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Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Death and Discipleship

Every student of the Bible should understand that those who die “in Christ” live eternally (John 11:25–26, Philippians 1:21–23), but there are also passages that speak of our physical death, suffering, and mortality as part of our participation in Christ’s sufferings and our deeper identification with Him.

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”  Philippians 3:10–11

In this passage, Paul frames discipleship as both sharing in Christ’s resurrection and in His sufferings—even to the point of death. Physical death is not disconnected from Christ, but is one of the ways believers identify with Him.  To Paul, death is not a defeat but a doorway into deeper fellowship with the Savior and the hope of resurrection.

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.”  Romans 6:5

Here Paul reminds us that our physical death mirrors Christ’s death. Just as He died in the flesh and was raised, so too do we. Death does not separate us from Christ – it seals our union with Him.

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.”  2 Corinthians 4:10–11

Paul links the continual experience of mortality, weakness, and even physical dying with carrying the death of Jesus in our bodies. Every weakness, every moment of decline, every breath that moves us closer to physical death is also a testimony that we belong to Christ. And as our outward selves waste away, His resurrection life is revealed in us.

The Bible affirms that death is not an end but a participation in Christ’s own journey. Our mortality and physical death are not outside the scope of discipleship—they are, in fact, part of how we are conformed to Christ.  Put another way: Our life in Christ begins now, but our death in Christ is also part of our union with Him. We follow Him through suffering, through death, and ultimately into resurrection and eternal glory.

The Christian life is not just about living for Christ, but also about dying with Him. Paul saw suffering, weakness, and even death itself as a way of identifying with Jesus. Death is not the end of faith—it is the completion of faith.

For the Christian, death is no longer something to fear. It is not the breaking of fellowship with Christ—it is the deepening of it. In dying, we are not leaving Jesus behind; we are walking the same path He walked, knowing that resurrection life awaits us on the other side.  Death is the final stride in our march to become like Jesus; our last act as His disciple this side of eternity.

Jacob


Thursday, July 31, 2025

Is Planet Nine a “Cosmic Hell” in the Outer Darkness?

For millennia, the concept of hell has gripped the human imagination—an unseen realm of punishment, isolation, and judgment. Whether described as a lake of fire, an abyss of darkness, or a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, the Biblical teaching regarding hell is simultaneously horrifying and mysterious.

In recent decades, astronomers have speculated about the existence of a distant world – Planet Nine.  This hypothetical, massive planet is believed to reside far beyond Pluto in the frigid reaches of our solar system.  Many scientists believe its existence is necessary to explain the unusual orbital patterns of some Kuiper Belt[1] objects. While not yet directly observed, its existence is inferred from gravitational effects on these distant bodies.

Though its presence has yet to be absolutely proven, its hypothesized characteristics offer a strangely compelling parallel to the Biblical description of hell. What if the metaphorical abyss spoken of in Scripture has a physical echo on the edges of our cosmic backyard?


Cast into Outer Darkness

Planet Nine is believed to orbit the Sun at a staggering distance—400 to 800 times farther from the Sun than Earth. Such exile from the solar system’s heart echoes Jesus’ warnings about those cast into "outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12). This is not mere metaphor. At those distances, the Sun appears as a mere point of light, offering no warmth, no illumination. A planet dwelling there would be shrouded in perpetual nightfall, orbiting virtually unseen in the cosmic shadows.

 

Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of Judgment or A Realm of Cold Death

Some theorists suggest Planet Nine might certainly be geologically active, with internal heat generated by radioactive decay or tidal forces. If so, it could be dotted with cryovolcanoes – erupting volatile ices or perhaps even molten rock – bursting forth into the freezing void. Imagine rivers of lava flowing across ice plains, steam pillars billowing into a sky of endless night. Such a landscape merges two of Scripture’s dominant hell motifs: "the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14) and the "gnashing of teeth" in a place of torment and extremity.

If it can be proven that Planet Nine exists, its surface temperature will likely approach −400°F – near absolute zero, the coldest temperature in the universe.  In Biblical terms, hell includes separation from God, who is the source of life, warmth, and light (John 1:4–5).  While medieval depictions emphasized flames, Dante’s Inferno imagined Satan encased in a frozen lake, immobile and inert – an ultimate punishment of immobilization and despair.  In this frigid symbolism, fire is not the only terror; cold is its silent twin.

A planet embodying both searing heat and paralyzing cold becomes an existential paradox – a physical echo of divine judgment, where elements are turned against themselves in a cosmic display of chaos and pain.

 

The Abyss and the Gravitational Trap

Planet Nine’s existence is insinuated by its gravitational influence on the orbits of distant Kuiper Belt objects. It distorts and shapes their trajectories like an unseen intruder – a presence felt but never seen.  The Bible uses the Greek term abussos (abyss) to describe hell – a bottomless pit where dark forces are imprisoned (Revelation 9:1–2).  In a similar way, Planet Nine may act as a dark anchor, pulling celestial bodies into its warped domain.

Such a planet could metaphorically represent hell as a place of inescapable pull, drawing the outliers of creation into its isolated dominion.

 

Eccentric Orbit: The Path of Judgment

Planet Nine likely follows a highly elliptical, eccentric orbit, potentially taking 10,000–20,000 years to complete a single journey around the Sun. This isn’t the stable, life-permitting orbit of Earth, but a symbol of cosmic instability, moving in rhythms that can’t be predicted or controlled.  The apocalyptic prophets spoke of celestial upheaval as a sign of divine judgment (Isaiah 13:10, Revelation 6:12–14).  In this symbolic framework, Planet Nine becomes a wandering judge, its arc across the heavens reflecting the slow but certain march of divine justice.

 

A Harsh, Uninhabitable World

Whatever its composition, Planet Nine would be utterly inhospitable to life—whether a cold super-Earth or a gas-covered ice giant.  Its surface (if it has one) might be rocky, cracked, and barren.  Its atmosphere could be toxic or nonexistent.  It would offer no shelter, no rest, no reprieve – a world where survival is impossible and hope is extinguished.  Like hell, it is a place prepared for no one to live, yet where the consequences of rebellion might be eternally borne (Matthew 25:41).

 

A Rogue Intruder: The Fallen One?

Some astronomers speculate that Planet Nine might be a captured rogue planet – one not born in our solar system but drawn in from the interstellar void.  This invites an intriguing parallel to Satan or the fallen angels – spiritual beings cast out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12–15; Revelation 12:7–9).  In this view, Planet Nine becomes a fallen wanderer, pulled from its place of origin and doomed to orbit in exile – a planetary symbol of celestial rebellion and divine consequence.

 

Might Planet Nine be the Hell at the Edge of Creation?

While the presence of Planet Nine must still be proven, in its speculative portrait – dark, distant, frigid yet fiery, mysterious yet powerful – it embodies many of the theological, emotional, and literary elements long associated with hell. It is:

Cast far from the light,

A place of both fire and ice,

Gravitationally inescapable,

Chaotic in its course,

Born of darkness or exile,

And utterly inhospitable to life.

Such a world – though natural – can function as a physical metaphor or a modern parable echoing the ancient Biblical warnings.  In an age when people often dismiss hell as outdated or symbolic, the haunting possibility of a real place – cold, burning, exiled, and unseen – reminds us that judgment and separation still dwell at the edge of creation.  Whether Planet Nine or somewhere else - Hell is real.  Jesus said so, and then He gave His life so you'd never have to go there.

Jacob


 



[1]  The Kuiper Belt is a region of the solar system beyond Neptune, extending from roughly 30 to 50 AU from the Sun. (AU = Astronomical Units.  One AU is equal to about 93 million miles – the distance from the Sun to Earth.)  The Kuiper Belt is a vast, disk-shaped area populated by icy bodies, including dwarf planets like Pluto, and countless smaller objects called planetesimals. These objects are remnants from the early solar system's formation.