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Crazy Good God

Crazy Good God, do you know Him? He's somethin' else! And He thinks you are AWESOME! My fifteen minute Episodes eventually became five minute Quick Deep Points. The QDPs will make you ponder! Episodes launch every Wednesday morning 5am. Since a child I was told about Jesus. Over the years there have been difficulties and losses that have heightened understanding of who He is. I was involved in numerous ministries and church leadership for several decades. There were many opportunities to see God at work. But, it wasn’t until 2012 that the Lord took me on a journey to discover the mystery of the Gospel, the wonder of Jesus’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension. All of it involves us! For over ten years (hey, I’m a slow learner!) He exposed and dismantled religious mindsets that blocked my understanding of who He really is. Crazy good! Join me on a wondrous adventure to encounter and grasp Jesus's finished work. Religious Christianity tells us there are things we have to do or say to get saved. But, Jesus said, "It is finished." What does that mean? Sounds like Jesus did it all. God just wants us to enjoy His life. He freely gives it to all. All we do is RECEIVE! This crazy good God is head over heels in love with you and all mankind. He made us in His image and likeness so He doesn't make junk! God sees the hidden treasure in everyone. The fall of man brought darkened understanding, deception, and ignorance. The first lie was Adam and Eve thought God was holding out on them and really didn't care about them. What a big fat lie! Man still believes God is distant, aloof, angry, disappointed and we must do something to get back to God. But, Jesus said, "It is finished." Now, why do we think we have to do something? Get ready to be wowed! Find out jaw-dropping truths that will expose many lies you've believed about God. If you’ve tried to serve Him and still feel guilty, must do more, just plain worn out, then listen in. The truth is renewing and the Truth is FOR YOU! If you don't know God, never heard of Jesus, or could care less about God, then check out Crazy Good God podcast. You will be surprised and discover God is actually fun! I will even share some fascinating visions and dreams God has given me. They mean even more in light of Jesus' finished work. How cool is that?! QUESTIONS COMMENTS - I'd love to hear from you! CONTACT ME nancy@crazygoodgod.org (Music by joystock.org)

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Crazy Good God

Where is Hell Why a Hell After all Jesus descended ascended to fill all things

May 04, 2022 • Nancy Teague • Episode 13

0:00 | 14:35

#13 Have you ever heard that “Hell is separation from God.” Is that true? Does that statement line up with scripture. Does it fit with who Jesus is, what happened to Him, and Jesus’s statement “It is finished.”? If God sent His Son to save the world and not condemn it, then why is there a hell? Are some people stuck in hell? How does God’s unconditional love fit with a hell? Hmm, interesting questions! Jump in for eye opening answers.

13E Where Hell Why Hell After all Jesus descended ascended to fill all things

Crazy Good God with Nancy Teague

www.crazygoodgod.org

5/4/22

0:00:14.3 S1: Hi there, welcome to Crazy Good God.

0:00:17.6 S2: I'm Nancy Teague, and thanks for listening. For more info on the Crazy Good God podcast, go to www.crazygoodgod.org. If you've been regularly listening to my messages about this crazy Good God, you might begin to realize that Jesus’s finished work means everyone is in the Kingdom. Seriously? Wait a minute now, you can't be serious. Well, I am. But the traditional Christian message is, you can't be in the Kingdom unless you get saved. And to get saved, you have to do certain things. If you don't do certain things, say certain things, then you go to hell. As I grasped Jesus's proclamation of His inclusive Kingdom, it was like pieces of a puzzle slowly coming together over years. Once I saw it, I cannot unsee it! It is too beautiful to wondrous! Decades ago, I remember hearing hell is separation from God. Have you heard that? Well, when I heard it, I thought, man, that would be awful. That means God is nowhere near those deserving eternal punishment. Does that mean that God doesn't care that those in hell get to suffer, suffer, suffer? Does that line up with how Jesus showed us the Father by being known as the “friend of sinners”? I'm sure you've heard often, if you're in certain circles, God loves you unconditionally, then a ‘but’ comes along, a qualifier to

0:02:07.4 S2: get this unconditional love. Is this really who God is like? Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.” John 12:32 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “One died for all, therefore, all died.” That's a mystery, by the way, Romans 4, 5 and 6, the chapters – “God demonstrates His love, while we were sinful, Christ died for us. Do you not know, you were baptized in His baptism of death? When we were enemies, we were reconciled through Jesus's death. Jesus was delivered up because of our trespasses, and then raised because of our justification.” Justification in the Greek means ‘make righteous’. But the religious works, guilt, judgment filters, block our ability to see His inclusive lavish grace and restoration of mankind. It's like we are stuck in a, what I call a ‘Fault-finding Mindset’ about ourselves and others. Hence, we make God to be fault-finding too. We project our own images and thoughts on others, and by doing this, we justify our fault-finding mindset. What is fascinating in God's economy is His comfort, so to speak, with opposites. For starters, right at the beginning of creation, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil were side by side in the garden.

0:04:13.3 S2: Like, what was God thinking!? On top of that, He gave mankind free will! Is God crazy!? Well, love could not be true love without the choice of acceptance or rejection. God knew there would be resistance, dismissal, rejection, even mockery of Him. It's wondrous that God is okay with the tension of evil/good, yes/no, acceptance/rejection, in/out. And there's a host of opposites that He seems cool with. Robert Farrar Capon, an author, describes God as “Let It Be” kind of God or a ‘Hands-off’ kind of creator. Yet, in the mystery of His all- encompassing love, He allows and provides for wrong in the midst of redemption and restoration. Generally speaking, mankind lives in a false identity, a fallen identity. So, it's hard to see who God is and who He says we are. In an un-renewed mind the focus is right or wrong, and the wrong have to pay. There has to be punishment, and there has to be hell for those bad people. Jesus was a nice guy and fully represented God, so why do we make part of God vindictive and wrathful? Let's reconsider this. Jesus made all thing, fills all things,

0:06:07.6 S2: holds all things together, sustains all things, and the fullness of the deity dwells in Him. There is nothing outside of Jesus. A few scripture references for those are Colossians 1: 16,17 and Hebrews 13:3. Okay, let's try this. If you are NOT driving - hold your arms out to make a circle by clasping your hands together. The circle is Jesus. Now picture this, there's nothing outside of Him because He made everything and He fills everything, He holds everything together, and He sustains everything. So, look inside that circle, and everything is inside Jesus. Can you see that? Okay, my big question then is, ‘Where is hell?’ Hmmm. Okay, can the parables help us see where hell is? A great explainer of the parables was Robert Farrer Capon (1925-2013) - he was an Episcopal Priest and a prolific author. Capon had deep practical, humorous insights on the one true God. His book, “Kingdom Grace, Judgment - Paradox, Outrage and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus” is an eye-opener. I'm so thankful this author's work crossed my path. His insights were helpful for me in beginning to really see the fullness of the pure Gospel. I highly recommend his books.

0:08:03.3 S2: Many Christians believe the Parable of the sheep and the goats is proof positive that there will be a separation of the good guys and the bad guys, and the bad guys will get their well-deserved torture. But the parables in essence, are meant to reveal the mystery of Jesus. Remember the disciples asking Jesus, “Why do you speak in parables?” And Jesus explained, “It's a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy about, they see and they don't see, they hear and don't hear. Thus, they won't understand, nor perceive.” Then Jesus said, “For the hearts of this people have grown dull, (in the Greek, that means thicken, make fat, become stupid). So, ‘the heart of this people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.’ They close their eyes! Matthew 13:13-15 Sobering. As in Jesus's day, religious tradition and ‘fat mindsets’, if you will, had told them, ‘We know we know, we know what we know, and I'm not open to anything that goes against what I've been told to know.’ That's like, ‘Whoa! Maybe that's not a good position.’ So please keep in mind, many translations come from the traditional ‘God is going to judge everyone, and only those who ask for salvation don't get judged.’ By learning to look up Greek meanings of words and passages, I started to see

0:09:52.1 S2: translation errors, if you will. I found Biblehub.com to be a great resource. And the Mirror Bible by Francois du Toit, specifically keys in on Greek meanings as he unfolds this beautiful pure gospel - in the Gospels and Paul's letters. Now, here's a few nuggets of the pure Gospel as Robert Farrar Capon explains – “Sin does not get us in hell. Sin does not put us in hell. Sin does not keep us in hell.” Remember John the Baptist words in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Then we have to ask the question, Well, did Jesus do that or not? Why do we so focus on sin? Capon also says, “Only non-acceptance of Jesus’s finished work can get us to hell.” Capon goes on, “We alone deem ourselves unworthy of His free gift by refusal of it.” Here's a great example, in Acts 13:42-46, “Some of the people under the law started to contradict and blaspheme Paul's preaching, and they became envious… Paul and Barnabas, then retorted, “It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first.

0:11:33.6 S2: But, you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life in Jesus.”

Another point here by Capon, “In the kingdom, evil is not excluded, but provided for.” Remember the word evil in the Greek means wearisome, misery, laborious. “Evil is allowed to remain inside Jesus, but it cannot influence the joyful party of heaven.” Now, I love the Parable of the elder sign and his prodigal brother to illustrate this, and we'll talk about that parable down the road in another episode. Another thought by Capon – “Hell for unbelief. resistance, self-righteousness has a sequestered place in the final scheme of things”. Why? Because everyone died in Jesus, and He will always love everyone. A final point by Capon about hell, he says those in hell put themselves there, it's a “misery of their own rejection of grace and acceptance.” ‘A misery of their own rejection of grace and acceptance.’ Just think about that! How miserable it must be to eternally resist the One who always delights in them. Hey, do you know, it's called the “eternal gospel”? Revelation 14:6 So picture the big circle you made with your arms, all are encircled in Jesus's love, which also means there is always opportunity to change one's mind to stop resisting unconditional love and fully receive it with joy!

0:13:47.9 S2: Now, how great is that!? God respects the sovereignty of the soul to receive or not receive. We can think we choose. But, never forget, Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you”. John 15:16. Gosh, there's lots of food for thought here! So hang on. Until next Wednesday, Bliss to you, and never forget God is absolutely crazy about you!