Don't Buy The Lie

Maybe the biggest supernatural question of them all is, “What happens to us after we die?” Obviously, it’s a tough one to answer, because we don’t get many reliable visitors coming back to fill us in on all the details. If we did, Larry King could have them on his show to describe what went on there. Then we’d all know.

That’s part of the reason so many people are fascinated with ghosts and psychics. In a sense, they’re wishing for clues about life after death. As Christians, we believe they’re looking in the wrong places. They’re going to a bad source for info on the biggest question of all time.

Of course, people who don’t believe in any kind of supernatural world at all aren’t really worried about it (too much). If they’re right, physical death is followed by...nothing. The heart stops beating, the mind stops thinking, and the person is just gone. The dead body slowly decays and becomes part of the earth once more. Ah, the circle of life.

Surprisingly, only 5 percent of the teens in our survey believed that death was the final stop for us. I think that’s because God has built into all of us a deep awareness that we are spiritual, as well as physical, that there’s more to this life than what we can see and hear and feel. Even many atheists, agnostics, and naturalists simply cannot accept the idea that there’s nothing “out there” after we die.

One indication of the growing influence of both ancient Eastern religions and the modern “new age movement” is the fact that 18 percent of teens in our survey said they believe in reincarnation. Unable to accept that death is the end—and unwilling to believe in the reality of a biblical God—they’ve found a spiritual idea they can live with: A person’s soul or spirit returns to earth—and life—as another living thing. We just go round and round and round. It’s not surprising that this idea is catching on, because it shows up as one of the most common “answers” to life’s biggest question on TV shows, movies, and in music.

Still, a full 60 percent of teens agree with the biblical idea that life on this planet is followed by facing God’s judgment for our actions on earth. Not all agreed on how God would make that judgment, of course. Christians believe the Bible teaches that our souls face one of two supernatural destinations for all time—everlasting torment in hell or a perfect future with God in heaven.

And although we’re talking about the supernatural, we’ll see that the Bible pictures heaven and hell as entirely real and physical places—not just spiritual “experiences.” Both exist in a physical way that can be touched, smelled, seen, and heard.

Hell
Of course, most people don’t like to talk about hell. I sure don’t. I’d much rather skip the whole subject, because it’s painful and stirs up lots of negative emotions. It’s just terrible to think about.

In his book The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis said this about hell: “There is no doctrine I would more willingly move from Christianity than this, if it lay...in my power. I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully, ‘All will be saved.’ ”

I know exactly how he feels. Including a belief in hell makes Christianity much harder to accept. So much harder, in fact, that while 61 percent of teens in our survey believe in a real heaven, only 44 percent believe in a real hell. The idea of everlasting punishment is so uncomfortable that 17 percent of heaven-believers just flat-out refuse to accept it.

You might not guess this from the media, but almost every major religion (not just Christianity) includes teaching on punishment in the afterlife (or the next life) for those who do evil. But all of those religions (and, sadly, many Christian teachers) have toned down their discussions of hell and punishment in recent years. It’s just too unpopular.

I’ve even heard some Christians say, “I’m just into Jesus, man. He’s all about love and kindness and forgiveness. I’m not into that Old Testament God of vengeance.” Apparently, these folks haven’t actually read much of what Jesus is quoted as saying in the New Testament. Lots of what we know about hell came straight from the lips of Jesus.

In fact, Jesus talked about hell more than any other person in the Bible. According to John Blanchard’s book What Ever Happened to Hell?, 13 percent of the 1,870 verses that include Jesus’ words deal with judgment and hell. More than half of Jesus’ 40 parables talk about God’s eternal judgment of sinners. And 11 of the 12 mentions of the strongest word for hell in the New Testament came from him.

Why did Jesus talk with so much passion and forcefulness about such an ugly topic? Because as God, he knew how real and painful hell really is. No one else who has ever walked the earth was as aware of the torturous reality of hell as Jesus was. And because he is loving and compassionate, he desperately wanted to warn people so they would do what it takes to avoid ever experiencing hell for themselves.

“But wait a minute,” I hear someone saying. “Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world. That’s in the Bible.” And that’s exactly right. The verses following the most famous verse of all time make it clear that he didn’t come the first time he was here to judge—He came to offer every person a way to avoid judgment. He came to show us how not to go to hell:

The bottom line from Jesus is this: Those who reject him as their only hope for being in heaven will go to hell. Period. There is no heaven without Jesus. So what can they expect when they get there?

Meaninglessness
The strongest word Jesus used for hell was Gehenna. The people of his time knew it as the Valley of Ben Hinnom, not far from Jerusalem. They knew that people had once sacrificed their children to false gods there. An evil king of Israel used the place for demonic experiments; he “practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists” (2 Chronicles 33:6). We know from the prophet Jeremiah that it was a place of mass graves (Jeremiah 7:32).

However, Jesus wasn’t saying this physical place on earth was hell itself. He was using the word to describe what hell is like. By his time, it had become a constantly burning landfill of garbage—the city dump.

Thus, the picture of hell we get is one of burning, stench, worms, and—above all—a place where useless things are cast away into a meaningless existence.

Fire, Darkness, Suffering
It’s common to hear things like, “I’d rather go to hell and party with my friends than go to heaven and have to play harps and be good all the time.” People who say this picture hell as a place that might be uncomfortable, but at least you can be with people you like. What an ignorant concept.

The Bible never describes anything that would make us think of hell as a community of souls. Instead, it’s pictured as a place of utter despair:

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15)

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 18:12)

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

Eternal fire. Total, pitch-black darkness. Endless torment and suffering right alongside Satan and the other demons (Revelation 14:11; 20:10). Doesn’t leave room for much partying—or hope.

Prison
My best friend once worked at a jail in South Central Los Angeles. I remember touring the place and feeling overwhelmed by the sight of people caged up in small places like animals. But those guys had it pretty good compared to prisoners in Jesus’ day.

Then, you could be thrown in prison for having an unpaid debt. While in prison, you weren’t guaranteed food or medical treatment, unless someone on the outside agreed to bring it to you. And you weren’t released unless you paid back the debt. If you couldn’t pay it, you never got out.

Jesus described hell this way in a parable (Matthew 18:21-35). A man who owed the king more than he could ever pay (and who responded in an evil way to the king’s offer to forgive the debt) was sent to prison essentially forever.

Hell is an everlasting prison for those who have rejected God’s offer of forgiveness through Jesus.

Separation from God
The absolute worst thing about hell will be existing for eternity without God. Those who reject him by rejecting Jesus will get exactly what they’ve asked for—the complete absence of him forever:
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

Even for unbelievers, the presence of God in our world (and in Christians) makes life worth living. Where does love come from? Truth? Order? Meaning? All from God. Without him, all that will be left is hate, lies, chaos, futility.

As his creation, we were designed to be with God. Even Christians carry an emptiness because we are still physically separated from him. To be completely cut off from him forever will be endless agony.

Why?
Of course, this description of hell from the Bible raises a valid question. What kind of loving God would send anyone there? How could he?

First, he doesn’t want to do it: “ ‘Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’ declares the Sovereign LORD. ‘Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?’ ” (Ezekiel 18:23)

God is not cruel. He doesn’t delight in the suffering of his creation. He’d rather that nobody ever die and be separated from himself (2 Peter 3:9). So why would he send anyone to hell?

Because he must. God cannot allow sin to go unpunished. He can’t live with it—which is what heaven is, living with God.

Imagine if we were at a hospital together, visiting sick people. After a while, you tell me you’re thirsty and want a drink. I look around and find a fountain for water and some ice, but I can’t locate a cup to bring it to you.

However, when I duck into a supply closet in the infectious diseases wing of the hospital, I find a bedpan. That’ll work, I think. But when I go to pick it up, I realize it’s full of the worst stuff you can imagine. And it’s been there for a while. And it reeks. And it’s slopping over the edges.

Eventually, you come and find me. You see me put on rubber gloves and dump out the bed pan—and the smell makes you gag. You watch me rinse it out and wipe it off. You then look on as I fill it with ice and water and bring it to you to drink.

How much do you want? If you’re smart, you won’t take a drop. Even if the water looks okay, all we’d have to do is take it to the lab and use the microscope to see the particles of waste and disease in there.

When we suggest that God should welcome sin (basically, any rejections of him) into heaven, that’s far, far worse than drinking that foul, disgusting stuff. Sin repulses him. It’s against his nature. He cannot—and will not—live with it.

He knows we’re all sinners (Romans 3:23). That’s why he made a way for us to miss hell by having our sins forgiven through Jesus. Listen to how the New Living Translation of Romans 5:8-11 describes what God did to save us and brings us home with him:

God’s Word is clear. Nobody has to go to hell. We have a choice. Next, let’s look at where we can expect to live forever if we trust in Jesus for our salvation from that terrible, horrible place.