Heaven, Hell and God's love

what do

the dead do?

What is the best funeral

you have ever been to? - Why?

What is the worst funeral

you have ever been to? - Why?

Three popular beliefs about death:

1. Complete annihilation

2. Reincarnation

3. Absorption into the world

Eternal life?

Luke 18:19-30 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother.’ ”

21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

1. Ha-olam hazeh = ‘present age’

2. Ha-olam ha-ba = ‘age to come’

eg Luke 18:18,

‘what must I do to inherit zoe aionios?’

=

the ‘life of the age to come.’

John 3:16 – God so loved the world?

“This, you see, is how much God loved the world: enough to give his only, special son, so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost but should have the life of the age to come.”

Heaven is the dimension of God’s creation where God’s will is done => and only God’s will is done.

Heaven is that place where things are as God intends them to be.

Our Father who art in heaven; hallowed be your name: Your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

...in the Middle ages...

The Church was divided into three parts:

1. Church triumphant

2. Church militant

3. Church expectant

Purgatory

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (44-48)

“The fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Saviour.“ [47]

“Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve...” [48]

Communion of saints

Remember – heaven is important – but it is not the end of the world!

Called to be image bearers

in the grace and love of God

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (cf. Lk 16:19-31)

Hell on earth?

The major, central, framing question of the Bible is that of God’s purpose of rescue and recreation for the whole world, the entire cosmos.

The destiny of individual human beings must be understood within that context...

As heaven crashes into earth

God will download our software onto his hardware, until the time when he gives us new hardware to run the software again.

Building for the kingdom of God

• Every act of love
• Every work of art or music
• Every minute spent teaching
• Every act of care or nurture
• Every prayer

makes the name of Jesus more honoured

a little test

True or false?

01 After death the spirit is reincarnated in a new earthly form, and lives again on earth.

(Mostly) True or false?

02 When we die, there are

three possible options:

we will go to either

heaven or purgatory or hell.

(Mostly) True or false?

03 When we die, there are only two possible options: we will go to either heaven or hell.

True or false?

04 After death the spirit (or soul) lives on forever in heaven (perhaps via purgatory),

without any body.

True or false?

05 Heaven is best imagined as a place with white fluffy clouds, there are lots of harps, people spend lots of time praying, eat low-fat spreads, and everyone has wings.

True or false?

06 After death the spirit (or soul) lives on forever, to be reunited (one day) with the risen body.

(Mostly) True or false?

07 Heaven is the ultimate destination, the final ‘home’.

True or false?

Rev 21 - 22

08 Purgatory is a place of immense suffering and terrible turmoil that is almost identical with hell.

True or false?

09 Purgatory is part of heaven – if you like, heaven’s bathroom, where we get cleaned up before we are able to enter heaven.

True or false?

10 There is no such place as hell, or if there is, no one is there because the love of God is so great that everyone will be saved.

New Creation

belief about

Belief about death:

• Muslim paradise
• Hindu karma
• Jewish resurrection
• Buddhist 'beyond'

DEATH

The Resurrection

of the body...

• who
• where
• what
• why
• when
• how

hell

John Polkinghorne

nothing

heaven

Jesus

Saved?

justice

hope?

funeral

creation

purgatory

cremation

Hell

In Hebrew

Sheol

In Greek

Hades

In the Old Testament:

Not really about hell as a final destination...

The Apostles’ Creed concludes with “I believe in … the resurrection of the body and life everlasting”; and the Nicene Creed closes with “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

In the New Testament:

Rethinking resurrection today: Talk to your neighbour:

1) What is your own belief about death?

2) What are the dead up to right now?

Gehenna

- the valley (Ge) of Hinnom -

the garbage dump for Jerusalem

You become what you worship

like

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Luke 18:18-30

zoe aionios

Paradise

all the Christian departed are in substantially the same state — that of restful happiness.

I Corinthians 3:12-15

Heaven

Hope

real place / space

What the whole world is waiting for

Mark/Luke: “kingdom of God”

1. Goodness of creation

2. Nature of evil

3. Plan of redemption

Matthew: “kingdom of heaven.”

Baruch Hashem Adonai

and Earth ... ?

Sometimes you get to experience the 'age to come' right now!

What if you’re a really good person, but you get into a really, really bad fight and your leg gets gangrene and it has to be amputated.

Will it be waiting for you in heaven?

Ascension of Jesus

photo credit Nasa / Goddard Space Flight Center / Reto Stöckli