Reasons to Believe in Heaven & Hell
Big Idea: Everyone faces death and judgment, but through Jesus Christ we are offered forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life if we trust in him.
Have you ever found yourself casually talking about your own death? Yesterday, a group discussed funeral homes, and I said, "I have one picked out for when I die." It didn’t take long for everyone to look at me with utter disgust for even bringing up the topic. But the truth is, we all have an appointment with death. The ratio of people being born to people dying is one to one. It’s unavoidable.
So, how ready are you for that reality? Many, when faced with the thought of death, admit, "I have some thinking to do." Is there an afterlife? Is heaven only a product of our imagination? Are we reincarnated, as some believe? Today, we'll explore why we can trust in the existence of heaven and hell.
Reasons to Believe in Life After Death
I want to begin by listing seven reasons for believing in life after the grave. I know full well that many people believe that life does not extend beyond the grave. But I want to list seven reasons for believing otherwise. These reasons aren't definitive on their own, but together they create a cumulative effect.
Nature
For centuries, men and women have observed nature and noticed that in the natural realm, death gives way to a new kind of life. Seeds must die to grow into plants. Acorns shrivel and give birth to oak trees. Caterpillars create a tomb around themselves that later explodes with the beauty of a butterfly. Dark nights and cold winters pass into glorious mornings and blossoming springs. The pattern is everywhere – death leading to life.
Plato observed the natural cycle of death and life and believed it might offer insights into what happens after death. In his mind, nature points to an afterlife of some kind for human beings.
Physics
Einstein and later others argued that matter may change states, but probably will not be created or destroyed. Many people compare the first law of thermodynamics to what occurs at human death. Humans might change states, as it were, but not be destroyed altogether. If they were destroyed, they would be among the only things in this universe to be ultimately destroyed. So some people look at this and say maybe there is some reason there to look at life beyond the grave.
Philosophy
Immanuel Kant noted that everyone on Earth appears to care about ethics. Kant argues that our inherent sense of ethics can only be explained by what he calls justice. He believes that since justice isn't fully realized in this world, it must be enforced in the afterlife by a judge who resolves human issues. So Emmanuel Kant held a belief in the afterlife, if for no other reason than justice for once and for all to be served.
The longings of the human heart
Anthropologists have long found that nearly every cultural group and tribe on earth has a strong belief in the afterlife. From the Native American idea of a happy hunting ground to the Muslim view of paradise, people struggle to accept that death ends their existence. Many people believe that the human soul continues after death, from the concept of evil pyramids to the ideas of New Age thinking. How do you account for this universal sense? There must be life after the grave.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has put eternity into man’s heart." Some believe Solomon suggested that there is a deep desire for something beyond what this world can provide. Solomon tried to fill this inner void with work, alcohol, laughter, philosophy, music, and sexual relations. His disillusionment increased. Only thoughts of final judgment and the afterlife could truly satisfy his deep longings.
"For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
Near death experiences
You've all heard of these. These are incredibly subjective and arguable, and yet they happen. Almost eight million people in the States alone claim to have come so close to death that they at least got a glimpse of what lies on the other side. Bruce Greyson, a professor at the University of Connecticut, studies near-death experiences and notes their significant impact on those who have undergone them. And often the experiences motivate them to change their lives. Often, they become less materialistic and more involved in worthwhile causes. Whatever it is that they saw. They've had a life-changing experience that confirmed their belief in the afterlife. Overall, people nearing death often feel they are starting a new journey rather than ending their existence.
The injustices of life
It would be hard to see life as good if there were nothing after death to balance the inequality and unfairness we face. Some people are born into privilege, while others face difficult relationships and situations. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes:
Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3)
Hearing about children killed by their parents or abused by adults highlights the need for justice. This belief in the afterlife offers hope that wrongs will eventually be righted. The sense of justice. In Psalm 73, Asaph honestly shares his struggle with faith, feeling tempted to doubt God as he observes the prosperity of wicked people and the suffering of the righteous. Then he realizes that eternity will fix the imbalances of life.
The Bible
The Bible clearly addresses life after death, making it impossible to read it honestly without acknowledging its teachings on the afterlife. In Genesis, the Scriptures state that God created us in his likeness and that he is eternal. Daniel 12:1-3 speaks of a day when those who sleep in the dust of the earth will be resurrected, some to life and some to everlasting shame.
In Matthew 10:28, Jesus warned, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Jesus promised Paradise to the repentant thief beside him but used the Valley of Hinnom, a trash dump outside Jerusalem, as a symbol of the consequences for those who defy God's judgment. Jesus even said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)
The Biblical teaching on heaven and hell is significant and compelling.
These seven lines of evidence—nature's cycles, conservation laws in physics, the philosophical need for justice, universal desires for eternity, near-death experiences, life's injustices needing divine resolution, and biblical teachings—create a strong case for believing in life after death.
What Happens When We Die?
What I want to do with the remaining minutes is to look at what happens when we die. I will be sharing information from the Bible, which we consider reliable and trustworthy.
Death
People often joke that there are only two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. That is only partially true, because some have been known to cheat the tax collector and avoid payment. Death, however, cannot be cheated.
Hebrews 9:27 says, "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment..."
Do you ever hear the saying, "So and so's death was a surprise"? Friends, somebody's death is never a surprise. Maybe the timing of their death was a surprise, but none of us should be surprised that we are going to die. It could be today, it could be years from now, it could be when we're young or when we're old, but we're all destined for death. In the Bible, only Enoch and Elijah were spared from death, and those alive at Christ's second coming will also not die. But the rest of us have an inescapable appointment with death.
Resurrection
The Bible teaches that at death, the soul of a believer goes to be immediately with the Lord. "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).
But one day, both believer and unbeliever will have their bodies resurrected, but not at the same time. The first resurrection will be of believers.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
After a period of time called the millennium, according to Revelation 20:4, unbelievers also will be resurrected. Unbelievers' souls will rise from Hades and be given bodies to face their unavoidable judgment. The bodies we will receive, by the way, will be similar in many ways to the ones we have now, but also different. They will be flesh and bone, but dramatically changed (Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:50). They will be incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:49), awe-inspiring (1 Corinthians 15:43), and they will have new abilities (1 Corinthians 15:43).
We will die, but eventually, we will be resurrected.
Judgment
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)
Many other passages speak of this final judgment.
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)
2 Timothy 4:1 tells us that Jesus Christ will be the judge. Unbelievers will stand before Christ for judgment and receive various degrees of punishment. The secrets of people's hearts will be revealed.
Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3)
Believers as well will be judged.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God... So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.(Romans 14:10, 12)
This is not about deciding our eternal fate, as all believers will enter God's kingdom, but about determining different levels of reward. We all have an inescapable date to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Entrance into either heaven or hell
These are not mythical places or figments of our imagination. One man writes of heaven, "It's better than a mouse getting locked in a cheese processing plant. It's better than a beggar inheriting a million dollars. It's better than a lazy person finding a job as a mattress tester. It's better than winning the Nobel Prize. We are talking about heaven, and it is far better than any earthly joy we can imagine."
What is most notable about heaven is what will be absent from it as well as what will be present in it. It will lack tears, sorrow, death, pain, darkness, ungodly people, sin, temples, the sun or moon, and the curse from Adam's sin. Heaven will include the saints, the river of life, healing fruit, the Lamb of God, worship, the wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride, the unveiled face of God, and the Sun of Righteousness.
Jonathan Edwards writes:
Thus [in heaven] they shall eat and drink abundantly, and swim in the ocean of love, and be eternally swallowed up in the infinitely bright, and infinitely mild and sweet, beams of divine love; eternally receiving that light, eternally full of it, and eternally compassed round with it, and everlasting reflecting it back again to its foundations.
We will not sit around all day playing harps and twiddling our thumbs.
But the Bible tells us that unbelievers have an appointment with Hell. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).
Hell is not just reserved for the Hitlers and Jeffrey Dahmers, it is reserved for all who fail to put their trust in Christ. Jesus mentioned hell more than heaven, describing it as a fiery place (Matthew 5:22), associated with bodily torment (Matthew 5:29-30), darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13), weeping, and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42, 50), with varying punishment levels (Mark 12:40).
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about the reality of the coming judgment:
...since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might... (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)
R.C. Sproul summarizes: "Hell… is an eternity before the righteous, burning wrath of God, a suffering torment from which there is no escape and no relief." It is important to realize that there will be severe judgment but no cruelty in hell. All punishments received will be punishments earned.
The good thing this morning is that your appointment with hell is not a sure thing. There is a way of escape. But we can't straddle the fence, and we can't wait to make a decision until after we have passed through death's door. There are only two options.
Imagine standing at the door of an open elevator. How do you decide whether or not to get on? Your choice is influenced by two factors: the elevator's direction, and where you want to go. Now imagine yourself standing at the door of eternity. Where will you go? Heaven or hell?
The choice you make now will decide if you face a joyful resurrection or a condemned one, and whether you spend eternity with God or enduring his wrath. The choice is yours. There are only two options.
The good news is that God, in his love, has made a way for us to escape eternal judgment and experience eternal life. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived the perfect life we couldn’t live, died the death we deserved, and rose again to conquer sin and death. Through his sacrifice, he offers forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and the promise of eternal life to all who trust in him. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
The choice is clear: will you trust in Christ and receive the gift of eternal life, or will you face eternity apart from him? Today is the day to decide. Turn to Jesus, and let him transform your life now and forever.
