Heaven or Hell?

Our lives on earth are temporary.  Where do we go after our earthly sojourn? Jesus answers: to Heaven or to Hell depending on how you lived. In this Sunday’s gospel, the story of Lazarus and the rich man, Jesus teaches us that Heaven and Hell are both real, literal places. Sadly, many Christians shy away from uncomfortable topics such as Hell. Some even teach “universalism” – the belief that everyone goes to Heaven. Yet Christ spoke about Hell a great deal, as did Paul, Peter, John, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews. The Bible is clear that every person who has ever lived will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell.

Jesus also teaches us of the need of repentance from our sinful lives. Choices we make in our earthly lives have great consequences on our “Heaven-ly” or “Hell-ly” homes. This story also illustrates that once we cross the eternal horizon, meaning when we die, that’s it. There are no more chances of crossing from Hell to Heaven.  The transition to our eternal state takes place the moment we die (2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23). When believers die, they are immediately in the conscious fellowship and joys of Heaven. When unrepentant sinners die, they are just as immediately in the conscious pain, suffering, and torment of Hell. Our earthly lives are a “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Our earthly sojourn is exceedingly brief. Perhaps the greatest lesson to learn from this story, then, is that when death comes knocking on our door there is only one thing that matters: our relationship with Jesus Christ.  As someone once said, “If you board the train of “unrepentance”, you will have to take it all the way to its destination…Hell.”