Christ’s Journey to the Center of the Earth
Matthew 12:40
In 1864, Jules Verne wrote the classic novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” However, 2,000 years ago God recorded the account of Christ making a journey to the center of the earth and returning back within three days.
In this message, we will compare Scripture with Scripture and learn what happened between the time Christ gave up the ghost on the cross and He arose from the grave three days later.
COMPONENTS of the universe:
1= Paradise (Abraham’s bosom)
2= Hell (At the center of the earth)
3= Under the earth’s crust
4= The surface of the earth
5= The first heaven (atmosphere around the earth)
6= The second heaven (outer space)
7= The third heaven (God’s dwelling place)
I. The PLACE (Mt. 12:40).
Christ used the example of Jonah and the whale as a sign of His death, burial and resurrection.
A. Jonah was literally swallowed by a whale.
B. Jonah literally died in the whale’s belly and resurrected after being buried in the deep for three days and three nights. While Jonah’s body was in the whale’s belly, his soul went “to hell and back” (Jonah 2:2, 6).
- Jonah 2:2- …I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly OF HELL cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
- Jonah 2:6- I went DOWN to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her BARS was about me for ever: YET hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
C. Location of Hell—Hell is at the bottom of the earth’s mountains (Jonah 2:6). The Scripture always speaks of hell as being “down”.
Ps. 55:15—Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell:
Prov. 15:24— The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
Is. 14:15—thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Luke 10:15— And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
2 Pet. 2:4— For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell…
1. Three compartments (Luke 16:19-26).
(1) Hell, a place of flaming fire—The abode of the souls of the wicked / unsaved.
(2) Abraham’s bosom or paradise (Luke 23:43)—The abode of the O.T. saints [now empty].
(3) These two compartment were separated by a “great gulf.”
2. Hell is said to have “gates” (Mt.16:18) and “bars” (Jonah2:6) that require “keys” to open (Rev. 1:18–“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death”).
II. The PICTURE.
A. God is a trinity—(1 John 5:7).
1. Man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). God is a trinity, therefore man was created as a trinity. He has a body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23).
2. Likewise, Christ came to earth “in the likeness of men… being found in fashion as a man” (Phil. 2:6-8). Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ also had a body, soul, and spirit.
Partial Sermon: CLICK HERE for full PDF
[See charts within the pdf to understand the references.]
