Hell: Who Goes There?

Does it really exist?

The lives of four young men who were in their early 20s ended abruptly recently when they drowned in a lake at a southern Wisconsin resort. What were they doing on a lake in the dead of winter? And how did they end up in the water?

Evidently, after a long night of partying and drinking at the resort house, someone got the brilliant idea to go for a canoe ride in the dark early morning hours. And so, the four climbed into a three-seat canoe and rode off across the lake. 

At some point, the canoe capsized and the men fell into the icy waters and drowned. Those who are familiar with water and frigid temperatures will tell you that a sober person has only a slim chance at best to survive if they fall into extremely cold water. But an inebriated person? Forget it--no chance.

Alcohol often makes people extremely bold. And when they get bold, they get stupid. It's debatable whether the men would've stayed away from the lake had they been sober. Perhaps they would've gone for the canoe ride anyway. But that's unlikely. A significant number of car wrecks occur because someone tanked up on booze decided they could drive like a NASCAR racer on a residential street. 

After the bodies of the men were retrieved from the lake, the father of one of the victims claimed that he was at peace because he knew that his son was in heaven. Perhaps. Perhaps not. That's God's jurisdiction, not ours. If the young man was born again in Jesus Christ, then he's in heaven with the Lord.

However, tragedy and folly are two separate things. And those who do stupid provocative things often pay with more than just their physical lives. They pay in eternity. When Moses gave the ancient Jews God's Law, he said this: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah." (Deuteronomy 6:16) Jesus Christ clarified that after Satan took a scripture out of context (Psalm 91:11-12) to dare Christ to jump off the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: "It is written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Luke 4:12)

Tragedy is a circumstance that happens beyond someone's control. For example, a tragedy is a plane crash or train derailment that destroys innocent lives. But death caused by ego or alcohol-impaired judgment isn't a tragedy because it was caused by selfish stupid behavior.  

The apostle Paul warned the early Christians to honor the Lord with their bodies: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)  

And Paul issued this caveat: "If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:17) What did Paul mean? Was he talking about church buildings? No. Rather, he was talking about our bodies. Therefore, those who intentionally do stupid things that cost them their lives can end up in hell.

And hell is a real place. It's a terrible place. Christ gave us a glimpse of hell with this account of a selfish, narcissistic rich man and a poor destitute man named Lazarus: "The time came when the beggar (Lazarus) died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'" (Luke 16:22-24)

Christ's description of hell teaches us this: It exists and it's not merely the abode of evil, wicked people; it's the abode of selfish people who reject God to serve their own interests in this world. And hell is populated with many people who were considered righteous and successful in this world. That includes religious leaders, business tycoons and popular political leaders.

And that also includes the people who died while putting God to the test. Are those four young men there? Only God knows where they are. But if they died in the act of something incredibly stupid, then I think you know the answer.

Heaven as a Real Place

An artist's rendition of Heaven

Though many folks claim to believe in heaven, not many of them understand what God's glorious kingdom is really like or who dwells there.

It's true that most of our knowledge of heaven comes from the Bible. The scriptures are extremely clear that heaven is a genuine place where God, His angels and the souls of His people dwell. And yet even those who call themselves Christians display a glaring ignorance when they're asked to describe heaven and the afterlife.

For example, the late Cardinal Francis George, who was the archbishop of Chicago for 17 years, revealed that he feared the afterlife because he really didn't know much about heaven or what life is like in the spiritual realm.

This is what he said during an interview he gave a few months before he passed away: "I fear the unknown, and what happens after death is unknown. I mean, in faith we believe that we will live forever, and that God calls us to live with him if we cooperate with his Grace. I believe that sincerely, profoundly, but I don’t know what that means."

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/04/23/cardinal-francis-george-feared-death-heaven-unknown

George didn't see heaven as a literal place. It's obvious from his statements that he possessed a Roman Catholic view of the afterlife but not a biblical one. This is what he stated: "Spirits don’t inhabit space and time. Bodies inhabit space and time. So it’s (heaven's) not a place, and we don’t know what that means either. For example, we talk about – in technical terms – a beatific vision; that is, to see God as the blessed see him. What does it mean to see without eyes? We don’t know what it means to live without a body." 

In fact, the Bible describes heaven as a real place that contains space. And the Bible reveals that the spirits of human beings not only dwell in heaven, but that they also can see and be seen and recognized by others.

For example, the Bible reveals that just as human beings have a physical body, they also possess a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:40)  Furthermore, we get a glimpse of those spiritual bodies in the biblical account of the transfiguration of Christ as recorded in Matthew's gospel. (Matthew 17)

When Jesus took disciples Peter, James and John up on a mountain with Him one day, they not only saw Him transformed into his heavenly glory, but they also saw Moses and Elijah appear and begin talking with Christ. Though Moses and Elijah had been dead for many centuries, they appeared not as ghosts but rather as men who were very much alive. Christ's three disciples clearly saw these men in their spiritual bodies that resembled their physical bodies.

Christ also gave us the afterlife account of a destitute man named Lazarus and an unnamed wealthy man who scorned the poor man during his lifetime on earth: "The time came when the beggar (Lazarus) died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'" (Luke 16:22-24)

The rich man's spirit certainly had eyes because he saw Abraham and Lazarus. He also had feelings because he experienced thirst from the intense heat of hell. And he also had his memories because he remembered his family and pleaded with Abraham to send someone to warn them to repent so they wouldn't suffer the same fate when they died: "Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment." (Luke 16:27) 

Abraham rejected the wealthy man's request and told him that his family members could find repentance by studying and obeying the writings of Moses and the Hebrew prophets. Clearly, the Bible describes hell as a literal place where the spirits of the dead can see and understand why they landed in such a terrible place.

But what about heaven? The Bible describes it as a beautiful place. The apostle Paul spoke of man in Christ who "was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows--was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)

And in his famous vision, the apostle John was given a glimpse of heaven: "The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass." (Revelation 21:16-21)

That's a real place. And it's where God and His people dwell. Who are God's people? All those who have been born again by faith in God's Son Jesus Christ. 

Then, there's that other place. It's where the rich man dwells and all the others who have rejected God's grace in Christ crucified for the sins of the world and His resurrection from the dead. Which place do you want to spend eternity in?

When You're Really Dead

Is this what happens when you die?

One of the most provocative things that Jesus Christ said during his ministry in ancient Israel came during an encounter with a man He invited to follow Him. When the man explained that he first had to bury his recently deceased father, Christ replied: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:60)

That sounded extremely callous to a lot of folks who wondered why Christ wasn't willing to allow the poor man to at least attend to his father's funeral arrangements before he joined the Lord on the road.

Furthermore, what did Christ mean when he told the grieving man to let the dead bury the dead? Christ used a rhetorical device to explain that a person can appear very much alive and yet still be dead. How's that? Because that person is dead in his or her sins and thus cutoff from God.

And so, death equals separation. When death occurs, the spirit separates from the physical body that it inhabited. But spiritual death occurs long before physical death. That type of death is caused by sin and it separates the human being from the Holy God who created that person to have fellowship with.

That explains why Christ told a Pharisee named Nicodemus this: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) Nicodemus had no clue as to what Christ meant and this was his response: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (John 3:4)

Christ meant that unless we are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead, we are dead in our sins and separated from God.

What happens when we truly confess Christ as Lord and accept His payment for our sins? God's Holy Spirit enters our hearts and gives us a brand new life that restores us to Him. That's the only way to eternal life. There is no other way. Christ said it best: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the (Heavenly) Father except through me." (John 14:6)

No one can be born again through religion, baptisms, church membership or good deeds. No one can be born again through adherence to religious traditions, church doctrines, sacraments or donating copious amounts of money to charity. And no one can be born again into eternal life by any other name, other than the name of God's one and only Son Jesus Christ.

The apostle Peter said it best: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

What that means is this: All the world's religions do in fact lead to the same destination, and that destination is hell. And hell is not only populated with the spirits of wicked people, but also with the spirits of religious leaders and their followers who spurned Christ to follow the empty and hollow traditions of men.

Is hell a real place? You bet it is. And it's a horrible place. It's horrible beyond human understanding. If you've ever had a terrible nightmare, then hell is even worse than that. And if you've never confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then hell is where you're headed.

Christ mentioned hell quite often during his ministry in Israel. But why? Why didn't the Son of God keep it positive by expounding upon the beauty of heaven? Why did He speak about hell so frequently? Because hell is a hideous place where God doesn't want anyone to go. And Christ wanted everyone to understand that.

Then why does God send people there? Why doesn't He just close the place down? Because the spirits of those who died in their sins cannot dwell in heaven: "Nothing impure will enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's (Jesus Christ's) book of life." (Revelation 21:27)

If you haven't accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you're dead. That may sound funny because when you look in the mirror, you see someone who's alive and well. But when God looks at you, he sees a dead person who's hanging by a thread over the fires of hell.