When Jesus died on the cross, where was he the three days before he resurrected?

Wow! That’s an awesome question! And it is a question that Bible scholars have debated for years!

The Bible does not specifically state what happened during those three days. Many biblical scholars have offered different theories based on Scripture. Some say He went to Hades; others say he went to “Abraham’s Bosom” to preach the gospel. They base this on 1 Peter 3:18-20 and Luke 16:22-23.

Others claim Jesus did go to Heaven because he told the thief on the cross that, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). But, there are some Bible scholars that challenge that by quoting John 20:17. In fact, those same Bible scholars claim that “Paradise” is another name for “Abraham’s Bosom,” a place in the earth for those who were redeemed (saved) before Jesus came to earth.

One thing we are certain of is that Jesus was not giving people a second chance at salvation. The Holy Bible is very clear in that we face judgment after death, not a second chance. Hebrews 9:27 reads, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”

So, all of that to say, the truth is we just don’t know. I’m sorry, but there just isn’t a definitive answer to that question.

What do you do if someone you know claims to be a Christian but you know they are not and you want to help them?

This is a fantastic question! We do need to be a little careful when we start assuming that we know if someone is a Christian or not. Are you basing that on their actions or what they say they believe? The reason I’m saying that is because there is a BIG difference in the two.

There are a lot of people who say they’re Christian and may not act like it but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are not Christians. The Bible tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 6:23). In fact, it also says there is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 6:10). Just because someone sometimes does doing things that Bible says they shouldn’t do or doesn’t do things they should do doesn’t mean that they haven’t accepted Christ into their heart. We have no way of really knowing a person’s heart but we can judge their actions and we can gently remind them that Christ Followers don’t act or think like that.

Now, if a person claims to be a Christian but tells you they believe something that contradicts what the Bible says is true, that is a completely different matter. For example, let’s say someone says to you, “I don’t believe that Jesus was really God’s son. I think he was just a man.” That is wrong thinking. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus was God’s one and only Son in John 3:16. Or let’s say they tell you that they believe in reincarnation … we know that belief is Biblically wrong. So, how do we help our friends see the truth?

Whether someone is not acting like a Christian or claiming something contrary to the Christian belief, we treat them the same way. With love. The Bible tells us to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone that asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

It is not our job to judge a person’s heart … that’s God’s job. But, we can judge their behavior, speech and beliefs and respectfully tell them what we believe. Whether they choose to believe you or not, is their choice. I can promise you this:  God loves His people. He doesn’t want any of us to miss out on knowing Him. He will use the Holy Spirit to help someone that really wants to know who God is. Your mission is to share God’s love with them so that they can make a wise decision.

Where did Jesus’ spirit go when He died?

The Bible does not specifically state what happened during those three days. Many biblical scholars have offered different theories based on scripture. Some say He went to Hades; others say he went to “Abraham’s Bosom” to preach the gospel. They base this on 1 Peter 3:18-20 and Luke 16:22-23. The truth is we just don’t know. I’m sorry, but there just isn’t a definitive answer to that question.

When did the church get started?

When you read the Book of Acts in the New Testament, you will see how the original twelve disciples started the early church during the Pentecost when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is described in Acts 2:3 as appearing like “tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” It enabled the disciples to speak in tongues and to preach God’s Word. Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, delivered the first sermon and the church grew to 3000 that first day! (Acts 2:41)

Acts 2:42 goes on to describe the early church and how committed everyone was to each other. Grab your Bible and read it - it's awesome!

In Acts 7:54 through 8:3 we see that the stoning to death of Stephen and the beginning of Saul's great persecution against the church actually helped spread the church. The persecution caused the church at Jerusalem to scatter throughout Judea and Samaria. As we look back in history, though the time was painful for Christ-followers, it also represented a time when the church began to spread across the world, something that is still occurring.

And the church that started with the Holy Spirit's movement through Peter's sermon won't be stopped! Honest!

Can Satan create? If so, did he make dinosaurs and were they evil so they could not go on the ark?

One of the problems with Satan is that a lot of what we think we know about him is popular mythology – meaning that we get our ideas from stories and history and traditions that are not in the Bible. That Satan is a mean dude in a red suit with a pitchfork is a good example of a description of Satan that is not in the Bible. Another idea – a surprising one - is that Satan is in hell. The Bible states that he roams earth looking for someone to destroy (Job 1:6-7; 1 Peter 5:8). The point I am making is that we want to use only the Bible to understand Satan.

One of the clearest statements about Satan is Revelation 12:9, which states that “this great dragon – the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.” There are a lot of other passages in the New Testament that also describe Satan as humanity’s deceiver, adversary and challenger. 1 Peter 5:8 makes it clear that Satan wants to destroy us and Matthew 4:1-11 is a great example which shows that not even Jesus was free of his challenges.

To answer your question directly as it refers to dinosaurs, Satan is not the Creator, God is. God is the Creator of everything, of all matter and energy and space and time and life, and everything in creation that God called first “good” and later “very good.” This includes dinosaurs! God created dinosaurs and they were good.

The reason they did not make it onto the ark was probably because they were already extinct, not because they were evil.

How can God be 3 people at once?

He’s not. God is NOT 3 people at once. What He is, though, is 3 persons in one. Stick with me & let me explain - - - it’s really not that complicated.

The idea that God is 3 persons in one is called the trinity. The word trinity means three together. A trinity is three persons together in one. (A tricycle is three wheels on one cycle; a triangle is a shape with three angles.)

The Bible doesn’t actually use the word trinity. (BTW, the Bible also doesn’t use the word Bible, so don’t let that bug you!) So where does the idea come from? Check this out --- The Bible is the Word of God. God inspired certain men (Moses, Joshua, King David, Paul, John and others) and their words were recorded and became our Bible. One of the big deals about the Word of God is that it does not contradict itself. This means it does not say one thing in one place, and then the opposite in another.

So check out this verse --- James 2:19 NIV. What does it say? It says that there is only one God.

Now check out this one --- 1 Peter 1:2 Msg. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours! Who has His eye on everyone? God the Father.

And this verse --- Romans 1:1-4 NIV. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. What did the Spirit declare? That Jesus is God. Jesus is the second person of the trinity.

And this verse --- Acts 5:3-4 Msg. Peter said, "Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn't lie to men but to God." To whom did Ananias lie? To the Holy Spirit who not a man but is God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity.

Three persons in one God is a little bit (not exactly though) like five fingers on 1 hand! Or 3 wheels on one cycle. Or three angles in one shape. Each is separate but makes up the whole.

Extra evidence! Read Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14. Do it, OK?

And here’s the deal for those who want to know ---

There is only one God.
There is a person called “the Father” and He is God.
There is a person called “the Son” (also called “Jesus” or “Christ”) and He is God.
There is a person called “the Holy Spirit” and He is God.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate persons.

So, our one God is three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! This is what the Bible says. And now you know!

If you’ve never heard of God, why do you go to Hell?

This is a good question with which many people have wrestled. Here are just a few remarks on what God’s Word tells us about God’s judgment on people, and those who go to heaven and those who don’t.

We do not know how God will judge those who have never heard of Him or His Son Jesus Christ. That’s the short answer to your question. We do not know for certain that they will go to hell. We simply do not know the mind of God with regard to those who do not know Him. But read on about what we do know …

God is a just God, a God of justice. We do know that He will judge each person uniquely and fairly and the only reason people are going to hell is because they have told God that they can live without Him. On Judgment Day God will allow people to continue to live with the decision they have made. Not everyone who hears the truth about God will be saved, only those who believe in Jesus and obey. Read Luke 8:1-15. Also read John 3:18, John 8:24, 1 John 5:11-13, Deuteronomy 32:4.

The only reason anyone will be in heaven is because Jesus bled and died on the cross to pay the penalty for human sin. Nobody will be in heaven because they lived a good life or because they were sincere. Rather they will receive eternal life as a result of God’s good gift to them in Christ. Read John 14:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, John 1:12, Acts 4:12, Romans 3:22-24, Romans 5:6-8.

Those who have heard about Christ will be held accountable for how they responded to Him. To reject Christ is to reject God’s offer of forgiveness and eternal life. To choose not to decide about Jesus is to reject Him. Love demands a choice. A loving God invites us to come to Him. Romans 10:9-10.

Have confidence in Christ. Keep asking great questions. But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander 1 Peter 3:14-16.

What if you try to talk about Jesus to a friend a whole lot and they just look at you like you are crazy? What would you do?

Good questions! And guess what? There are going to be a lot of people that are going to look at you like you’re crazy when you try to talk to them about Jesus. Many people get really uncomfortable when they talk about Jesus. Think of the reaction Jesus, Himself, got when He was preaching in the various towns! All of the religious leaders looked at Him like He was crazy!

I say this to kids all the time: It’s easy to talk to other Christians about Jesus; it is a whole lot harder to talk to a non-believer about Jesus.

So…now that you know that, what do you do when your friend looks at you like you’re crazy? Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:15, which says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Talk to your friend with gentleness and kindness. Tell that person why you believe in Jesus and what Jesus has done for you. But, don’t push it. If they start arguing with you or start treating you like you’re crazy, just back off. Respect their resistance.

Remember, it is not your job to bring someone to Jesus. Your job is to plant seeds or to water some seeds that may have been planted by someone else. I always say that it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to do the “heavy lifting!”

You can also do a lot more by your actions rather than your words. Show your friend by the way you act, they way you talk and the way you treat people what a true follower of Jesus looks like. Believe me, they’ll see how different you are from other people.

By respecting your friend and backing off, you leave the door open for them to ask again. And when they do, you just keep repeating why you believe in Jesus and keep doing it with kindness and respect…in essence, with love! You never know when your friend will feel the power of the Holy Spirit and accept Jesus the way you have!

Is God really next to you all the time?

Awesome question. Here we go … First of all, God is spirit only. (Read Nicodemus’ “Apple Box” questions in John 3 and Jesus’ response to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:24). There is nothing physical about spirit. You cannot touch, hear, smell, see, or taste spirit. Spirit has no shape, size, and weight, no color, flavor, odor, or texture. This makes God impossible to detect through our senses!

Let’s talk for a second about the space “next to you.” All space (the space right next to you, and all the space in the deepest reaches of the universe) was created by God, and God is not a part of anything that he created (read Genesis 2:1, John 1:3, Hebrews 11:3, and Revelation 4:11).

So now let’s imagine we are traveling through space in a space ship and we’re searching for God somewhere out there in space. Would we find him? The answer is no, right? Would we find him in deep space or in a galaxy far, far away? The answer is also no. Would we find him in space right next to us? The answer is still no. We won’t physically find God because God is not physically in his creation, nor can we physically sense him.

Some world religions believe that God is in everything. This is called “pantheism.” (The word pantheism comes from the original Greek root word “pan,” which means “all,” and “theism,” which means “of God.”) If God is in everything, then he would be in a soda can, and in an automobile engine, and in your hair – and this is not the case. If you comb your hair, you are not running a comb through God! That may seem obvious, but it is very important to understand that God is separate from his creation and he is not a part of that creation.

God is not physically out in deep space somewhere, and God is not physically right next to you. Since God is not physically in space at all, some people say, “Well, he’s in my heart.” Physically, though, he’s not in our hearts either, just like he’s not in your hair. Physically, you cannot put God in any one location. So when we say that we are only looking at the physical answer.

Now, here comes the “Yes, God is next to you” part of the answer. And this is the best part!!

First, knowing that God is entirely spirit (and not knowable by physical senses) will help us understand how God is next to us. Here is the truth about God: Spiritually, God is always at your side; God watches you constantly; God never misses a single thing; and God is always, always with you (read Leviticus 26:2; Deuteronomy 31:8; Job 9:10-11; Psalm 119:151; Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24; Psalm 145:18; Matthew 28:20b; 1 Peter 3:12). This is very, very awesome!

God did not just create you and then leave you alone, and God will not leave you when the going gets tough. God loved you completely and perfectly before you were born, he loved you when you took your first steps, he loved you when you when you first got mad, he loved you every day that you had “a bad hair day!” God was with you all those days, and all the days to come, no matter what! (read Psalm 23:4; Proverbs 3:23-26).

God is spirit and he is absolutely next to you all the time and available for you.