THE REALITY OF HEAVEN AND HELL

The contents of this article are of little interest to those who doubt the validity of the Bible because what they believe about the subjects under consideration will ultimately be determined by their own imaginations. Since their conclusions are not formed from faith in Scripture, they are prone to adopt a view of heaven and hell which accommodates the natural desire to focus on the attractions of this present world. The Bible acknowledges how man is prone to focus only on the here and now. Solomon refers to this "here and now" mentality as "life under the sun." Many people today are searching for a sense of meaning and purpose in academics, career accomplishments, and the accumulation of wealth. Occasionally, they will cite religion as the factor which prevents some people from"living life to the full potential". Interestingly, the primary purpose of Solomon's writings in the book of Ecclesiastes is to illustrate the emptiness of "life under the sun." Notice his words in chapter 2, verse 17: "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit." He concludes in the book that life and everything about it is a meaningless cycle of events which repeats itself in each generation. Only when we live life with a heavenly perspective is meaning given to this present vanity.

In contrast, many sources of media have attempted to overthrow the message of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Consider, for example, the words of John Lennon's popular hit, "Imagine": "Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. We hope some day you will join us and the world can live as one." Notice that Lennon's extremely popular song advanced the idea that the key to solving global problems was the elimination of man's belief in heaven and hell. Solomon describes Lennon's perspective in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 20-21: "All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" Solomon is not questioning the reality of life after death. He is pointing out the failure of man to take it into consideration.

The Bible teaches that God chose to love a great multitude of people in Christ before this present world began and determined that all of them he chose would be with him in heaven when time ends (Please read Ephesians 1:3-6, Romans 8:28-31, John 14:1-3, and Matthew 25:34 ). Jesus did not "offer" people a home in heaven, he secured it for them. Notice the type of singing that takes place in heaven: "Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;" (Revelation 5:9). People will be in heaven because of what Jesus did.

The Bible also teaches that there is an eternal hell. One can not claim to believe the Bible is the infallible word of God without acknowledging the existence of heaven and hell. The second coming of Christ will be a global event (Mat. 24:27) which brings final destruction to this present world (2 Pet. 3:10-12). It will also involve a resurrection of the dead and an eternal separation of those who were redeemed by Christ and those who were not redeemed by Christ (See Acts 24:14-15, Mat. 25:31-34,41,&46, 1 Thes. 4:13-17, 2 Thes. 1:7-10, and Luke 16:19-26).

Many people believe that God must be "fair" in the way he deals with people at His second coming. If God is subject to our perceived standard of fairness, He is no longer the God He claims to be: "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Psa. 115:3). Oftentimes, people misunderstand the doctrine of "Particular Redemption" which teaches that Jesus redeemed all that God chose in Christ before the world began. They assume that if Jesus did not come to redeem everyone, then God must have purposed and planned to send some people to hell. Such a conclusion fails to consider that hell is a consequence of man's deliberate disobedience to God. When God created man, he pronounced that he was good (Gen. 1:27 & 31). Using the intellectual abilities that God gave him, man chose to disobey God (Gen. 3:6) and the consequences of his sin passed upon all men (Rom. 5:12 & 19). It seems to me that if God was operating on the basis of fairness, He would eternally banished everyone from His Holy Presence. Aren't you glad that God was pleased to have mercy on an innumerable multitude of people? (Psa. 118:1). Aren't you glad that He is not rewarding you based on what you deserve? (Psa. 130:3). Aren't you glad that if you love God it is because He first loved you? (1 John 4:19). If you feel convicted of your sins, that is simply an evidence that you have been born of His Spirit and heaven is your home (Mat. 5:3).

We invite you to worship with us at Fort Wayne Primitive Baptist Church. We meet each Sunday at 10:30 AM with lunch after services. The church is located at 2006 Nuttman Avenue directly across from Brooklyn Medical Associates. For more information call 260-417-7839 or send an e-mail to: BuddyAbernathy@juno.com.

Elder Buddy Abernathy - Fort Wayne, Indiana - December 27, 2005