BIG QUESTIONS...BIBLE ANSWERS

HEAVEN & HELL

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”  CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Two Christian Responses to “Life after Death”:

• There’s a “secret code” in the Bible and if you follow us, we’ve got it worked out and we’ll show you how to a proper life after death.

IMPLICATIONS:  If you’re not _____ ______ __________, you’ll miss it! Because after all, we have all the answers.

• This world is going to hell in a handbasket.  The earth is going to end up on the rubbish heap, but before all that happens, Jesus is going to take us all to heaven, so “to hell with the world” and “to heaven with us!”  Yeaaaaaaa!

IMPLICATIONS:  Join us and be _________-______ _________!  As long as you know Jesus, you’ve got “fire insurance”.  Let the earth go to hell in a handbasket!  Who cares?!

What if life in this world was all about fulfilling the centre of Jesus’ famous sermon? [Matthew 6:10]  

What is heaven?

“Heaven is God’s dimension of this present reality. “  NT Wright

“The Kingdom of Heaven is wherever God’s (the King’s) will is operative.”  J Heron

Pictures of the Kingdom

Old Testament:  Pss 96:11-13; 98; Isa 65:17-25; 66:1-16

New Testament:  Ro 8:18-27; 1 Cor 15:35-58; Rev 21-22

The Kingdom of Heaven is “LIFE AFTER LIFE AFTER DEATH.” NT Wright

Pictures of Paradise:  Life after Death

For the Righteous:  Luke 23:43; Php 1:21-24; John 14:1-4

“monai” [Greek]=rooms in a wayside inn or hotel.  Implications?

For the Unrighteous:  Luke 16:19-31; 1 Cor 3:12-15  Implications?

Is there a real hell for the unrighteous?  Romans 2:1-11; 14:1-13