Commentary on Hebrews 12:29 part two

Jesus' descent into hell was an important part of His sacrifice for humanity. The burnings of the animals symbolized God's consuming fire that burns only deadness and sin. Leviticus 9:24. The sweet savour that God smelled symbolized His recovery from His consuming fire all that He ever created. Leviticus 1:17. Romans 11:36 teaches that all that God has ever created returns to Him. All this together means that one can conclude that the fires of hell serve a different purpose than does the lake of fire. All persons not saved by grace; that is, by faith in the shed blood and water that flowed from Jesus on the cross, God will judge to go to either a place called the sea, a place called death, or a place called hell. Revelation 20:13. But according to I Corinthians 3:12-15, every one of these persons will eventually be tried by God's consuming fire in order to separate and recover all the goodness that God created in them from their sin and deadness destined for the lake of fire. Revelation 21:8.

God directly connects His recovery and recreation of all humans not saved by grace to Christ's descent into hell where He left behind all of the sin and deadness of mankind. But all persons not saved by grace must directly experience this separation by God's consuming fire after their physical deaths just as all believers saved by grace must personally experience their cleansing of sin by the shed blood and water that flowed from Jesus' body on the cross while they are still alive in the flesh. The shed blood of Jesus cleanses the believer's soul and spirit of all sin. The water that flowed from Jesus' body cleanses the believer's flesh from daily sins. God's consuming fire cleanses and recovers the life of the rest of humanity from their sin and deadness.

Sin causes death, and death causes sin. Sin and death are two sides of the same coin. They are integral to each other. Romans 5:12. The original project of Lucifer was to murder God by using sin and death to ruin God's creations forever and thereby weaken God's power and Word which would cause God's eventual death. God met Satan's challenge on the cross, and through His death, burial, and resurrection Christ gained victory over death and sin to prove that His Love for all that He has ever created can never be destroyed. I Corinthians 13:8; Luke 20:38.