From the Lowest Parts of the Earth to the Highest Place

From the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place

As we think about the subject of this post, as it relates to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are journeying to two opposite extremes: from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place.  These summarize the work of Jesus on our behalf and are a major reason for the wonderful glory He has in our eyes.

Therefore.  Because I love Him and want to honor Him, my heart desires to begin this post by

Contemplating the supremacy and glory of Jesus Christ with worshipful meditations from the New Testament

“In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1; cf. Gen. 1:1).

“That in all things He might have the preeminence [be first]” (Col. 1:18).

“I am the first and the last” (Rev. 1:17), “the Author and Finisher [the Beginning and End] of the Faith” (Heb. 12:2).

“God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name” (Phil. 2:9; Eph. 1:21).

“That in Him should all fulness dwell” (Col. 1:19).

“The fulness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23).

“The all and in all Christ” (Col. 3:11).

“Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11; I Cor. 8:6).

“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father” (John 5:23).

“Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either” (I John 2:23).

“This One is worthy of more glory than Moses” (Heb. 3:3).

“The Son is heir of all things, through whom God made the ages [all of history]” (Heb. 1:2).

“In the fulness of times [God] will head up [consummate] all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10).

“He is before all things, and all things are held together by Him” (Col. 1:17).

“You, from of old, Lord, have laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands” (Heb. 1:10).

“All things came to be through Him, and without Him, not one thing that is, came to be” (John 1:3).

“All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16).

“Who, being the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

From the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place

. . .beginning at

THE HIGHEST PLACE

In our journey from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place, we will begin in reverse order, at the highest place, where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  But we will take an innovative path, by opening this part of our study with

A look at Salisbury Cathedral

In 2003, Kathy and I found ourselves walking down a road that led to Salisbury Cathedral, which made Stonehenge, about eight miles away, look like a game of prehistoric dominoes. The 70,000-ton cathedral seemed almost too heavy for the Salisbury Plain to bear.  As we approached, I could not believe my eyes, though I had never known them to fool me.  How could any earthly dwelling be so sublime?  Was it real?  Or just some colossal figment everyone was imagining?

The 6000-ton, 404-foot tower/spire seemed to hang from the sky.  If not heaven itself.  Seeing as how it is the tallest spire in the UK, it took a rubber neck to look up at it.  And yet, the walls, resembling the flanks of an oversized brontosaurus, were planted firmly in the earth, like Herod’s retaining wall around the Temple.

But our approach to the cathedral was only the beginning.  When we looked inside, we realized our journey and discovery had only begun.

There are many tombs inside, a common feature in old cathedrals.  It is a place for the living and the dead, with a ceiling that seems to reach some basement floor in heaven: presumably, giving the dead easy access to the abode above.  You might say (though it is not true), that being “planted” in a place like this gives you a “ticket to ride” at the resurrection: a fast track to heaven.  Unfortunately, the tracks may go in the wrong direction.

To put it another way. . .  It will not be advantageous for Charles Darwin, to be buried in Westminster Abbey.  (Nor will it be advantageous for many of those who had the sod pulled over them on the Mount of Olives.)

A much greater “cathedral”: a look at the exaltation of Jesus Christ

I say all that, to say this. . .

If you have ever looked inside a Gothic cathedral, you can begin to understand, or at least imagine, what the exaltation of Jesus Christ in the heavens must be like.  He sits on His throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe fills the Temple (Isa. 6:1; John 12:41).  His matchless glory and unsurpassed beauty have no equal in all the starry seas that spin past our window on the sky.

Oh, that we could have a glimpse of Jesus’ glory (John 17:24)!  Better yet if we could tarry in that heavenly place for a while and ponder His glory, and His exaltation.  Could we endure the sight?  Would we fall before Him as dead?  Or would we be dissolved in infinite peace and bliss in the light of His heavenly presence, in intimate communion with Him; and find ourselves, somehow, to awaken in His likeness?  That would mean, of course, that we had stepped away from our earthly abode.

I have walked through many cathedrals (some of them with Kathy): Ely, Salisbury, York, Notre Dame, Westminster Abbey, and St Paul’s.  There were others as well.  I love to be there.  Because, when I am there, beneath those distant ceilings, somehow, my thoughts always fly to the place where Jesus’ nail-pierced feet rest.  He has passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14) and has exceeded their heights, to the highest place of exaltation possible.  As Paul wrote: He has “gone up far above all the heavens” (Eph. 4:10).  And as the writer of Hebrews also says: He “has become so much [superlatively] higher than the heavens” (7:26).  It’s kind of like missing your Moon landing and touching down on Mars!

We can hardly imagine, how majestic, exalted, and beautiful He is!

From the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place – reversing direction

After contemplating Jesus’ heavenly glory, we now descend to

THE LOWEST PARTS OF THE EARTH

Seeing as how we have gone in our Spirit-chartered imaginations to the highest place, let us consider the opposite reality, as well.  In Ephesians 4:9, Paul wrote, that, before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, He went to “the lowest parts of the earth.”  His burial is only a partial fulfillment of this.  For, as we will soon see, it most likely finds its primary fulfillment before He was laid in the tomb.

But, of course, some will disagree.

Which leads to the obvious question (“the elephant in the room”). . .

Did Jesus go to hell when He died?

Those who disagree, will most likely ask: “Isn’t Paul saying that Jesus went to hell when He died?”  After all, one reading of the Apostles’ Creed says: “Jesus Christ. . .was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose from the dead.”

How do we respond to this?

First of all, the Apostles’ Creed was not written by the apostles.  And, nowhere in the Bible does it say Jesus went to hell after He died on the cross.  And even if Jesus did go to hell, He did not, in any sense, do this so that He could complete the work of redemption He had already accomplished on the cross.  Those who think He did, are putting a novel spin on “It is finished!” and pedaling a 24-speed drivetrain over a precipice that leads to heresy.  (Enjoy the short ride!)  It doesn’t matter how clever or alluring their persuasions are.

“Today you will be with Me in Paradice”

The New Testament does not say Jesus went to hell after He died.  But it does say where He did go.

In Luke, Jesus says to the thief on the cross: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (23:43).  He did not say to him, “I’m going to hell while you go to Paradise.  See you later.”  Jesus also said, “Father, I commend my spirit into your hands” (Luke 23:46).  This was not to say, that His spirit was departing for hell, any more than Stephen’s was when he prayed in the same way (Acts 7:59).  No.  It’s simpler than that.  Jesus’ next stop was “Paradise.”  In the moments following death, Jesus and the thief would find themselves in that place.  “Today” obviously means: “The next thing you and I experience” will be Paradise.  After all.  How many hours were left for them in that day?

To be or not to be in hell

That’s why when Paul defines what the Gospel is in I Corinthians 15:1-4, he does not include Jesus descending into hell.

Nevertheless, some believe Jesus did descend to hell, based on Paul’s testimony in Ephesians 4:8-10 (as if Paul is advocating for both points of view), and Peter’s in I Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6.

So, let’s begin by looking more closely at what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4.  In verse 9, when he says Jesus “descended to the lowest parts of the earth,” what is “the lowest parts of the earth” a reference to?

Remember.  We are following the journey of Jesus from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place (but reversing the order for this post).  According to Paul, before Jesus went up far above all the heavens to His highly exalted position at the right hand of God, He “first” (Eph. 4:9) went down to the lowest parts of the earth.

So,

What does “the lowest parts of the earth” refer to?

To answer this question, we will begin by going back to Science Class.

Not everyone will be happy about that.

But, it’s like taking your vitamins.  It must be done.

Therefore.  Off to school, we go. . .

May I have your attention, please?  (We are back in junior high now, and it’s Science Class, and we have just returned to our seats after dissecting an unsuspecting frog “who never hurt anybody.”)

Our English words “geology” and “geography” are derived from the Greek word for “earth” used in this text (Eph. 4:9).  The prefix “geo” equals γη (“earth”).  Geology (geoscience or earth science) and geography are fields of study that focus on our understanding of earth’s physical features and the processes that affect such things as the earth’s crust and topography.  Because of the fundamental meaning of this Greek word, it is not generally used in a nonphysical or unearthly sense, as it would be if it referred to hell (the place of departed spirits).  Instead, it normally refers, in a geologic sense, to actual physical “dirt” or “soil” (e.g. see Matt. 13:5,8, Heb. 6:7, and James 5:18).  This includes rocks, of course.

It is important, and instructive, to recognize this distinction.  Because, as we decide the meaning of “the lowest parts of the earth [γη],” we discover that, in geologic terms, the Dead Sea, which lies at the end of the Jordan Valley, the region to which Jesus came, marks the lowest (dry land) point on earth.

An interesting beginning to our study.

But there is more to uncover. . .

We will continue this trek, in our search for the meaning of “the lowest parts of the earth,” after

A short detour

Before we go on, perhaps we should ask ourselves where hades (or hell) is.  Is it at the center of our physical, geologic earth–γη, in the form of, say, an “abyss” (perhaps not so much a “bottomless” pit, but a pit of immeasurable depth: Gen. 1:2; 7:11; Luke 8:31; Rev. 9,11,17,20)?  Possibly.  I’m not sure.  The “abyss,” spoken of in the Bible, is also thought of, in a more general sense, as the receptacle of the dead (Thayer): a reference to the grave itself–those in physical graves, made (physically) alive again (Rom. 10:7,9; Ps. 71:20); but it does not mean all who are there are in the place of the lost (hell).

Hell itself (the place of lost souls) has a spiritual dimension but is nonetheless very real.  Yet hell is not earth.  In a similar way as “metaphysics” (the branch of philosophy speculating about the nature of reality and causality) is not geology; although, you could say, the geologic owes its existence to a “metaphysical” first cause: God (Heb. 11:3).  (If I continue to wax eloquent, I could turn into a statue.)

Sometimes the Bible refers to things that are “under the earth [γη].”  Where is that?  And who, or what are the things that are there?

I do know that the lake of fire will exist apart from any connection with, or relation to, the new earth–καινη γη (see Rev. 20:11-21:5 and II Pet. 3:13).  So the hell that exists now could also be separate from the present earth: in some sort of “other dimension” (Jude 6).  (Like a black hole in outer space.)  I don’t know.  But, as I said: though that “dimension” is spiritual, it is no less real (Luke 16:19f).  The spirit world may in some ways actually be, more real than our present experience.

Forever

When someone dies, their spirit (or soul) goes to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7; Gen. 2:7).  You might say, He has loaned it out to us (Ezek. 18:4).  And yet, apart from the grace of Christ, we will live forever with the consequences of what we have done with it, because it will never die but will go to the place it rushes eagerly toward while on earth (Matt. 7:13).

And wherever that is, it is forever.

Time to get back to trekking from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place

Parachuting from a DC-3

With that, I’m dropping with my parachute through the doorway of a DC-3.  “Bye!”  This subject is a hot potato.  Maybe I will visit it in a future post.  I always say, Why do today, what you can put off until tomorrow? 🙂

Besides.  I see an “End Road Work” sign ahead.  That means the detour has put us back on track.

The Son of God embarking from heaven for the journey from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place – the incarnation

As we follow the passage of Jesus from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place, let us not forget from where He came to begin with.  When He came down to earth (John 6:50,51), He departed from the place in the highest heavens where He would later return and be exalted as the victorious Son of Man.  So, that means. . .  In His first coming to earth, to become a man, He left a heavenly domain where He had unbroken fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit; where, as God, He existed eternally with them, as part of the Elohim.  “The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:2).

Therefore.  As we determine the meaning of “the lowest parts of the earth,” this is the wonder we will ultimately uncover: that God became flesh!  We will see that these words of Paul are most likely a reference to Christ’s incarnation.  (No need to be concerned.  I still have all the marbles I had when I got on the bus this morning.)

So, for starters, let us take a moment to contemplate the incarnation. . .

Try imagining the reality of what Jesus did!  Though, as God, He is omnipresent; in His descent to “the lowest parts of the earth,” somehow, the eternal “I AM” (the Son) passed through the unfathomably vast cosmos to a “pale blue dot.”  To make the degree of that descent even more remarkable, you could say, the seemingly “insignificant” pale blue dot itself, marks the lower parts of the universe (Thayer).  So Jesus crossed “a great divide” that no one else ever has or will again cross.  His “voyage” is unmatched by any space flight trajectory that has sailed through the cosmos, whether imagined or real.

The steps of descent

Paul laid out the steps of Christ’s descent in Philippians 2:5-8.

Being in the form of God: that is, sharing equality with God (the Divine nature), the Eternal King and Creator (the Son) emptied Himself–not clinging to His Divine prerogatives–and became a human being who dwelt at the lowest end of the human spectrum, as a bondservant.  And, having become a man (ανθρωπος: a human being, born in a stable), He humbled Himself even further, becoming obedient to the will of His Father to the point of death; and, in that death, He found and experienced the ultimate “bottom” (the ultimate humiliation).  For, even the way He died was another profoundly demeaning step down.  Because dying on a Roman cross was the most shameful and painful way for someone to die.  Jesus reflected on what it meant for Him personally, to die like this. . .  “I am a worm and no man” (Ps. 22:6).

Try, for a moment, to see what He saw, and feel what He felt, with the lowly heart He has.  Imagine being so low, that you consider yourself a worm: something that dwells underground.  You could even say: something that dwells in the lower parts of the earth (γη).

That is as low as it gets in this earthly realm.

But, in this, we see the great love wherewith He loved us!  Jesus went from God to man, to no man: a worm, for us.  “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12).

Focusing in on the point at which Jesus experienced “the lowest parts of the earth” event, on His journey from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place

Now we return to our question. . .  Where in the journey of Jesus does He experience this “lowest parts of the earth” episode?

It is time to reveal the answer.

But, as they say, when you sit down for a good movie. . .  “Hold on to your seats!”

. . .So, where in His journey does Jesus encounter “the lowest parts of the earth”?

In Mary’s womb.  Perhaps the most unlikely place we would expect, where He was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus’ “lowest parts of the earth” experience began at the moment of His conception when He became a human being.  But it culminated in His death and burial, the preordained goal of that human beginning in the womb.

We often think of Psalm 139:13-16 in terms of our own development (and David’s, of course) in our mothers’ wombs.  Though this reality is the same for any unborn child in the womb, including us, it is probably more accurate to understand this passage in the Psalms in terms of Jesus’ development (the Greater David) in Mary’s womb: to see it as a prophetic reference to Messiah’s incarnation.  Jesus Himself foresaw the hand of God fashioning Him in the womb in this way, according to a predetermined plan, when He said, “A body You have prepared for Me” (Heb. 10:5), and, “In the volume of the Book [including Psalm 139] it is written of Me” (Heb. 10:7).

The evidence is even more direct.  Look closely at Psalm 139:15.  Words that match Paul’s in Ephesians 4:9 describe one’s development in the womb as being “curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

Jesus’ journey from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place began in Mary’s womb.

Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth

But, as I said, Jesus’ experience in “the lowest parts of the earth” culminated in His burial.  As He said in Matthew 12:40: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights [parts of three days in a Jewish mind would equal three full days and nights] in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40), or γη, in a geologic (graveyard) sense.  And, just as Jonah remained in the belly of the great fish during those three days (see Jonah 1:17-2:10).  So, in like manner, Christ’s body remained in “the heart of the earth” (the tomb) for three days.

From the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place–examining I Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6

In concluding our post, from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place, we must take a moment to consider what Peter wrote in I Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6.

Many believe these passages reveal that Jesus went to hell when He died.

Let’s look at them and see if that is so.

I Peter 3:18-20

In I Peter 3:18, Peter says Christ was “put to death in flesh” and “made alive in spirit” (there are no articles in the original).  Since His spirit was already very much alive when He committed it into His Father’s hands, being “made alive in spirit” has no relation to any “spiritual renewal” and subsequent journey in that spirit into hell, while His body lay in the tomb.  Instead, it is describing the Sunday morning resurrection of the “flesh” that died.  (It is that which died that becomes alive.)  Likewise, the word “spirit” is very likely an allusion to the Holy Spirit’s power in raising Jesus from the dead (see Rom. 8:11).

And, it was in that “Spirit” (all letters are uppercase in the autographs [the original MSS]–so English translations don’t always reflect what original meanings were intended) the pre-incarnate Christ came to earth in Old Testament times and preached (II Pet. 2:5; I Pet. 3:19) to those who were disobedient, while Noah was building the ark.  But, because they did not respond to Christ’s preaching through Noah, they are, at the time Peter writes, “spirits in prison.”

I Peter 4:6

Now we will slide across the page to I Peter 4:6.  There, when Peter says, “For this reason, the Gospel was preached to the dead,” he is simply revisiting the subject he addressed in 3:18-20.

Let us examine this verse closely.

Peter says the Gospel “was preached” (a reference to the preaching he spoke of in I Peter 3:19 and 20) “to the dead,” so “that they [the dead] might be judged according to men in the flesh”: in the manner that men in the flesh are judged.  That means, quite simply: these are not disembodied spirits at the time they hear the Gospel.  Instead, they possess “flesh”; they have human bodies.  Then Peter buries this nail, with the words, “but [that they might] live according to God in the spirit,” which clearly indicates that, when these heard the Gospel, there was still a possibility of reform (repentance) and salvation.  There exists no such possibility for the dead in hell (Heb. 9:27).

Noah’s Ark and the Gospel

So, once again, this simply means that the people Peter is writing about in I Peter 4:6, who once heard the Gospel, are “dead” at the time he writes the epistle, just as in 3:19.  In fact, he is referring to the same group of people scattered across the earth at the time of Noah.

We also understand that the deliverance offered through the Ark and the preaching of Noah are an early form of the Gospel, following in the footsteps of the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15.

Addressing problems with the “Jesus in hell” scenario

Beside all this.  There are some fundamental problems with the “Jesus in hell” scenario.

I think most people who believe He went to hell, believe that when He did, He preached to all the dead who were there.  But this is not true.  According to Peter, He only preached to those who lived at the time of Noah, before the flood came and covered the earth.

Not only that.  What “Gospel” could Jesus bring to those lost in hell?  It would not be Good News to know your fate is sealed by what He just accomplished on the cross!

Giving thanks to the One who went from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place

We thank you, Lord Jesus, for leaving the glories of heaven and embarking on a journey from the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place.  Thank you for your great love for us, and your meek and humble spirit; and for your joyful jubilation (Heb. 12:2), triumph, and exaltation at the right hand of the Majesty on high: a place higher than any other in all of creation!  You are a Great Warrior!  We love you, Jesus, and worship and adore you.

You are high and lifted up!  You are beautiful.

“He is altogether lovely; this is my Beloved, and this is my Friend” (Song 6:16).

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

“Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever” (Rev. 5:12 and 13).

 

© James Unruh 2024 and beyond