Is the devil a real person or is it used as an example of the terror of Hell?

Is the devil a real person or is it used as an example of the terror of Hell?

Asked by Someone

Is the devil a real person or is it used as an example of the terror of Hell? Is Hell even a place or is it death and no life with God? Furthermore is heaven even a place or is it just the knowledge that we have served our Lord during our life? 

Could it be possible that we are following a cult and that the information that is fed to us is just cleverly constructed lies?

The Bible certainly speaks of the devil as a real individual - though not the red tights and pitchfork version of the cartoons. He is seen as leading the opposition to God (for example, see Revelation 12), and is certainly heavily involved in tempting human beings to reject God (from the beginning in Genesis 3, through the early chapters of the book of Job, and even as far as trying to sway Jesus from his obedience to God - see Matthew 4). Interestingly, Jesus never used the devil as a bogeyman to scare people about hell; he doesn’t describe hell as being the devil’s headquarters as popular culture would have it. Instead, hell is a place of loneliness and frustration (Matthew 8:12, or 22:13). There are some who suggest hell is basically an end to existing, but Jesus consistently speaks of an ongoing awareness for those in hell - they live in constant regret.

On the other side of the equation, heaven is described as a great city, with its greatest features being security, peace, and especially the visible presence of God (Revelation 21-22). It is a place of meaningful, flawless relationship rather than isolation.

Could this all be a cleverly constructed lie? In one sense, that’s what you need to decide for yourself. Personally, I find it too hard to believe this could be the case: the books of the Bible were written over a thousand year period, and yet they maintain a consistent belief system. To my mind, it’s inconceivable that anybody could orchestrate that large a conspiracy over that long a period of time without somebody giving the game away!

Answers are kindly provided by our friends at Christianity.net.au

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