WHAT A BLISSFUL MYSTERY

What a Blissful Mystery

Today I am sitting here 
with this warm fuzzy feeling inside
contemplating God’s love.

His plan is so wonderfully majestic
that I am rendered in utter awe. 

Who would have imagined
that His plan of salvation 
would involve that the kingdom
would be established in hearts of flesh?

That heaven
is inside every believer
where Christ has found
an eternal resting place?

I am quieted by the fact
that He in His mysterious humbleness
has chosen to make Himself manifest 
in human flesh.

Every single cell in my body is sustained by His life.

My entire being leaps with joy
when He tells me
that I am not of this world,

that I am a partaker of divine nature
and that I am destined to spend

an eternity with Him. 

His love desired my existence into being,

and I am now
a part of that triune flow 
that has existed from before the foundation of the world. 

How could it be otherwise?

He will always remain faithful,
because He cannot disown Himself.
He has sworn an oath regarding His relation to me.
Since He could not find anyone greater than Himself, He made the oath with Himself.
He will always remain faithful to His oath, because He is unchangeable and cannot lie!

I am thinking
about the mystery of the cross
where I went into Christ
in His death and disappeared

for suddenly being resurrected in Him
as a new creation
with an entire different genealogy
from the one I had.

I am new through and through.
Who would have imagined? 
In His love He is fussing around
making sure that I know 
who I am in Him.

That is His greatest delight
to establish His beloved son
in who he is. 

His heart almost bursts with pride
when He beholds me. 
He is boasting
unconstrained
of me
wherever He goes
in the Heavenly realms. 

Could it be otherwise?
After all, I am His offspring!

By Ole Henrik Skjeldstad

A SACRIFICE HE DID NOT REQUIRE

Heb 10:22  let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.Heb 10:23  And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.

The Beginning

Gen 2:16  Then the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard,Gen 2:17  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die."

The result from eating the fruit of the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil” is an evil conscience.

A Conscience that tells me if I'm doing good.

A Conscience that determines how I should behave, what I should do and not do....

It also condemns me if I am doing bad.

It exalts me and makes me feel good about myself if I do good. An addiction to feeling good by doing good develops, and I beam with delight as the conscience of approval brings my reward  : “Well done, my good and faithful servant” - I've got to have more, what else can I offer up to get the next fix to fill my broken life with meaning.

I don't know what to do with the “bad” parts of me, so I learn to suppress them.

I try very hard to live out of, and increase, the “good” parts of me.

When I live the “good”, I feel more acceptable to God, and maybe even closer to God.

Conscience therefore becomes the word of God to me – I think it is the voice of God to me.

I start living a dual life –  I hide and suppress my “bad” side, which pops out every now and then (generally at the most inappropriate of moments). I then find it more comfortable to avoid people. My relationships head south.

I learn to offer my life to the development of the “good” side of me – I do this by reaching out to God, I commit myself to Him, I get involved in all sorts of religious activities. If I fall behind on these, I feel guilty, then I feel I am no longer good enough, so I re-commit myself to Him, get on the drive again to improve myself and make myself more acceptable to Him. 

This is where I lose my Identity, I lose sight of who I am

I live a pretense on one side, whilst also suppressing or hiding part of me, and never living out the true person of who I am.

When God said “Surely you will die if you eat of the fruit of the “Tree”, THIS is what He was saying...”you will lose who YOU are..”

Jesus later said in Matthew 11:28...”You will recover YOUR life..” in that you will discover and live in your original authentic identity ...

There's an irresistible pull, a spell, a bewitchment to live in this way, to try and live as a good person to appease the conscience.The pull can be so strong that I can give (offer up) my life to the service of an organization or ministry.

The ultimate end of this “pull” is to lay down my life thinking that this is the BEST offering I can give – martyrdom is seen by some as the ultimate “sacrifice” to please God.

Perhaps there is a further unthinkable step – Is there something I can offer up more than my own life, even though it is unthinkable ? – Something more valuable then  my own life are the lives of our children. This is the ultimate offering to the conscience to present ourselves acceptable and pleasing to “God”. This is evident in many religions, as well as in many Christian ministers and missionaries, where the lives of their children are wrecked and abandoned by neglect, eager to please “God”

When God told Abraham (a pagan) to sacrifice his son, Abraham unflinchingly obeyed, knowing that this was the ultimate “good” that he could offer. What God was doing, was reaching into the very heart of mankind, to open up and expose the Roots of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, to expose the depths of our being which was entrenched in the system that Satan had enticed us into.

At the very last moment, as Abraham was about to do it, God stopped him, and in effect, said these words “I will supply the sacrifice that humanity requires, to root out forever the need to offer up something to prove your worth. I will  show you that  your worth is by birth, not by doing, and that your value is from Me, not from  your sacrifice. I do not need an offering to make you acceptable - I love you, I always have loved you, and I always will ”

When Cain offered up his sacrifice, it was rejected for the same reason. It was the produce of the doing of his own hands, it was the offering of his own work. Abel's offering was born of God, it was not produced by the work of his hands, and was acceptable. Cain compared the approval of his works with that of Abel's by gift, and long-suppressed jealousy rose up ............ “Surely you shall die if you eat of this fruit........”

Father, Son and Spirit offered up the greatest sacrifice FOR US, to break the spell of  our obsession to offer up our best effort, the obsession to prove the best in us, the obsession to gain favor with the “god of conscience”, the obsession to gain approval and worth by what we could do.

Jesus sacrifice was not FOR our Father as if He needed something to appease or change Him. Our Father did not need a sacrifice, WE DID, to fulfill the unquenchable desire and drive in us to present the best offering to the “word” of our 'evil 'conscience !! 

David, who probably knew the heart of God more than anyone else in the Old Covenant, said this of God in Psalm 40:6   “Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, nor have You delight in them; You have given me the capacity to hear and obey. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.

He offered His own Son, pure and spotless, perfect and righteous, the ultimate sacrifice that the Law required, (not God). The Law was based on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Law was given to shine God's light on the system of the “Tree” that man had entered into, to bring it to the fore, in full view and focus of our attention. The Law demands perfection by human effort, which is what the “Tree” demands. The Law exposes the inability of man to live in perfect righteousness, the inability to offer up a perfect sacrifice to appease the conscience, to remove conscience's condemning glare and gain the consciences perfect score and it's ensuing approval and delight.  

Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law – The fulfillment of the Law (or the Tree's) demand was to sacrifice and offer up something or someone of the highest value, something or someone that would be scrutinized and found not wanting, perfect in every way, something or someone that would not induce the wrath and condemnation of the conscience, something or someone who would finally put to rest the impossible summons of perfect doing.

We know we can NEVER match this offering, but it is OFFERED ON OUR BEHALF – there is therefore no more sacrifice for sin, it is complete, the “insatiable” conscience is now satisfied, the spell and bewitchment is broken, we can rest from the tyranny of an evil conscience and it's ever watching eyes, and from the perfection that the Law and the “Tree” demands.

IT IS DONE !!

Jesus said -    Mat 11:28  "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest.............

Now what ??  What are we now to be conscious of     -   “Heb 10:23 .....let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess”      

Christ in US, the Hope of Glory !!

Christ in our 'dark' places and our 'good' parts – I am complete in Him.

In due time, the Spirit teaches me about life, who I am, how loved and accepted I am, as I am. I find out who I really am, I begin to love myself as I am loved, and begin to love other people as I know I am loved - I recover my identity, I recover my life.

My 'bad' parts can be released from concealment, I can begin to drop my defenses, and that I am totally acceptable to my Father and always have been. I can openly talk to Him about all the thoughts and feelings that go on in me, even though some of them are out-rightly rotten.

My 'good' parts, which have developed into pretenses, can also be released as I recognize that they are just that – Pretenses and Facades... they are not me.

The Spirit of Reality transforms my mind as He leads me into the truth of who I am and who Jesus is and Who our Father is.

What emerges is His workmanship, the person 'inside' that He has always seen and known but to which I was blind, the beautiful magnificent person His eyes had set on long before the foundation of the world.

I am His love dream come true (quote by Francois. Du Toit)

I now can focus all my energy on LIVING life out of who I am.

Perhaps even my career changes, because the career I had chosen was based on trying to find acceptance and recognition and affirmation.

Perhaps the “ministry” that I am in becomes something I discard, as I recognize that it was just a tool to try and gain a “place” with God and man.

I become conscious of where I am; seated in Heavenly places with Him, in Him, embraced in the very Heart of my Father, and yet at the same time, on Earth.

I embrace my humanity and become very comfortable in my own 'skin', the new wine-skin fit for the wine of Heaven – I am born of the family of God by His doing, I am accepted in the Beloved.

I realize that I am deeply involved in Jesus' beautiful relationship with His Father, our Father, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit – In this relationship, I recognize that sacrifice and offering has no place in the economy of heaven, but that my heart is filled with joy and purpose and love, and it is a delight to participate in the giving and receiving in the wonder of this circle of life and love and friendship – David also spoke of this in Psalm 40:8    “I Delight to do your will.......”

I explore my newly discovered surroundings and the goings on of my 'home'.

I listen to the conversations, and get to participate with what's taking place.

Isn't this what Jesus did when He was on Earth ?!  

He saw and heard what was going on with His Father and the Spirit, and lived that out – It's called the obedience of Faith in the Perfect Law of Liberty

I begin to eat of another Tree – The Tree of Life, producing the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

This is the Kingdom on Earth,

His will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven !                                                   

                             There is no End

Excert from an article by L.Ray Smith ----The Lake of Fire

The very first chapter of the Book of Revelation tells us what this Book is about.  Most of us have always seen it as a book that proclaimed prophetic events to come, but look at it more closely.....Rev. 1:1 The Revelation OF Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--------things which must shortly take place.Although it is a book that does tell of events to come, it is so much more.  It is a book about the unveiling of Jesus.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega....the Beginning and the End.  Revelation begins by telling us what the book is about....the unveiling of Jesus Christ.  The book ends in talking about the "Lake of Fire".   Could this lake of fire be Jesus Christ, the all consuming fire?   Read this excellent article and judge for yourself.

------J. Melanson

PHYSICAL FIRE VERSUS SPIRITUAL FIRE

Without realizing it, those who defend a literal fire in this judgment of God will have a very hard time showing that anyone can be "tormented day and night for ever and ever" in a literal fire. If the fire is literal, then the idea that anyone could be tormented for ever and ever is totally impossible! How so? We will see.

Notice who is thrown into this lake of fire:

1. "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet ... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20). 
   
   
   If the beast and false prophet are humans, then a real lake of fire would BURN THEM UP making it impossible for them to be tortured for ever and ever! If the beast and false prophet are supernatural, superhuman, or spirit in nature, then physical fire CANNOT HARM THEM in any way. So, if the fire is literal, it can serve NO useful purpose! 
2. "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire..." (Rev. 20:10). 
   
   
   As this is Satan, he is a spirit, and therefore CANNOT be tortured with REAL FIRE! Real, physical fire has NO effect on SPIRIT! Since God "makes His angels SPIRITS; His ministers a FLAMING FIRE" (Psalm 104:4), it isn’t likely that the Head of the "sinning angels" would be the least bit hurt by literal fire!  
3. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:12 & 15). 
   
   
   "The dead, small and great" are mortals resurrected to judgment and are still mortal. Therefore physical fire will BURN THEM UP, hence there can be NO torture or torment for ever and ever.

So now what will our fundamentalist friends do with this evidence? Real, physical, literal fires, BURN UP physical bodies! And, real, physical, literal fires CANNOT burn or harm spiritual bodies! Sorry, but that’s just the way it is!

But these verses say that there is "fire" and that those in it are "tormented." So what kind of fire are we talking about and what kind of torment are we talking about? First, the fire.

If this lake of fire is not real, physical, literal fire, is there then such a thing as "figurative fire" or "spiritual fire?" I’m so glad you asked. As a matter of Scriptural fact, yes there is such a thing as "figurative and spiritual fire." Let’s start with the most profound Scripture regarding spiritual fire. As we all know, "God IS SPIRIT" (John 4:24). But have you never read:

"For our God IS A CONSUMING FIRE" (Heb. 12:29)!

God has shown Himself to be not only a fire, but a CONSUMING FIRE all through the Scriptures. You will be amazed how often God speaks of fire in bringing judgment on humanity. ALL IS OF GOD, II Cor. 5:18, Rom. 11:36, Eph. 1:11, etc. God IS a consuming FIRE.

God IS this lake of fire!

But since it is not literal fire, what does it burn? What does it consume? -- It is the "works of the flesh" that made sinners of those thrown into the lake of fire in the first place. And we shall see from the Scriptures that it is these very works of the flesh that are consumed in this lake of fire. And don’t think for a moment that it is not a most painful and tormenting experience to have one’s carnal mind with all its ungodly passions, thoughts and deeds, burned clean and pure by the consuming fire of God’s Holy Spirit!

God doesn’t change. He will use the same method in the day of judging at the white throne as He uses on US. Although the intensity will get considerably more severe for those who blaspheme till the end.

We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). However, that does not purge us from all our filthy thoughts and deeds. No, there is more. There is also a consuming FIRE that God uses on us:

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, WOOD, HAY, STUBBLE; Every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed BY FIRE; and the FIRE shall TRY EVERY MAN’S WORK of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be BURNED, he shall SUFFER LOSS; but [pay close attention to this BIG BUT] BUT HE HIMSELF [the one who had his works burned and consumed in God’s consuming fire] SHALL BE SAVED [What will save him?], yet so AS BY FIRE" (I Cor. 3:11-15)!!!

Ah dear readers, can we begin to understand the workings of God? God consumes with fire, the wood, hay and stubble in our lives. The things that don’t deserve to continue. But he REFINES the gold, silver, and precious stones (those doctrines and godly character traits of God’s spirit that abide the fire). It is figurative language, it is an analogy, it is a parable, it is metaphorical (where one thing is called another thing). Our lives have either qualities of character (which are likened to gold and precious stones, things of value to refine and retain), or gross lacks in character (which are likened to wood, hay, and stubble and which are not worthy to retain or preserve).

And just as real literal fire is used to refine and purify gold and precious metals, so God’s SPIRITUAL FIRE refines and purifies us from our sinful and carnal nature. And likewise, as real literal fire is used to burn up wood and stubble, so God’s all consuming SPIRITUAL FIRE will consume and burn up all the impurities in our life. These things MUST DIE. This purging is the SECOND DEATH. And whether the person God subjects to His consuming fire has many good qualities or none, the person himself shall be purged, purified, and SAVED BY GOD’S ALL-CONSUMING SPIRITUAL FIRE!!! We just read it in God’s Holy Word. How can any deny it? Every person who has ever lived will be subjected to the cleaning fire of God’s spirit.

God is the JUDGE (Rev. 20;12). NOT Satan. This judgment throne is "WHITE" not black! God judges in righteousness.

"He shall judge the world with RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Psalm 96:13)

"Because He [God] hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Acts 17:31)

Next I present a Scripture that many fundamentalists hate. I’ll bet if you attended a fundamentalist church, you never heard a sermon on this verse. We read that God has appointed a day (a period of time) in which He will "JUDGE" the whole world. Revelation 20:10-15 IS THAT DAY OF JUDGMENT! Now we know that those not found in the book of life will be put into FIRE, and they will be TORMENTED. This is certainly part of this judgment. But it is not literal fire. Literal fire burns up physical things and literal fire cannot harm spiritual things. So what does the fire do or accomplish? MUCH!

This judgment in Revelation 20 IS that worldwide judgment spoken of in many prophecies. But is the purpose of this worldwide judgment to torture people by burning their flesh in real fire for all eternity? Is that HOW God judges in "righteousness"? Absolutely not. We just read where God burns up our fleshly WORKS, and this is "tormenting" for sure. But God does not torture our flesh for all eternity. Don’t get me wrong, there will be severe chastisements on those who despise God and His Savior and His Gospel. But out of their ashes will come salvation. Here is another marvelous Scripture which answers what happens to sinning humanity when God JUDGES THE WORLD in righteousness.

"For he [GOD] bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low, HE LAYETH IT LOW, even to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust" (Isa. 26:5)

Make no mistake, God will judge the wicked with great severity. However, ALWAYS FOR A BENEVOLENT PURPOSE:

"With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when Thy judgments are in the earth, THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Isaiah 26:9)!!

There will come a time when those who only knew how to blaspheme the name of God, will come to LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. They will not just "hear" of righteousness, no, they will actually "LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS"!

The whole book of Isaiah speaks of judgments on Israel and on the nations. But the end of all these judgments is SALVATION TO ALL. Notice Isa. 45:22-23,

"Look unto me, and BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness [as in, ‘For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth,’ I Tim. 2:3-4] , and shall not return, That unto me EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY TONGUE SHALL SWEAR" (See also: Phil. 2: 9-11 & I Cor. 12:3).

God’s words will NOT return empty or void. When God speaks, it will be done. When God wills, it will be done. When God desires, His desires WILL BE DONE:

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, and I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE ... I have spoken it, I WILL ALSO BRING IT TO PASS; I HAVE PURPOSED IT, I WILL ALSO DO IT" (Isa. 46:10-11).

Oh the blasphemy of those who teach that God’s most heartfelt desires WILL NOT COME TO PASS, but will utterly fail!!! Jesus Christ is not the potential Savior of the world; He IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!!! HE WILL SAVE THE WORLD!!!

How many self-appointed, bible-thumping, doomsday, fire and brimstone, eternal torture in hell preachers believe these verses in Isaiah? Not one that I know of! Most Christians have never been taught the Scriptures that I am giving you. These things are despised by many who call themselves "Christian." And yet, God’s Word is FULL of such statements of God’s salvation to all.

To read the entire article, go to:  http://bible-truths.com/lake1.html

Hell in the New Testament - Gospels and Jesus' Direct Teaching, Part 5

By Bart Breen

The fifth note looking at passages in the Gospels where Jesus mentions or refers to Hell, the passage in question is:

.

Matt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

.

Whom speaking to:  Jesus is speaking with His Disciples in a private conversation as they were arriving in Caesarea Philippi.  In particular, with this specific passage, Jesus is speaking to Peter who had just declared that Jesus was the Christ, or the Messiah (anointed one) and the son of the living God.

.

Word translated hell:  Hades, which tends to speak more of the underworld where spirits go as opposed to the idea of torment which is contained more within the word "Gehenna.".

.

Immediate Context:  Jesus is questioning His disciples asking them who people say He (Jesus) is.  The other disciples answer in general that people see Him as John the Baptist (returned to life or replaced as John has already been killed by Herod) or a prophet of old, such as Jeremiah or Elijah.  Jesus presses them further however and asks them who THEY (the disciples say that he is.)  Peter responds (either on his own or as a representative of all of them) and declares that Jesus is the Christ (which Christ is the Greek equivalent of Messiah) or "anointed one" and in particular the Son of God.  Jesus confirms this declaration and we're told later that from this point on, Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for what is going to come in terms of his suffering and death.  This is a pivotal moment in the ministry of Christ and His relationship with His disciples.  The declaration of the "gates of hell" is something of a symbolic statement.  The gates of a city or a kingdom are symbolic of the power of that kingdom both for the power that comes out from them (troops for example) and the declarations being sent abroad outside of that kingdom.

.

Here in Matthew, Jesus has already done combat with Satan at the beginning of His ministry (the temptation).  We see even following this that Satan is still influencing as almost immediately after Jesus makes His declaration, Peter follows up with a suggestion of how to make things easier for Him (just like Satan at the Temptation) and Peter is rebuked strongly by Jesus who (not coincidently in my opinion) refers to Peter, or at least what Peter said as Satan Himself. 

.

Satan in this regard is present both at the start, here at this transition and presumably at the end as well as Jesus makes major transitions in His ministry and mission.  This is perhaps a strong clue as to who the power behind the gates of Hades are.  This doesn't mean that Satan is "in charge" of hades (like Pluto in Greek mythology) but as the powers that stand against Christ, Satan figures prominently.

.

Thoughts:  Jesus speaks frequently of the Kingdom of God that He has come to usher in.  The Kingdom of God is not, as many commonly believe, just the idea of heaven as a future place where believers go, but it is rather the remaking of this world and implementation of the order of God to be implemented here on earth.  We will get very confused in Scripture if we confuse the Kingdom of God with eternity in heaven as they are not exactly the same things.

.

Just as the Kingdom of God has (and will have) a system of power (radically different than how the world sees things; see the Beatitudes for example) there are powers standing against that are their own kingdom of sorts with the accouterments of power such as "gates".  There is a battle taking place that is playing out within Jesus' ministry and will continue to play out following Christ's death, resurrection and ascension.

.

The use of "Hell" here is different then the sense of eternity as well.  This is speaking of the system that stands against the kingdom of God, not in the sense that Hell in the future will stand against Heaven.  It's not completely in this passage but I think it bears mentioning that whatever view one adopts of "Hell" as in the sense of Gehenna, it will not be a place that Satan runs.  If anything, it will be the place of his ultimate defeat and imprisonment.  Hell in the eternal sense of punishment, cannot be seen as a base of operations so this is something different here. 

.

Conclusion: This is not referring to a place of power for Satan at all in an eternal sense but is instead juxtaposed against the Kingdom of God.  In that regard, this mention of Hell or Hades in this passage doesn't add anything to a doctrine of Hell comprehensively.

Hell in the New Testament - Gospels and Jesus' Direct Teaching, Part 4

By Bart Breen

The fourth note looking at passages in the Gospels where Jesus mentions or refers to Hell, the passage in question is:

.  

Mat 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 

.

Whom Speaking to:  Jesus is speaking in general to crowds in the time just following sending His disciples out to cities and towns throughout Judea.  The specific location isn't clear.  It may be close to Jerusalem, as just prior to this John the Baptist sent some out to question Jesus as to whether He was really the one.  John was in prison at Herod's Palace so it may be that Jesus' proximity is what prompted the emissary.  It's not clear, but it doesn't really impact what Jesus has to say.

.

Word translated Hell: Hades (the first time we've seen that as opposed to Gehenna  which has been in the previous verses looked out.).

.

Immediate Context:  Jesus has prepared his disciples for going out ahead of his to proclaim the gospel (good news) of the coming of the Kingdom.  Jesus then speaks to the group of people present and contrasts the cities He's been to and their response to Him as compared with cities in the past that messages have been delivered to. 

.

Capernaum in particular is a city that has seen Jesus more than any other city and in which Jesus has performed miracles more than any other.  Further it is a privileged city with much wealth and reputation and so it is seen metaphorically as "lifted to heaven" and Jesus contrasts this with their being brought down into Hades.  Obviously not everyone in Capernaum is going to "hell" in the context of this passage.  It's speaking comparatively and there is no sense of punishment in the sense of Gehenna and so hades is used instead.

.

Thoughts:  This is a good example of how in particular the KJV can create some confusion by using the word Hell to translate both Gehenna and Hades in the NT.  There's very different senses involved and this passage in particular demonstrates that Gehenna is what speaks more of punishment where Hades is speaking more of an underworld or place where departed souls go waiting for the day of judgment.  Metaphorically then the threat to Capernaum as a city is that it will be brought down to a state of desolation in contrast to its current prosperity. 

.

Conclusion:  This is a collective sense of judgment upon an entire city and not a sending of all of its inhabitants to a literal hell, which would contradict other passages of Scripture where eternal salvation is a matter of individuals rather than entire peoples.  The sense of groups of people is still preserved in the NT in terms of their place in the overall plan of God (Israel as a chosen nation as opposed to the Gentiles for example).. Given that the use of the word here is comparative as a metaphor rather than a literal reference to a permanent location of punishment, it doesn't really add anything to a comprehensive doctrine of hell.

.

The next passage to look at will be Matt 16:18