Foundational Doctrines: The Realities of Heaven & Hell

After death, your eternal destiny is sealed (Heb. 9:27-28). All souls enter the place of departed spirits to wait for the day of resurrection (cf. Luke 16:19-31). When Jesus returns, the righteous will be resurrected to eternal life (Heaven). The wicked, however, will be called from the grave to enter the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Dan. 12:2-3). In this article we explore the afterlife and the realities of Heaven and Hell.

1. Heaven is an actual spiritual environment being especially prepared as the eternal residence for the saved. Jesus said that he was going to prepare a specific “place” for his disciples in the eternal realm where his Father dwells (John 14:2-3). God provided the current physical heavens (atmosphere) and earth (environment) as a place specifically designed for temporal beings to inhabit (cf. Gen. 1:26-31). At Jesus’ return this physical environment and atmosphere with all of its material elements will be disassembled and destroyed (2 Peter 3:10-12). New heavens (“atmosphere”) and a new earth (“environment”) will be provided that is specifically designed as the habitation of God’s immortal, saved people (2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1).

2. “Heaven’s grand opening” will occur at Jesus’ return and it will be a place of reunion and rest. The righteous dead are awaiting the “resurrection of life” that will occur on the final day (cf. Acts 2:34; John 3:13). When the Lord returns he will descend from Heaven to receive the dead in Christ first and then the disciples who are still living (1 Thes. 4:16-17). As Jesus returns to Heaven he will “bring with him” all of the saved (1 Thes. 4:14) where they will always be in the presence of the Lord (1 Thes. 4:17). In Heaven, God has “reserved” an inheritance for the saved (1 Peter 1:4), in that place filled with joy and bliss being free from sin, sorrow and pain (Rev. 21:3-4, 27). Heaven will be a place of sweet reunion (2 Sam. 12:23; Matt. 8:11) and a place of eternal rest (Rev. 14:13).

3. Hell is an actual spiritual environment originally prepared to punish the devil and his demons but will also serve as the eternal residence of the lost. Hell was originally designed as a place of eternal torment for the devil and his rebellious followers (Matt. 25:41). Satan’s rebellious angels are currently incarcerated in “eternal chains” until the judgment of the great day (Jude 6), when both they and their leader will be cast into the eternal lake of torment called Hell (Rev. 20:10). This is a place of “eternal destruction” where the inhabitants are “tormented day and night forever and ever” being away from the presence of the Lord (Rev. 20:10; 2 Thes. 1:9). Those that are not protected by their obedience to the gospel will also be consumed with flaming fires of vengeance (2 Thes. 1:8-10). Anyone who does not have their name written in the book of life will find themselves in eternal torment (Rev. 20:15).

4. “Hell’s gruesome opening” will swallow the wicked into a state of continual and eternal torment. Hell is a place of eternal torment where the fire is never quenched and even the “worms” cannot find release from their torment (Mark 9:43-48). It is a place where there will never be any relief or rest (Rev. 14:11). It is a place of “outer darkness” outside of God’s light; a place of “clinched teeth” beyond any hope of release (cf. Matt. 25:30). There is no hope for those who profaned the blood of Jesus and rejected his Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:28-31).

5. Every soul will spend eternity in one of the two final destinations of either Heaven or Hell. Every person will appear before Christ’s judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10). You either follow Jesus and be saved, or follow your own way and be lost (Matt. 25:31-46). What will be your final destination, eternal punishment or eternal life? The choice is yours.