When I'm gone...

Hi again.

 I'm back with another question from my professor. This week's question is "Do you believe in a literal heaven and hell? What happens to people who die without a saving knowledge of Christ?"

Heaven is not only mentioned in the very first verse of the Bible, it is also mentioned over 600 other times. In Genesis 1:1 it says, "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth." In this instance, it sounds more like the "heavens" are the sky and everything above ground. So how do we know that Heaven is a place where people who have a relationship with God go when they die?

In Matthew 5:12 it says, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great..." This gives a  little clue that there is something better for us once we are gone.

Matthew 18:3 says, "...Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." If we take the Bible to be truth, then this means unless we give our sins to God and repent and become like children, who trust their Father with everything and learn from Him, then we can't enter heaven.

Still, how do we know that heaven isn't a state of mind? How do we know it is an actual place? The Bible often talks about "a voice descending from heaven", or "he descended from heaven." This suggest heaven is an actual place.

In John 6:51 it says, "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." If Jesus came out of heaven to show man how he could have a more intimate relationship with God the Father, then this verse means that anyone who accepts that relationship will live forever with God. It would only seem fitting that we would live in God's dwelling place Heaven.

Hell is mentioned multiple times in the Bible. In Matthew 10:27-29 it says, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

2 Peter 2:4 says, "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment."

To make a long story short, here's my answer: yes, I do believe in a heaven and hell. I could go on and on spouting verses from the Bible that prove that there is a heaven and hell, but I don't think that would make much difference.  If we believe the Bible to be true, then we believe that when we die, we will have eternal life spent with God (John 3:16).

The opposite side of that is that people who did not repent and live a life with God will spend eternity in punishment in Hell.

No, it's not a nice thing to think about. No one truly could wish for someone to spend eternity in suffering, but without God, that is exactly what will happen.