quite vague when asked about hell. Wright is very direct when talking about the resurrection of the body.especially for those who will spend all of eternity with Christ. In recent years, he has written some questionable opinions and made some provocative statements concerning heaven and hell. Wright was an Anglican bishop in the Church of England from 2003 until his retirement in 2010. It all boils down to our approval, right? We are the masters of the universe.and the ones who get to call the shots on eternity. God and his eternal declarations will only be fulfilled if we understand them.and if we give the go ahead.and if we find them acceptable. Who could come up with this stuff? That is, if it wasn't true. Nothing could be further from our natural way of thinking than the doctrine of eternal punishment in hell.and the Son of God suffering on a cross.and a land of inexpressible joy as the alternative to eternal torment. As much as we would like to ignore it completely.or pretend it doesn't exist.we find ourselves compelled to honestly accept everything God has placed in His Word.even when it has such extreme consequences. And yet there we find it.smack dab in the middle of God's Word, and regularly mentioned by the very One who suffered on the cross for our sins. The last thing any of us want to think about is eternal torment.
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