Jer 33:3 says ask me and I will tell you great and mighty things u know not! I've been pondering on this verse of the scripture lately! And am wondering "if God is an unquestionable God why then does He give us an IV to ask Him questions?" Also ephesian 4:8-10 says when christ went to heaven He took MANY captives(from hell) with him(paraphrased) am wondering, were these captives does that were formally under the law before Christ's death and resurrection??!...oya eyin guys me e joo e soro oo

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I don't jst understnd why when we come togeda as Christians especially @d beginning of a service or meeting, we spend kiloJoules of energy praying to invite the presence of God into our midst. You hear the person leading d prayer, in his most pious voice, say smtn like "Let us now begin to invite the presence of God into our midst this evening to fellowship with us" &u'll hear ppl (including me, in d past) screaming @d top of our voice &sweating inviting Him. Uuuuhn, Which presence again abeg Sebi Scriptures tell us the Spirit of God abides IN us &also dt wia two or three of us are gathered in His Name, HE IS THERE WITH US!!! Biko, y do we have to spend hours "inviting" Him again wen He is already there with us??? I'd rather spend that time thanking Him for His ever-abiding presence with us.. Let us rub minds on this &oda common prayer points dts unscriptural. God bless us.

oluwamary

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Comment by T-Ralph

T-RalphT-Ralph
To the first question, I dont think God is an unquestionable God. In fact, I think God, entertains lots of questions as long as it from a sincere humble heart that wants to know. The only thing that is unquestionable about God is HIS "Authority". No one should question God's authority because HE is All in All; Alpha and Omega; and there is nothing any man can do about it (Rev 22:13). Job that tried to question God with respect to HIS authority over him because Job considered himself sinless and undeserving of his sufferings, Job got God's reply and it wasnt quiet funny until the end of God's speech (Job 40 & 41).
However, I believe that we can ask God questions when we want Him to reveal the deep things to us. And I believe God will gladly answer us. Moreso, I believe it is our responsibility to ask God of the deep things and to search them out by the Holy Spirit freely given to us (Pro 25:2 - It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honour of kings is to search out a matter). And since we are kings and priests (Rev 1:6), I believe we should search out all of the deep concealed things of God with the help of His Holy Spirit.

The secret to searching them out is simply to ask God because who can know the mind of God, if not, the Spirit of God; And we have the mind of Christ (1Cor 2:16 paraphrased).

1Cor 2:10 - But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

#UnquestionableGod #DeepThingsOfGod #SearchOutTheDeep #SpiritReveals ...

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Comment by T-Ralph

T-RalphT-Ralph
As for the second part, I think the best way to explain it will be to start from the definition of "hell". The word "hell" is misunderstood these days.
In the Old testament, the Hebrew language used the word "Sheol" and it is translated as "Hell" on English language. In the New Testament, in Greek language, "Hades" is interpreted as "Hell". So, what then is "Sheol/Hades"? Sheol/Hades is simply the land of the dead; the world of the dead. Several parts of Scripture, including the Psalms described Sheol as a place underneath the eatth (Ps 55:15, 86:13, etc Amos 9:2, Eze 31:16, Deu 32:22, etc etc).

In the old testament, the available standard was the law of Moses and anybody that dies goes to the land of the dead (Sheol) whether he/she was righteous or not; good or bad. In the land of the dead (Sheol/Hell), there happens to be seemingly two partitions, something called the "Bossom of Abraham" and the other part is "Hell torment (punishment part of hell)" as described in Jesus parable of rich man and lazarus (Lk 16:22&23). They were both in hell/sheol/hades/land of the dead but in different parts of the the world of the dead.
But, God didn't like the fact that any man went to Sheol because in the first place, man wasn't meant to die, but, the tree of knowledge of good and evil caused it. So, God created a plan, which is Jesus Christ to bear all our sins (past, present and future) and to give us "Eternal Life"; the life that never dies; God's life Himself through Jesus Christ. To tripple seal the deal, Jesus descended and collected the keys of death and hell when He went on His 3-day journey under in Sheol after He died on the Calvary Cross (Rev1:18).
Hence, no Christian would taste death (I mean the spiritual death that leads to Sheol). Jesus had to redeem those in "Abraham's bossom", ie, those that lived according to the law of Moses before He died. That is why after Jesus died and resurrected, the saints of old who had died/fallen asleep, arose and people in the city saw them (Matt 27:52). Definitely, those were the captives Jesus took with Him as He ascended (Eph 4:8, AMP). Beyond these captives, Jesus took captivity, itself, and the death + hell, HE took them captive and that is when truly all powers in Heaven and on earth and under the earth belongs to Jesus and at the mention of His Name (Matt 28:18). Jesus took these last powers of death and hell/sheol/hades so that we, new testament christians, wont have to taste death or see hell anymore... what a complete finshed work Christ did? Hallelujah!

#Sheol #Hades #Hell #CaptivityCaptive #FinishedWorks ...

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Comment by T-Ralph

T-RalphT-Ralph
Well, that's the way I understand it for quite a while now according to Scriptures.
I am opened up for more clarity in the Bible. ...

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Comment by oluwamary

oluwamaryoluwamary
Wow, my eyes r opening to mor Truths, mor light. ...

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Comment by iphee...

iphee...iphee...
Oh! Jesus BE LIFTED HIGH!! Heb 11:39-40(TL) And these men of faith, though they trusted God and won His approval, none of them received all that God has promised them; for God wanted them to wait AND SHARE the evn better rewards that were prepared for US!....
That's why were are called a royal priesthood and A CHOOSEN GENERATION!!! Even though they died before they received the promise, They share in the manifested promise of God(Jesus christ) that we are walking in!! ...

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Comment by Abdulaziz

AbdulazizAbdulaziz
in the Lazarus story, those in Hades cannot cross over to Abraham's Bosom.So I am smpliy saying that Sheol being the land of the dead with places for both believers and non-believers, Christ went to free the saints from their waiting in Abraham's Bosom by opening the gates of Heaven for them. Matthew 12:40 Jonah was physically in the whale for 3 days. Christ was physically in the grave for 3 days.Ephesians 4:8-9 the statement of ascension is referring to Jesus first having to descend from Heaven to Earth.Psalms 9:17 KJV translates Sheol as Hell here, but the word is also translated Grave an equal number of times. Many modern translations smpliy leave it as Sheol because of such debate. I find interesting that it says that the wicked shall return to Sheol . So if this translates to Hell, then did the wicked come from hell to begin? Genesis 89??? sorry, my Bible has Genesis ending in chapter 50. So I am honestly not familiar with this one.Yes, Christ will go anywhere to rescue believers, but as Hebrews 9:27 tells us, man is destined to dies once and then be judged. So those in Hades are already dead, waiting for judgement day where they will be cast into Hell. There is no way for them at that point to come to Christ according to scripture. Also, know that I am smpliy engaging this as theological debate between Christians. On my mother's side, I had a Lutheran upbringing (Southern Baptist on my Fathers side talk about opposites!) and it always bugged me with The Apostle's Creed when it said that Jesus descended into Hell. Come to find that it is again a matter of translation with some versions saying that he descended to hell where others say he descended to the dead.Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology) has a great quote on this: unlike every other phrase in the Creed, it represents not some major doctrine on which all Christians agree, but rather a statement about which most Christians seem to disagree. It is at best confusing and in most cases misleading for modern Christians. My own judgment is that there would be all gain and no loss if it were dropped from the Creed once for all ...

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Comment by Alen

AlenAlen
Bosco, I read Archbishop Hilarion's thesis on Christ's<a href="http://xljhpxtnlp.com"> dcseent</a> into Hades as consonant with a couple of other pieces of Scripture; (1) where Jesus tells the dying thief Today you will be with me in Paradise (Hades?), and (2) Paul's reference to Christ's coming in glory at the end of time': (to collect) first, those who have died in Christ, and then those who are left alive, to be taken up with him in the air . Where to? into the Courts of Heaven, where the Father is, and where are gathered The Saints around the Throne'.This conjures up, for me, the idea of Hades (Paradise a place of further growth into God) as a sort of ante-room to Heaven, accommodating our Departed brothers and sisters who have died in the Faith of Christ' (and any others whom God may be disposed to lead into perfection beyond the grave) all awaiting the Second Coming of Christ in Glory. Sounds eminently possible to me. But then, who am I to judge the ways in which God's mercy works! I'm not sure Bell does, either! ...