THE LOVE OF GOD AND ENDLESS PUNISHMENT

It should be noted that each of these authors pits the love of God against the concept of endless punishment. Travis emphasizes in a special way that he is speaking of the “love of God in Christ” (emp. added). The others quoted would likely agree, since nearly all who study Jehovah God would concur that the fullest measure of His love was expressed in sending Christ to redeem men. In short, the objection is encapsulated in the concept that the God Who loved man enough to give Jesus to save him cannot be the same God who would consign disobedient men to eternal torment. This latter “god” must, therefore, be one that men have made up in their minds as a result of misunderstanding the passages that describe hell.

THE LOVING JESUS ON ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Indeed, it is true that God “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). And it was not just the Father Who loved us; the Son loved us and made His own decision to “give Himself up for us” because He walked “in love” also (Ephesians 5:2; cf. John 10:18).  And it is also true that His greatest emphasis as He preached on Earth was on God’s love: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). However, in the same discourse two verses later, Jesus speaks plainly about judgment: “This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds are evil” (John 3:19). The “judgment” to which He refers undoubtedly includes hell. In fact, David Pharr was very much on target when he wrote,

What will seem paradoxical to many people, however, is that this same Jesus [who was so loving] had much to say about eternal punishment. The most loving man that ever lived said more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. Indeed, the One who is himself divine love gives the most terrifying of all references as to the horrors of perdition (2005, p. 5).

Notice the dilemma of the authors quoted at the beginning of this article. They would contend God’s great love and eternal punishment cannot consistently dwell together. In fact, notice that Wenham said eternal punishment is “a doctrine which I do not know how to preach without negating the loveliness and glory of God” (p. 135). But his problem is that the same Jesus that He construes to be only about love also frequently preached on eternal punishment. Jesus knew how to “preach” “endless punishment” and that “without negating the loveliness and glory of God.” Maybe Wenham just needs to look at and listen to Jesus more carefully!

In fact, listen to some of what the loving Jesus said about hell (Gehenna):

1. In Matthew 5:22, Jesus warns us to refrain from using abusive language against our brothers lest we “go into a fiery hell [Gehenna].”
2. In Matthew 5:28-30, Jesus says that unless one resists the temptations of his flesh (eye, hand, etc.) his “whole body” will “go into hell [Gehenna].”
3. In Matthew 10:28, He says rather than fearing the one who can only kill your body you should fear “Him [God] Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”
4. In Matthew 18:9, He again says one must control and resist the temptations of the flesh lest he “be cast into the fiery hell [Gehenna].”
5. In Matthew 23:15, He warns the scribes and the Pharisees that they are making each of their converts “twice as much a son of hell [Gehenna]” as themselves.
6. In Matthew 23:33, He asks those same scribes and Pharisees, “How shall you escape the sentence of hell [Gehenna]?”
7. Mark 9:43 is a parallel to the Matthew 18 statement where Mark tells us Jesus said that one must resist the temptations of the flesh lest he “go into hell [Gehenna], into the unquenchable fire.”
8. In Mark 9:45 and 47 (the parallel to Jesus’ Matthew 18:9 statement), Jesus warns that one must control his fleshly desires lest he be “cast into hell [Gehenna].”
9. Luke 12:5 is a similar statement to the one in Matthew 10:28 in which Jesus says one should not fear the one who can kill only the body, rather the “One” who “has the authority to cast into hell [Gehenna].”

Indeed, the loving Jesus says a lot about hell (Gehenna)! In still other passages in which the word Gehenna is not used, He makes obvious reference to it. Observe how He describes it. In Matthew 8:12, He says that the “sons of the kingdom” who turn to disobedience “shall be cast out into the outer darkness [away from Christ—the Light of the world—EE]; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In Matthew 10:15, Jesus makes it plain that “those who are cast into hell” will undergo a less “tolerable” fate than the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The lot of those in hell will be worse than being burned up! In Matthew 22:13, Jesus again says that those who are judged to be disobedient will be cast into “outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Undoubtedly, “weeping and gnashing of teeth” indicate a great degree of misery. In Matthew 25:4, Jesus describes those who are condemned because they are disobedient as going “into the eternal [Greek aiōnion) fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” Later in that discourse (Matthew 25:46), He says the disobedient will “go away into eternal punishment (kólasin aiōnion).”

BUT, DOES JESUS SPEAK OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT?

From Jesus’ descriptions of hell (Gehenna), it is clear it will not be a very desirable place.  But, those scholars quoted at the beginning of this lesson would say their objection is not to hell (Gehenna) as such, it is to hell as a place of unending, everlasting torment. That is the aspect they say absolutely cannot be reconciled with the love of God.

As noted above, Christ says the disobedient will “go away into eternal punishment (kólasin aiōnion); but the righteous into eternal life (zōēn aiōnion)” (Matthew 25:46). Respected Greek scholar A.T. Robertson notes that some scholars would try to limit the duration of the punishment described in this passage. But note his very insightful response:

The word kolasin comes from kolazō, to mutilate or prune. Hence those who cling to the larger hope use this phrase to mean age-long pruning that ultimately leads to salvation of the goats, as disciplinary rather than penal. There is such a distinction as Aristotle pointed out between mōria [vengeance] and kolasis [punishment]. But the same adjective, aiōnios [eternal], is used with kolasin [punishment] and zōēn [life]. If by etymology we limit the scope of kolasin [punishment], we may likewise have only age-long zōēn [life]. There is not the slightest indication in the words of Jesus here that the punishment is not coeval with the life (1930, 1:201-02).

The truth is, Jesus taught that punishment will be endless. [NOTE: For an extensive discussion on biblical terms related to the eternality of hell, see Lyons and Butt, 2005.]

D.A. Carson is correct when he points out that it is foolish to say that eternal punishment and the person and teaching of the loving Jesus cannot be reconciled. In fact, he asks, “Should it not be pointed out that it is the Lord Jesus, of all persons in the Bible, Who consistently and repeatedly uses the most graphic images of hell?” (1996, p. 530, emp. added). Another well-known Protestant scholar, Leon Morris, helpfully concludes, “Why does anyone believe in hell in these enlightened days? Because Jesus plainly taught its existence…. He spoke plainly about hell as well as about heaven, about damnation as well as salvation” (1991, p. 34).

THE REAL PROBLEM IS HUMAN PRESUMPTION

But what is the real problem that causes some to reject endless punishment? It appears to be the same problem that Job had in the long ago. He mistakenly believed that all suffering was due to disobedience and he at first maintained that he had not sinned (at least not in a high-handed way). Therefore, he was tempted to conclude that the God of heaven was unjust and unkind. He, without fully realizing what he was doing, pretended to judge God’s actions. When God finally spoke with him, He asked Job a whole series of questions and Job could not answer even one of them. As Michael Brooks rightly says, though God’s answer “occupies four of our chapters, the argument is essentially finished after four verses” (1992, p. 147).  God says Job was speaking “words without knowledge” (Job 38:2) and asks him where he [Job] was when He “laid the foundation of the earth” (38:4). God asked Job many other questions for which Job had no answer. Job finally accepts that he had “declared that which he did not understand” (42:3), and then he says “I repent in dust and ashes” (42:6). He says this because he finally understood that God’s things “were too wonderful” for him to comprehend (42:3). He had been presumptuous (too proud and self-confident). How, indeed, can a finite being who can’t even see a millionth part of God’s Universe tell the great God who created it all how to define justice like Job tried to do? And, likewise, how can a miserable human who is guilty of sin—spiritual crimes—tell the God Who made him how long punishment can continue without becoming unloving? God forbid that we should be so presumptuous! Let us instead say to God with Job, “I will ask You, and You instruct me” (Job 42:4).

WE MUST LET GOD DEFINE HIMSELF

Indeed, as I let God “instruct me,” I will make up my mind as to His nature and His characteristics according to what He says in His revelation, not according to what I might think. I will not make up my own definition of what justice is or what love should do.

Now, following that path of His revelation of Himself, I learn that God is not just love, He is also a God of wrath. Indeed, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36, emp. added).  As Paul puts it, we should keep in mind “both the kindness [love–EE] and severity [wrath–EE] of God” (Romans 11:22). It is as the scholar J. Gresham Machen says,

The New Testament clearly speaks of the wrath of God and the wrath of Jesus Himself; and all the teachings of Jesus pre-suppose a divine indignation against sin. With what possible right, then, can those who reject this vital element in Jesus’ teaching and example regard themselves as true disciples of His? The truth is that the modern rejection of the doctrine of God’s wrath proceeds from a light view of sinwhich is totally at variance with the teaching of the whole New Testament and of Jesus Himself (1923, p. 12, emp. added).

God and Christ are not as uninspired men think they are. They are as they tell us they are through those inspired menwho were guided into “all truth” (John 16:13).

CONCLUSION

The truth is that the “love of God” which, according to some theologians, is inconsistent with “endless punishment,” is not the same “love of God” which is presented in Scripture.  As Carson says,

[T]his widely disseminated belief in the love of God is set with increasing frequency in some matrix other than biblical theology…. I do not think what the Bible says about the love of God can long survive at the forefront of our thinking if it is abstracted from the sovereignty of God, the wrath of God, the providence of God, or the personhood of God—to mention only a few non-negotiable elements of basic Christianity. The result, of course, is that the love of God in our culture has been purged of anything the culture finds uncomfortable. The love of God has been sanitized, democratized, and above all, sentimentalized (2000, p. 9; emp. added).

May God help us to accept our Maker as He is presented in the inspired Word, rather than making up our own version of Him. Our very soul depends on it.

*First presented and published as a part of the Freed-Hardeman University lectureship, February 2007.

REFERENCES

Allen, Jimmy (2004), Fire in My Bones (Searcy, AR: Allen).

Brooks, Michael (1992), In Search of Perfection: Studies from Job (Searcy, AR: Resource).

Carson, D. A. (1996), The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).

Carson, D.A. (2000), The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway).

Clayton, John (1990), Does God Exist? September-October.

Fudge, Edward (1982), The Fire That Consumes (Houston, TX: Providential Press).

Hailey, Homer (2003), God’s Judgments and Punishments (Las Vegas: Nevada Pub).

Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2005), “The Eternality of Hell—Parts 1 & 2,” Reason & Revelation, 25:1-16, January-February, http://apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=561.

Machen, J. Gresham (1923), Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).

Morris, Leon (1991), “The Dreadful Harvest,” Christianity Today, 35:34, May 27.

Pharr, David R. (2005), “The Teaching of Jesus,” The Spiritual Sword, 36:5-9, January.

Robertson, A. T. (1930), Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman).

Smith, F. LaGard (2003), After Life: A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door (Nashville: Cotswold).

Travis, Stephen (1980), Christian Hope and the Future (Issues in Contemporary Theology) (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity).

Wenham, John W. (1992), “The Case for Conditional Immortality,” Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell, ed. Nigel M. De S. Cameron (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).

The post Does Hell Mean God Stops Loving? appeared first on Apologetics Press.

Manmade religion typically relies heavily on subjective experience that the perpetrators expect people to accept based solely on personal “testimony.” However, such an approach to arriving at truth is in stark contrast with Bible teaching. God has always insisted that humans must weigh the evidence and draw only those conclusions warranted by that evidence (Miller, 2011). When God revealed new information, He never expected anyone to merely accept the word of another—even a prophet from God—without confirmation by an undeniable miraculous sign that demonstrates divine authenticity (John 10:37; see Miller, 2003a).

What’s more, the Bible speaks definitively concerning the afterlife. Since the Bible can be shown to be the inspired, infallible Word of God (Butt, 2007), it can be relied on to provide accurate information regarding life after death. It does not answer all our questions, but it gives sufficient information by which one can know with certainty the general parameters of life beyond the grave. The Bible teaches that for all individuals who died in Bible history, in every case, a miracle was necessary to restore the separated spirit of the individual to the body. This return of a person’s spirit constituted a resurrection. But miracles served a very specific purpose in Bible times—a purpose no longer needed (Miller, 2003a). Since God has chosen not to work miracles today (1 Corinthians 13:8-11; Ephesians 4:8-13), and no resurrections will occur until the general resurrection (John 5:25-29; Luke 14:14; 1 Corinthians 15:12ff.), there is no such thing as an “out-of-body experience” (for more discussion, read Miller, 2013).

Further, the Bible lays out a fairly complete treatment of afterlife (see Miller, 2003b). Briefly, God gives people this life on Earth to prepare their spirits for their eternal abode. When a person dies, his or her body goes into the grave, while the conscious spirit enters the hadean realm to await the final Judgment. At the Second Coming of Christ, all spirits will come forth from hades and be resurrected in immortal bodies. All will then face God in judgment, receive the pronouncement of eternal sentence, and then be consigned to heaven or hell for eternity (read Luke 16:19-31; cf. Miller, 2003b).

As usual, people could spare themselves a lot of hype and sensationalism that ends in embarrassment, disillusion, and resentment if they would simply consult the sure Word of God and order their thinking and life according to its precepts.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so (Acts 17:11, emp. added).

REFERENCES

Butt, Kyle (2007), Behold! The Word of God (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).

Miller, Dave (2003a), “Modern-Day Miracles, Tongue-Speaking, and Holy Spirit Baptism: A Refutation–EXTENDED VERSION,” Apologetics Press, http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=1399.

Miller, Dave (2003b), “One Second After Death,” Apologetics Press, https://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1188&topic=74.

Miller, Dave (2011), “Is Christianity Logical? Parts 1&2,” Reason & Revelation, 31[6]:50-52,56-59; 31[7]:62-64,68-71, http://apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=977.

Miller, Dave (2013), “What About ‘Out-of-Body Experiences’?” Apologetics Press, https://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=4694&topic=74.

Zylstra, Sarah Eekhoff (2015), “The ‘Boy Who Came Back from Heaven’ Retracts Story,” Christianity Today, January 15, http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/january/boy-who-came-back-from-heaven-retraction.html?paging=off.

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One of the great things about “buying” a home in heaven is that there will be no tears, death, sorrow, crying, or pain there (Revelation 21:4)! We cannot even imagine such a life, because we go through so much pain now. It is difficult to imagine what heaven will look like, because it will be a spiritual place, instead of a physical place like Earth. John tried to describe the beauty of a heavenly home using a physical description in Revelation 21-22, but we know heaven will be even better than that. After all, God, Himself, is the Masterful Builder of that eternal home (Hebrews 11:10)!

Jesus warned us not to spend so much time thinking about stocking up earthly treasures in our homes, trying to get everything we want from the store. On this Earth, there are thieves who will break in and take our things, and there are moths and rust that will cause our treasures to grow old or break. Instead, Jesus taught us to store spiritual treasures in heaven, where they will last forever (Matthew 6:19-20). While “the world is passing away,” those who live with God will live in His home forever (1 John 2:17).

When we obey Jesus’ commands, we are building a spiritual home in heaven, like the wise man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). If we become Christians and obey God in this life to the best of our abilities, He will graciously give us that heavenly home with Jesus (John 14:2-3). And even better, we will live with Him forever (Revelation 22:5)!

The post This World is Not My Home appeared first on Apologetics Press.

A brief perusal of the history of medical science reveals that, at one time, conventional wisdom held that a person was dead when breathing ceased. It was thought that the “breath of life” had departed from the individual, leaving him “dead.” As medical science advanced, it was determined that a person’s heart could still be beating though the person had stopped breathing. He had not actually died, and hence, “mouth-to-mouth” resuscitation enabled a person to start breathing again. At that point of medical understanding, it was thought that when the heart stopped beating (determined by placing one’s ear to the chest of the person), the individual had died. However, with additional advancements and understanding, it was determined that it was possible to restart the heart, through cardio-vascular resuscitation, compressions of the chest cavity, injection of powerful drugs directly into the heart, massaging the heart directly, and eventually defibrillation, in which an electrical shock is delivered to the heart with a defibrillator. The current definition of “dead” is associated more with the cessation of brain activity.  A typical definition of “flatline” is “to die or be so near death that the display of one’s vital signs on medical monitoring equipment shows a flat line rather than peaks and troughs” (Farlex, n.d.). “Flatlining” can refer either to heart or brain activity or both, depending on who is using the term.

Does the inerrant Word of God have any insight into this question? Yes, it does. The Bible teaches that God places within each prenatal person at conception a spirit that makes each individual a unique personality that will survive physical death, living on immortally throughout eternity (Zechariah 12:1). At death, the spirit separates from the body and exists in a conscious condition in the spirit realm (1 Samuel 28:15; Luke 16:19-31). James 2:26 provides a precise, technical definition of death: “[F]or as the body without the spirit is dead….” In other words, the separation of one’s spirit from one’s body results in physical death, i.e., the death of the body, not the spirit. Thus the Bible defines physical “death” as separation—not “extinction” or “annihilation” (Thayer, 1901, p. 282; Vine, 1940, p. 276). Once the spirit of a person exits the body, he or she is “dead” (Genesis 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21-22). Science will undoubtedly never develop a test for ascertaining when the spirit exits the body. After all, “a spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).

In order for a person’s dead body to come to life again, the spirit would have to reenter it. The term that the Bible uses to refer to such an occurrence is “resurrection.” The only way resurrection can occur is by means of supernatural intervention by an individual who possesses authority and power from God to miraculously cause the spirit to return to the body. Instances of deceased people in Bible history whose spirits returned to their dead bodies include the following:

1. When the widow of Zaraphath’s son became sick and died, the prophet Elijah asked God to “let this child’s soul come back to him” (1 Kings 17:21). God granted the request and the child’s soul returned to his body.
2. Elisha restored the life of a Shunammite woman’s son who had died after complaining of severe head pain—perhaps a brain hemorrhage (2 Kings 4).
3. When Lazarus died, his body was in an advanced state of decay by the time Jesus arrived on the scene four days later to raise him from the dead. He brought back Lazarus’ spirit into his body with the words, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43).
4. Among the supernatural events that accompanied the death of Christ on the cross, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:51-53). Only God could have brought the spirits of these individuals back from the hadean realm and reinserted them into their buried bodies.
5. When Tabitha/Dorcas became sick and died in the town of Joppa, her body was washed and laid in an upper room. The apostle Peter was in Lydda at the time, so urgent word was sent to him to come to Joppa. Clearing the room of the mourners upon his arrival, he “knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up” (Acts 9:40).

Such occurrences were rare, and always meant that the resurrected individual later died again (Jesus excepted—Acts 13:34; Romans 6:9; cf. Enoch [Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5] and Elijah [2 Kings 2:11] who never died). In every case, a miracle was necessary to restore the separated spirit of the individual to the body. Miracles served a very specific purpose in Bible times—a purpose no longer needed (Miller, 2003). Since God has chosen not to work miracles today (1 Corinthians 13:8-11; Ephesians 4:8-13), and no resurrections will occur until the general resurrection (John 5:25-29; Luke 14:14; 1 Corinthians 15:12ff.), there is no such thing as an “out-of-body experience.”

But then how does one account for the numerous reports of tunnels, lights, and feelings of warmth? The mind is an incredible, divinely designed wonder capable of far more than we know or comprehend. When anesthesia is applied to the respiratory system and bloodstream in order to prevent awareness of pain, causing a patient to become unconscious, the parts of the body that perceive (i.e., seeing, hearing, etc.) continue to function. The mind is still hearing what is being said in the operating room, whether or not the person is able later to recall the conversation. Temperature and other bodily sensors are still operative. Additionally, the mind’s ability to dream realistic dreams is surely a factor to consider. These and other features of the mind and body adequately account for the unsubstantiated allegations of “out-of-body experiences.”

One final thought: if “near death” and “out-of-body” experiences are authentic, where are the comparable reports of those who encounter the scorching, threatening fires of hell or hades (cf. Luke 16:23ff.)? Where are the accounts of individuals being warned to correct their behavior and live godly lives—as Paul admonished Titus: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12)? For those acquainted with the stabilizing influence of the Bible, all such experiences are meaningless and provide no assistance for ascertaining the meaning and purpose of life—in view of eternity. The inspired writer of Hebrews succinctly summarized the point: “[I]t is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (9:27).

[NOTE: For an audio sermon on the topic of afterlife, click here.]

REFERENCES

Farlex (no date), The Free Dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/flatlining.

Miller, Dave (2003), “Modern-Day Miracles, Tongue-Speaking, and Holy Spirit Baptism: A Refutation—EXTENDED VERSION,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1399&topic=293.

Miller, Dave (2005), “Afterlife and the Bible,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=1478.

Thayer, J.H. (1901), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1977 reprint).

Vine, W.E. (1966 reprint), An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell).

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Some people wear contacts or glasses to help them see better. Some people are blind and cannot see anything with their eyes. As you probably know, moles like me can hardly see at all. But in heaven it will be different. God has told us that we are going to get a new body that can live forever, and we are going put off this old, physical body (1 Corinthians 15:53). However, we know that our new body will certainly have eyes, because the Bible says that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4). Also, some of the angelic beings that worship God every day and night have lots of eyes (Revelation 4:8).

We will have eyes and we will be able to see God and Jesus, because the Bible says that God will dwell with His people, and Jesus will be our light (Revelation 21:23).

But what about our relatives? Will we be able to see them, too? The answer is “Yes.” Paul said that we were not to be sad about the passing of a Christian relative, because just as Christ was raised and recognized by His followers, so Christians will be raised and recognized by their brethren (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

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That is an excellent question! In Revelation 21, the apostle John wrote about his miraculous vision of heaven, and described it as being a city of “pure gold” (21:18). One thing we must remember when we read this is that John was using physical terms we understand in order to paint a word picture of a spiritual place—the most beautiful place we can imagine.

Have you ever painted a word picture before of some place you have visited on vacation (such as the mountains or the beach)? A word picture is when, instead of drawing a picture, you use words to describe what you have seen. That’s what John did. Except, instead of writing about a physical place, he was writing about a celestial (non-physical) place. Unlike Earth, heaven is not a physical place with physical things in it. (Heaven is a real place; it’s just not a physical place.) The gold in heaven is not the same physical gold we see today. In fact, John described the gold of heaven as being like clear, see-though glass (21:18,21). Thus, heavenly gold is not the exact same “treasure” we have here on Earth.  

Also, remember that it is not the possession of gold that is wrong, but the love of gold and money that is a sin (1 Timothy 6:10). We must never allow money to come between our service to God. Instead, we are to use it to His glory by helping others (read Matthew 25:31-46).

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What will heaven be like? The Bible tries to describe heaven to us, but it is not easy, since we are earthly beings and heaven is an eternal, spiritual realm. But God tells us enough to cause us to want to go there.

Heaven will be a place of rest from all our labors on Earth. John wrote: “‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’  ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors’” (Revelation 14:13). Jesus soothed the apostles by reassuring them that in His Father’s house are many rooms, and a place is prepared for them (John 14:1-2). “Rest” does not necessarily mean we will do nothing. We will not be bored. Any effort we put forth will be pleasant and untiring. No more temptations! No more hardships!

Heaven will be a place of reverence where we adore and worship God. The whole population of heaven worships God (Nehemiah 9:6). In John’s glimpse of heaven, recorded in the book of Revelation, he saw multitudes of heavenly beings singing, praising, and thanking both God and Christ. We ought to sing and praise God often so that we expand our spiritual desire to do so after this life is over.

Do you remember how God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden? But they had to leave when they sinned, and they then had to work hard to get food and live. Heaven will be the ultimate paradise of God. We will have every need supplied, and everything will be wonderful.

But you have to have a reservation! Read 1 Peter 1:3-4. You have to prepare to go there. Jesus said that He left Earth to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). But heaven is not for everyone. Those who do not obey Christ will not get to go to heaven.

Three pictures are given of heaven in the book of Revelation. One picture is that of a bride prepared for her husband (21:1-8). The thrilling feature of this picture is that God will live with her: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (vs. 3). Can you imagine a place where you will actually be with God all the time, forever? Can you imagine actually sitting with God and Christ? Jesus declared, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (3:21). That means the end of tears, crying, pain, and death! Can you imagine that?

Another picture of heaven is that of a city (21:9-27). This city radiates the glory of God, reflecting light like a jasper stone—crystal clear. The city is surrounded by high walls with twelve gates—three gates on each side. The city sits on twelve foundations, each made from precious, expensive materials. The crystal clear walls reflect the gold shimmer of the city itself.

The city forms a perfect cube. If the numbers of Revelation were literal, the city would measure about 1500 miles long, wide, and high! Each of the twelve gates is a gigantic pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass. No church building or temple is there since God and Christ are its temple. No street lights, Sun, or Moon are necessary since the glory of God and Christ illuminate it. In fact, there is no night there! The gates are never closed—since only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life are there.

Are you ever afraid? Afraid that someone will hurt you, or that you will be in an accident? Afraid of tornados, hurricanes, or floods? Afraid of sickness or death? In heaven, we will be perfectly secure and protected. No more fears!

A third picture of heaven is of a garden (22:1-5)—the “Paradise of God” (2:7). It is far better than the Garden of Eden; and the Tree of Life is there! A crystal river flows from the throne of God. On its bank is the Tree of Life that bears fruit twelve months out of the year. Healing power is in the leaves. We shall see God’s face! We will have no concerns, no worries, no cares. All our needs will be supplied. God will see to it that we are contented and happy throughout all eternity. But we must work hard to love Him and obey Him every day while we are alive on Earth.

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The place of punishment is called hell. Hell is a terrible place reserved for the wicked. The Bible describes it as a “lake of fire and brimstone” where the devil will be tormented “day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Fire is used to show us how painful the torture of hell will be. Those who go to hell will suffer eternally in a place “where the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). As bad as that sounds, the worst part about hell is that all those who go there will be separated from God, Jesus, and all saved people. On the Day of Judgment, Jesus will tell the lost to “depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). One of the worst things about hell will be the bad company!

Fortunately, we can avoid this terrible place. Hell exists because sin must be punished. If we can rid ourselves of sin, we can escape the lake of fire. We have no power on our own to wash away sins we have committed, but God sent His Son to take care of it for us. Because He died, His blood can cleanse us of our sins. If we obey Jesus and live a life of service to Him, we can be sure that we will avoid the fires of hell, and instead, inherit the kingdom of peace and happiness prepared for the faithful from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34).

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Through the years, some people have taught that when babies are born, they “inherit” the sins of their parents. Those same people also teach that, if a baby were to die, he or she would go to hell because of the parents’ sins. However, the Bible teaches something very different. God says that babies do not become sinners because of their parents. In Ezekiel 18:20, the Bible says: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.” Babies cannot sin, because they do not even know what sin is, and they are not able to understand God’s will. They aren’t capable of “belief” (Mark 16:16). The Bible never says that babies go to hell. In fact, the Bible teaches that babies are in a safe state, which means that they would go to heaven if they were to die. In 2 Samuel 12:23, King David said that his dead infant son would never return to this Earth, but David also said that one day he would go to be with his son. King David was looking forward to the day when he would be able to meet his son in heaven. Also, Jesus said in Matthew 18:3-5 that all people who want to go to heaven must become like little children. And in Luke 18:16-17, Jesus said that the kingdom of God is made up of little children. Regardless of what some people teach, the Bible, which is God’s Word, teaches that babies will be in heaven.

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It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Jesus must have known this when He told a story in which He painted a picture of the afterlife for both the righteous and the wicked. In Luke 16:19-31, we have the story of an ungodly rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. The rich man did not follow the laws of God, one of which was to take care of the poor. He would eat the finest meals, while Lazarus, who was covered in sores, starved outside of the rich man’s gate. One man was never hungry; the other was never full. One man lived in a mansion; the other lived in front of a gate. One didn’t follow God; the other did.

Eventually, the poor beggar Lazarus died. He may have died of starvation or from some disease. Perhaps he died because he was constantly outside and exposed to the weather. However he died, God looked down upon His poor child who had suffered so much in life. In the moment of death, when Lazarus’ soul left his body, angels were standing by, ready to take Lazarus into paradise.

While we do not know how he died, we do know the rich man passed away soon after Lazarus. In contrast to Lazarus, the Bible doesn’t say anything about angels being there to take the rich man away—it says simply that he was buried. The next verse records that the rich man was in hades. He was burning, but could not burn up, and he knew that he would spend eternity in flaming fire. What was probably worse for the rich man was that he could look up and see, Lazarus, standing next to Abraham. The man begged Abraham and Lazarus for just a drop of water to cool his tongue, but Abraham told him that it was impossible to cross over from paradise to punishment.

Jesus painted a very dark picture about the rich man. Lazarus, a poor man who tried to follow God, was carried to paradise by angels. The rich man, who did not care about the Word of God, found himself burning continually, tortured by the sight of the unreachable paradise. Jesus’ story should encourage us to live our lives so that we will be in paradise some day.

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In the context of Matthew 10, Jesus warned His followers that wicked men would persecute them unjustly. As He sent them out to preach, He admonished them to boldly speak the truth without fearing the repercussions. In the course of His forewarning, He said: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28; cf. Luke 12:4-5). Many Bible students who have read this verse have incorrectly assumed that Jesus was saying that Satan has the power to destroy the soul and body in hell. They have mistakenly attributed to Satan power that he never has had.

Satan is not the ruler of hell, and he does not have the power or ability to cast or drag anyone into hell. In fact, when we read about Satan’s ultimate end, we see that God is the Being who will cast Satan, also called the devil, into the “lake of fire and brimstone” (Revelation 20:2,10). Furthermore, the apostle Paul explained to the Christians in Rome that no “angels nor principalities nor powers” could separate them from the “love of God which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:38-39). Those in Rome could choose to reject God of their own free will, but no power in existence, including Satan, could pluck them from God’s hand and cast them into hell.

In truth, God will cast Satan into hell at the end of time in the same way that He will cast all those who have lived unrighteously and rejected Him (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:15). There is no indication in the Bible that suggests that Satan will be “in charge” of hell anymore than any other unfaithful creature of God. He will find no delight in his eternal second death, and he will not enjoy any type of authority or special privileges there. Jesus’ admonition to fear the one who can cast both the soul and the body into hell was designed to encourage His followers to rely on God, be strong in the face of persecution, and trust that as long as they are right with God, no force in the spiritual world has the power to harm them.

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At the beginning of Jesus’ life, in Matthew 2, when the wise men traveled to see the newborn Jesus, they rejoiced. The Scriptures say that when they saw Him, they “fell down and worshipped Him” (vs. 11). Likewise, when His friends watched Jesus ascend into heaven, they worshipped Him and “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). And ultimately, when Jesus comes again, everybody will worship Him and confess that He is Lord (Philip-pians 2:10-11), but not everyone will rejoice.

The Second Coming of Christ will be a serious time. God knows our hearts, and every secret thing that we have done will be laid open like a book before Him. As the apostle Paul told the Christians at Rome, each person will have to give an account of his or her actions before God (14:12). For the sinner who has not confessed Christ to others, Christ will not plead before God for his entrance into heaven. But for the righteous, who have obeyed God’s commandments and confessed Christ before others, it will be the most exciting moment imaginable, when Christ makes an appeal before God that heaven should be our home.

In the book of John, Jesus promised His disciples that He would return again to them(John 14:1-6). In Matthew 25:31, Jesus declared that when He returns, He will gather all the nations before Him. This includes not only those throughout the world who are living atthat time, but also everyone who has ever lived. “Do not marvel at this…all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29). It most definitely will be an amazing sight to behold—Jesus, with the angels of heaven, and all the souls of the Earth (both living and in the grave) gathering together to meet God.

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Throughout your life, you have the opportunity to have many wonderful, loving relationships with friends and family. But at some time during your life, some of those family or friends will pass away from this Earth. It is part of being a human, that one day you will have to leave this earthly world. For the Christian, this is not a day to fear or dread, because the Christian’s home is really in heaven anyway. The fear of death is only for people who do not obey God. And one of the most comforting thoughts is being with your loved ones again in heaven. But will you recognize them?

First, we need to remember that our relationships in this world will not be like the relationships we have in heaven. Je-sus said that in heaven “they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God” (Matthew 22:30). However, there will be a form of recognition provided by God. The Scriptures speak often of the joy we will have together when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 2 Corinthians 4:14). In Matthew 22, Jesus quoted the Scriptures, saying that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” In Luke 16, we find Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus. The story describes the death of a good beggar named Lazarus, and a wicked rich man. Lazarus went to a pleasurable reward, while the rich man was in torment. And the rich man looked across a gulf and saw Lazarus at Abraham’s side. He recognized Lazarus as being the beggar that sat outside of his house.

We can gain hope from the thought of joyfully standing with our loved ones be-fore the Great Loved One, our Father, Who saves His children.

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Thank you for your excellent question. Through the years, some people have taught that when babies are born, they “inherit” the sins of their parents. Those same people also teach that, if a baby were to die, he or she would go to hell because of the parents’ sins. However, the Bible teaches something very different. God says that babies do not become sinners because of their parents. In Ezekiel 18:20, the Bible says: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.” Babies cannot sin, because they do not even know what sin is, and they are not able to understand God’s will. The Bible never says that babies go to hell. In fact, the Bible teaches that babies are in a safe state, which means that they would go to heaven if they were to die. In 2 Samuel 12:23, King David said that his dead infant son would never return to this Earth, but David also said that one day he would go to be with his son. King David was looking forward to the day when he would be able to meet his son in heaven.  Also, Jesus said in Matthew 18:3-5 that all people who want to go to heaven must become like little children.  And in Luke 18:16-17, Jesus said that the kingdom of God was made up of little children. Regardless of what some people teach, the Bible, which is God’s Word, teaches that babies go to heaven.

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Thanks for your question. The fact is, animals are different from people. When God made Adam and Eve, He made them in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). That means (at least partly) that God made people with the ability to choose between right and wrong. He also gave Adam and Eve (and every human since then) souls that will live forever (read Ecclesiastes 12:7). The souls of the righteous will live forever with God in heaven (Matthew 25:46). Since animals neither have souls, nor the ability to choose to obey God, they will not go to heaven,just like plants or bugs that don’t have souls.

That being said, just because animals will not go to heaven does not mean that God does not care for animals. In Matthew 6:25-26 Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Also, in Matthew 10:29, Jesus said that God notices even when a sparrow dies. God cares for all of His creation.

It is sad when an animal dies, especially when it is a pet. God does care, however. And He’ll care for you even more by bringing you to heaven to live with Him forever if you obey His will.

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That is a great question, and the answer is, “No.” The Old Testament is full of faithful men and women who lived faithful lives and will be in heaven. Even in the New Testament, before Christ’s death, we read the story of Lazarus, who died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22).

If our sins are only forgiven through the blood of Jesus, how were sins forgiven before Jesus’ blood was shed? Before Jesus died, people offered animal sacrifices. The blood of these animals was atonement for their souls (Leviticus 17:11). However, this was not enough to get rid of their sins. It was only to remind them of their sins, for the blood of animals could never take their sins away (Hebrews 10:4). They did this while they waited for the ultimate sacrifice, which was Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, His blood covered our sins (if we obey Him), and the sins of the faithful followers of God who lived before He came to Earth.

Imagine you are in line at a buffet. When it is time for you to pay, you tell the cashier, “My friend who is behind me is going to pay for me.” As your friend comes up to the cashier he says, “Yes, I am going to pay for my friend who is in front of me as well as for my two friends behind me.” Just as the friend took care of those who were in front of him and behind him, Jesus also took care of those who came before His death on the cross, and after it.

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That is a great question. What happens to us when we die? Will our body be in the ground for a long time? Well, that depends on which body we are talking about. Our natural body (the body we see in the mirror) will, if we are buried, remain in the ground until Jesus returns. However, the natural body is not all there is to a person. Every person also has a soul. When our body dies, our soul is still alive. When righteous people die, their souls leave their bodies and go to Paradise. When Jesus was talking with the thief on the cross, he said, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). We read another example of this in Luke 16:22. As soon as Lazarus died, angels carried him to be comforted by Abraham. So when we die, yes, our natural bodies will be in the ground until Jesus comes back. No one knows when Jesus will come back, not even the angels in heaven (Matthew 24:36). However, our souls will be carried away to Paradise.

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In 1 Corinthians 15:35-37,44, the apostle Paul answered this question by using a seed. He said that our earthly bodies are similar to a seed. If we take a piece of corn and plant it in the ground, it appears (from a human standpoint) to “die.” Yet it really isn’t dead. It will “spring back to life” and produce a huge, green plant that has a very strong stalk that can reach a height of about 7 feet. The big corn stalk does not look anything like the little corn seed. In the same way, Paul said that the bodies we will have in the resurrection will be totally different from the bodies that we have now—just like the corn stalk is different from the corn seed.

But Paul went on to say that there is another way that our new, resurrected bodies will be different from the ones we have on this Earth. He said that our new bodies will be more glorious and more powerful, just like the little corn seed changes into a plant that is bigger and stronger.

Paul did not tell us what our resurrected bodies will look like; nor did he give us a Polaroid picture to examine. But he did use a seed to explain that God can do things that we do not always understand completely—like changing our weak, material bodies into powerful, spiritual bodies. In fact, Paul explained that our new bodies will be immortal, which means that they never will die. Let’s all be faithful Christians so that we can receive such a wonderful body someday.

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What do you know about angels? What is their origin? When were they created? Where are they now? What do they do? Are there such things as “guardian angels”? How many angels are there in existence? When we die, do angels carry our spirit back to God?

The answers to each of these questions can be found in God’s Word, the Bible. First, let’s examine the idea which some people have that angels are in heaven. That is true, but not all angels are to be found in heaven. In his second letter, Peter wrote that “…God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (2:4).

What is the origin of angels? Scriptures like Exodus 20:11 make it clear that God created “…the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them….” Additional scriptures like Revelation 4:11 tell us that God “created all things,” and as the Creator, He is to receive “glory and honor….” One of His creations was the angels.

But when did God create angels? In Job 38, God talked to Job about some of the things He did while He was creating the Earth. God said that when the Earth was created, “…all the sons of God shouted for joy” (38:7). Who were these “sons of God” that “shouted for joy” when God created our planet? They could not have been men, because God did not create man until the sixth day of creation. Likely, these “sons of God” were angels that God had created before He created the Earth.

What do angels look like? Angels usually are invisible to humans, because they are spirit-beings. But sometimes God allows them to become visible by taking on the form of a man (read Numbers 22:31). However, the Bible never says anything about angels having halos, or going around playing harps. Those kinds of things were invented by men.

Sometimes angels are pictured as beautiful, young females. But when the Bible speaks of angels taking on human form, it always speaks of them as taking on a male form. However, angels never marry (read Matthew 22:23-30), which means they were not like ordinary men.

It is true that God made man just a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5), yet angels are mightier and stronger than any man. An angel of God killed the powerful and wicked King Herod when he allowed himself to be worshipped as a god (Acts 12:21-23). Also, angels are not to be worshipped (Colossians 2:18); they are God’s servants, not God.

It also is true that angels will accompany Christ whenever He returns (1 Thessalonians 1:7), but they do not know when that will be (Matthew 24:36). The Bible makes it clear that some things known by Christians have been kept a secret from angels (1 Peter 1:12). Angels, for example, have not been given a plan to save them from sin. God has been so good to us, because He allows us to repent of our sins.

Angels have been a lot of places during history. They were present at the creation of the world (Job 38:7). They were present at the giving of the Law of Moses (Galatians 3:19). They were present at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:14), and even when Christ was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:11). Shortly before His crucifixion, an angel strengthened Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). And, at Christ’s resurrection on Sunday, the third day after His death, an angel rolled the giant stone away from the entrance to the tomb (Matthew 28:2). This allowed Jesus’ disciples to enter the empty tomb. When Jesus returned to heaven to be with God forever, two “men in white” (angels) stood by (Acts 1:10). Christ was never alone; angels were always present.

How many angels did God create? He must have created many, because Hebrews 12:22 speaks of an “innumerable company of angels.” There were so many they could not even be counted.

What do angels do for us today? According to Hebrews 1:14, angels are “…ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.” Angels carried the poor beggar, Lazarus, into Abraham’s bosom at his death (Luke 16:20). It is nice to think that when we, too, die, if we have been faithful to Christ, some of God’s sweet angels will carry our souls back to heaven where we can be with Him forever.

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Paul wrote to tell them that this was a very bad idea (1 Corinthians 15). He reminded them that the gospel was founded on the fact that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He was raised again on the third day, and that He was seen by many different people. All of this happened just as the Old Testament Scriptures said it would.

Here is how Paul defended His faith in the resurrection of the dead. If you say that dead people will not be raised, then you have to say that Christ was not raised, because He was dead at the time of His resurrection! But if you say that Christ was not raised, then preaching the gospel is a waste of time, and your faith is empty or vain. Why? Because you still would be in your sins. You see, we all die because of Adam’s sin, but all of us may live because of Christ’s resurrection. When He rose from the grave, He defeated the death that came with man’s sin.

Not only that, but Paul and the apostles were telling everyone that they really had seen the resurrected Christ. If Christ had not been raised, then this would make them out to be liars. Surely this is not something the Corinthian Christians would want to say about these men of God.

Also, if you think you have to be alive to be raised at Christ’s coming, then what about all the people who have died as Christians? They have worshipped God, given money to the poor, and suffered because of their faith. And for what? Nothing! There is no point to being a Christian if you cannot look forward to eternal life with God in heaven.

The apostle Paul loved the brethren in Corinth, but some of them were wrong. As Christians, they needed to know how important it was to believe that God can raise the dead. He had to tell them this, because it could affect their faith, or the faith of others around them. We learn from this great chapter that Paul was “ready to give a defense,” even to people who claimed to be Christians already.

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