In the 16th chapter of Matthew is recorded the incident where Jesus reveals himself to Peter as the only foundation of his church. The Lord had asked Peter, “But whom say ye that I am ?” To which the apostle replied, “ Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then said to Peter, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The “rock” (petra) upon which Christ would build his church was not Peter (petros), but rather the fact that he was the Christ, Son of the living God; a truth which God, and not flesh and blood had revealed to Peter. It will be noted that the Lord declared, “the gates of Hades (hell) shall not prevail against it.” Should we fancy hell being the alleged place of torment reserved for the wicked, it is difficult to reconcile his words to Peter with it. As mentioned previously, Hades is the Greek equivalent to Sheol, into which all go at death. The righteous expect to be emancipated from it, and it is with this in mind that Jesus made this statement. In Revelation 1:18, Christ says, “ 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.” The original word here is, of course, Hades. The keys are not literal keys; nor are the gates of Hades literal gates. They are figures employed by the Master to illustrate his victory over death. Since Christ is in possession of the keys, or power over death and Hades, the righteous are to take heart. For at the appointed time he will use this power to call them forth from the dead. When he exercises this right they will be powerless to resist him, any more than Lazarus was when Christ called with a loud voice, “ Lazarus, come forth.” “Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life: and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28-29).
By the use of a concordance, one may satisfy himself that there is no place in the new testament scriptures where Hades occupants are depicted as being alive. (With the exception of a parable, which will be dealt with later.) They are in a state of insensibility, silently awaiting the call that will bring them forth to stand before the great judge of mankind. Their hope is bound up in him, who is the resurrection and the life, and who is in possession of the keys of Hades and death. The new testament teaching on this subject is in complete harmony with that of the old, neither of which lend any countenance to the popular theory of hell.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One