Our statement of faith says:
Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels
Upon his personal, glorious and bodily return, our Lord Jesus Christ will exercise his role as final Judge. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, and the just to dwell eternally in heaven (Matthew 25:34, 41, 46; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 20:10-22:5)
We treated the topics of heaven and hell in two separate sermons. You can listen to the sermon about hell here, and heaven here. See the previous post for a discussion of the final judgment.
Here are some important truths about heaven and hell that we covered in the sermons (and a few we didn’t have time to):
Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else in Scripture.
The word translated “hell” is the Greek word Gehenna, which is the translation of the Hebrew name Gei Hinnom. This was a valley south of Jerusalem that had been the location of child sacrifice at the time of king Ahaz. During a period of reform, King Josiah desecrated the valley so it could no longer be used for pagan worship. Since then, it has been used as a garbage dump for unclean things: animal carcasses, trash, and fecal matter. It was a place where fires smoldered and worms ate away dead things. The name for this place is the word Jesus used when describing the final state of the damned.
Jesus describes hell as the final state of eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46), eternal exclusion (Matthew 8:12), and eternal destruction (Mark 9:48).
The punishment of hell will not be cruel, strictly what God’s just wrath against sin requires.
Heaven will be a transformed bodily existence in a “new heaven and new earth” (Revelation 21:1; 2 Peter 3:13).
The apostle John’s glimpse of the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21-22 show us some tantalizing realities:
God’s presence is what will make heaven so wonderful.
There will be no death, mourning, crying or pain.
“The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” (Rev. 21:26) That is, the best of human culture will be there for the glory of God and the enjoyment of his people.
John’s vision of heaven includes a city (the New Jerusalem) and a garden (the New Eden). This indicates that heaven will be both a return to the rest and beauty of the garden of Eden and the redemption of human work and culture.
Heaven and Hell are not only future realities, but present ones. Before believing in Jesus, we are the walking dead, on track to hell (Ephesians 2:1-5). Those who have accepted God’s grace and believed in Jesus have been made alive and already exist in a new eternal quality of life (eg, Ephesians 2:6; John 5:24).
Our eternal destiny hinges on how we respond to Jesus Christ.
God is both merciful and just. Though the doctrine of hell seems harsh, no one will be in hell who doesn’t belong there.
Digging Deeper
Here is a fascinating 4-part series about Heaven and Hell from the podcast “Exploring my Strange Bible” by Tim Mackie. It’s worth listening to!
Check out this short article by randy Alcorn called Let Go of Lies About Heaven: Eight Myths that Many Believe.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
Why do you think Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else?
Respond to this quote from C.S. Lewis:
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell, choose it…. The door to hell is locked from the inside.”
Ponder the glory of heaven. What about it gives you the most hope, comfort or encouragement?
Do you believe any myths about heaven (see article above)