A study by Northwestern University about thirty years ago surveyed the beliefs of 500 denominational ministers and revealed some startling statistics: 59% believed heaven exists; 31% believed hell exists. At the time, roughly 77% of all Americans believed in heaven, but only 58% believed in hell. In a nation once characterized by a fierce fight to obtain freedom for religion, our culture now strives for freedom from religion. Various forces actively seek to eradicate knowledge of God and Christianity, and many people do not consider the Bible to be the verbally-inspired word of God.
The bible speaks of Heaven and Hell as real, and though not geographic locations in our physical universe, many folks seem to think of them in terms of “up” and “down” (probably due to the accommodative language used in the scriptures). Heaven and Hell are spiritual “locations” rather than physical places, descriptions of where people will stand in relation to God in eternity.
Hebrews 6:18-19 presents the hope of eternity in Heaven instead as the “anchor” of our souls; to cast ourselves adrift from that great hope is to reserve for ourselves an everlasting place in Hell. One may “anesthetize” a guilty conscience by denying the existence of Heaven and Hell or by wishing for reincarnation, but what a person chooses to believe doesn’t change what actually is.
Heaven and hell form a set of “gospel parallels” even as the vividly contrasting biblical imagery of each highlights the extremes of the other.
Jesus warned in Luke 12:5 that we should “fear” the One Who can exile our souls in Hell after the body has been killed: He clearly believed that Hell existed, and warns His disciples to avoid it! In the “judgement scene” of Matthew 25:31-46, He spoke of Heaven and Hell as sharing a common quality: “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (verse 46). The same Greek word is used to describe both conditions –“everlasting” punishment will last as long as “eternal life.”
But “where” are Heaven and Hell? Isaiah 63:15 speaks of Heaven as God’s dwelling-place; “Look down from Heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory….” In Jonah 1:9, God is “the God of Heaven.” In Matthew 5:45, He is the Father “who is in Heaven,” and in Matthew 6:9, Jesus instructed the disciples to pray to the Father “…who is in Heaven.”
Heaven is often portrayed as a place of tranquil song, harps, white robes, and “large houses” fronting gold pavement; alternatively, some imagine that it is a “paradise of self-indulgence.” Much of our over-stimulated generation imagine heaven as nothing more than perpetual boredom, and mock the idea of forever worshipping anything or anyone other than themselves and their own desires.
The bible shows Heaven as the place where our Creator’s presence is most intimately enjoyed. Perpetual joy, peace, and contentment are there, and no sorrow, sickness, or night ever intrude upon that condition (cf. Rev. 21:4 & 25). Only in this respect are Heaven and Hell “counterparts.” As elements of eternity, Heaven and Hell stand in opposition as the extremes of righteousness and unrighteousness. Note that both “locations” lie beyond judgement (not just the grave); Hebrews 9:27 says, “…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”.
The bible’s image of Hell, on the other hand, has also fallen into disrepute except as a byword. Often mistakenly presented as Satan’s current “kingdom” (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4), and as the place where sinners will congregate after death, in reality Hell is a place created by God as an “exile” for the devil, his servants, and everyone not found in the Lamb’s book of life (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:15 & 21:27). Jesus described it as a place of continuous torment, suffering, and sorrow, calling it “outer darkness” (Matt. 8:12). In Luke 13:28 He said it is “outside” the kingdom of God. Although the KJV uses the term “hell” indiscriminately, we are speaking of the permanent plight of souls separated from God. This idea translates the Greek word gehenna, drawn from the valley below Jerusalem where apostate Israel sacrificed children in the gruesome fires of Moloch.
The evil one does not now rule in Hell, nor will he ever do so; the “everlasting destruction” of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 represents the only place God has created where His presence is not found! Hell will be a place of unrelieved isolation, having NO prospect of comfort, consolation, or even commiseration among its miserable occupants. The Holy Spirit’s portrayal of it reminds us that there is a far greater potential catastrophe than nuclear destruction, an asteroid impact, or over-population.
The one characteristic that Heaven and Hell share is that both are “avoidable.”