HEAVEN AND HELL

It’s wonderful to be able to bring good news to people. Part of my voluntary work in retirement is to have a happy half hour of hymn singing with the elderly in residential homes. After a Bible message the faces of the residents are all smiles as members of our team chat with them. We always bring the good news about how God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross so that when we confess our sins and trust Him as our Saviour we will one day enjoy the following Heavenly blessings. “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” [ Revelation 21:4 ]

All this good news is because Jesus did not stay dead in the tomb but on the 3rd day He rose again as He said He would. The best news in the world must surely be that Jesus has conquered death! After His resurrection He was seen alive for 40 days by hundreds before He finally ascended to Heaven and told the disciples that one day He would return to the earth.

All this is wonderful news to those who love Christ but this is where I must kindly but very solemnly break the bad news that Jesus warned us, that just as Heaven is a real place, so is Hell. Recently a dear Christian lady in her 90’s said to me, “There’s too much talking about God is love but not about God is just.” The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” [ Romans 6:23 ] If we refuse this gift, our conscience will tell us that God’s justice demands our punishment.