In what eventually became John Lennon’s trademark song, we hear the following lines sung with a great longing:
“Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people living for today...”
Such a vision of our existence is one that has become dominant in our world today and is often seen as the only way to a utopian existence on this earth. However, such a vision stands in direct contradiction to the word of God.
Men want paradise, and they want it on this earth. This can never be, for paradise was lost in the garden due to sin. Furthermore, a major part of the paradise that men seek on this earth is one of having no accountability before God. Thus, our world, our society, and even much of denominationalism has chosen to disregard what the Bible says about heaven and hell. Even among some of our brethren, the Biblical teaching of heaven and hell has been watered down or ignored altogether for fear of offending sensitive listeners.
Consider the following points that the Bible makes absolutely clear:
1) There Is Life After Death.
Job asks the question in Job 14:14 “If a man dies, shall he live again?” Throughout the scriptures, the answer is made known. Perhaps no where more so than in Luke 16 when Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Both of these men died, and went either to paradise, or to torment. There is indeed life after death.
2) The Spiritual Realm Is A Reality.
There is a spiritual realm, a spiritual reality, that is greater and stronger than what we see with our eyes. 2 COR 4:18 says that the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Hebrews 11:3 tells us that what is seen, that is this physical world, was not made out of things which are visible. Something spiritual made our physical existence, and we have to answer to that spiritual authority.
3) Heaven And Hell Are Eternal.
Here is what all men will face on the day of judgment – an eternal sentence, to either heaven or hell.
Mat 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
Mat 25:46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
4) The Bible teaches no such thing as Purgatory or Reincarnation.
These are the doctrines of man, not of the Bible.
Heb 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
For so many in this world, this world is all there is, and they’ll stop at nothing to prolong their life. For those in Christ however, we understand that “the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:17)
-Derek Chambers
