Core pt 6- Heaven and Hell

Albert King recorded a song written by Don Nix in 1971- an old blues number called “Everybody wants to go to heaven” and the kicker in that song was the second line of the chorus “…but nobody wants to die...”

Talking about death is about the surest way to clear a room or end a conversation. It’s why undertakers and funeral directors are some of the best conversationalists I have ever met- they have to have other things to talk about because no one wants to discuss their profession.

For Christians, we have a view of death that is punctuated with contradiction. Paul says to live is Christ, but to die is gain. He also writes in triumph over death in 1 Corinthians 15- almost mocking it. And yet, for many followers of Jesus death and mourning are difficult- even when the person we have lost is a follower of Jesus.

This is hard- because sadness and grief are real and should not be ignored or denied or covered up, but they have to be tempered with hope- because there is great hope for the follower of Jesus, even in death- and we should seek to display that hope, especially to an unbelieving world, who, apart from Jesus, has a much different eternity they are facing. In fact, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

In Hebrews 9:27, the writer makes a statement that should make all of us sit up and take notice:

Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”

What is the writer talking about? what judgement? Who is judging? Based on what?

So this morning, I want to dive into the question of the end of our lives. What happens when we die?

So let’s start with this reality. As you will see this morning, Jesus addresses the reality of both heaven and hell, in His own words, and on multiple occasions. I know there are a lot of folks out there who call this into question, but the textual evidence is in all the Gospels. And it’s not vague. It is pretty direct.

Let’s look at one of the most explicit passages related to heaven. Turn to John 14:1-6 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Things to note about heaven:

It is a place to live- (v2)- heaven is not just a place to exist. The word “rooms” refers to homes or abodes. The idea is that heaven becomes a new home for people who have died.

It is a place that has been prepared- it is not haphazard or accidental (v2-3)- We are not going to a random location. God has intentionally created a place for our eternity. And if the same loving kindness is applied to it as to our world, can you imagine?

There is a WAY to get there. (4-6)- entry into heaven isn’t a random occurrence. It is tied expressly and completely to Jesus. “Moreover, here at 14:6 John follows the lead of the Prologue, where he already had asserted strongly that no one else has ever seen God, but the only Son has made him known (1:18). Now in this verse John concludes with an emphatic assertion that “no one comes to the Father except [ei mē] through me (di ʾemou).” Any hint at universalism, syncretistic patterns of salvation, or reaching the Father through any other means than Jesus is here completely eliminated”

Gerald L. Borchert, John 12–21, vol. 25B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002), 110.

4. When Paul writes of our life in heaven, he says our bodies will be made “glorified” or renewed. (Philippians 3:21 “who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” ) “Someday, however, it will be a body of glory, fully suited to the needs of heaven and displaying the glory of Christ himself. This was a significant hope, fully pastoral in motivation. It should have caused the believers to press on until that great day.”

Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 144.

5. And Jesus says when we die in Him, we enter into a “resurrection of life” that is eternal (John 5:29 “and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” )

We will touch on some more of this when we talk about the return of Jesus next week, but let’s stop here, and remember the WAY point we just discussed. What about people who do not follow Jesus what happens to them?

See that’s where it gets uncomfortable. When we start talking about hell or an eternal judgment or people being held accountable for their sins. That sounds good when it is someone we see as really bad- Hitler, Osama bin Laden, Timothy McVeigh…but just normal people? That seems like a lot. Surely Jesus didn’t say that…there has to be a loophole.

Yet, when we talked about sin last week, we saw that the Bible may it really clear. Sin is serious. It kills. It destroys. And not just here, but eternally. Wrath is real. Judgement is real. Someone has to answer for that sin, and if it is not Jesus taking God’s wrath for us, He is clear there is a judgment coming.

There are several places where Jesus speaks of this judgment, of hell.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus describes hell as a place of torment where people beg for a drop of water (v23-24) “Hell” is literally hades. In Greek thought this was the place of the dead, and in the LXX it was used to translate Sheol. In the OT it can mean the place of the dead or the place where the unrighteous dead go. It is contrasted with “heaven” in Ps 139:8 and Amos 9:2. In the present context it refers to the place of the unrighteous dead in contrast to “Abraham’s side,” or the place of the righteous dead. It probably is a synonym here for Gehenna, or hell.

In torment. The parable does not see the wicked as being annihilated but continuing in a terrible conscious and irreversible condition after death. Although many aspects of the parable do not have a corresponding reality, the reality being taught by the parable would be meaningless unless this were true”

Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 424.

Luke Comments

Should this be understood as an actual or symbolic description of the torments of hell (cf. 2 Esdr 8:59; 1 Enoch 22:9)? Since this description is found in a parable, it would not be wise to assume that this is a literal portrayal of hell. Nevertheless, the reality of hell’s horror is so terrible that in the picture even licking water from a fingertip would bring some welcome relief.

Agony in this fire. Flames are frequently associated with the final destiny of the unrighteous.

2. In John 5:25-29, Jesus speaks of a judgment of those who have died.

John 1–11 (3) The Sabbath, the Man’s Defense, and the Rise of Conflict (5:9b–29)

The alternative of resurrection to life or resurrection to judgment in this passage is both an assurance and a warning to every reader

3. In Matthew 25:46, Jesus speaks of those who are apart from Him as going to eternal punishment.

Matthew 2. Judgment on the Temple but Also on the Nations (23:1–25:46)

The upshot here, then, as with the culmination of all Scripture in Rev 20–22, is to assert that ultimately there will only be two kinds of people in the world. These will be distinguished on the basis of their response to the gospel and its emissaries, and their eternal destinies will be as distinct as is conceivable

4. And Paul, in Philippians 3:17-21 says that those who are against Jesus face destruction.

None of this sounds fun or like something we would want to sign up for. And I think that’s why so many have tried to do away with talk of hell- choosing universalism, or inventing purgatory, or annihilationism, or trying to rationalize away Jesus’ discussions of hell and judgment with semantical games.

When in reality, when we know what sin is and its costs, then we should gain an even greater sense of urgency when we see sin’s eternal consequences.

Rather than explain hell away, let’s see it as a call for those who will not face that reality, to tell others of a better way- one that leads to freedom and forgiveness and an eternal life that will be joyous.