Does Everyone Really Want To Go To Heaven?

What if I started this post like this…

You know what’s funny? The different ways people sneeze. You want to know what’s not funny?

HELL!

This was a common form used for blindsiding someone with the topic and characteristics of hell that I was accustomed to, and even implemented on occasion, growing up. The concept of hell was used in an attempt to scare hell out of people to rescue them from having to go there when they died. There was a popular drama performance going around among different churches in the denomination I was a part of when I was a kid. Over the course of the presentation actors would portray the lives of Christians and nonChristians before and after they died. Once someone died they would end up on a part of the stage draped in aluminum foil illuminated to the brightness of 10- 1,000,000 candle power spotlights that represented an area between heaven’s gates and hell’s flames. There were a bunch of people dressed up like the members of the Polyphonic Spree filling in as angels. One of them had a huge book in front of them which revealed who was bound for glory or doomed to the lake of fire. If they were on course for heaven Handel’s Messiah would be cranked to 10 and a tall white guy with a beard and great smile would welcome them into paradise. Meanwhile those destined for the pit would encounter satan (autotuned for evil effect) and his demons face to face while being dramatically dragged to hell.

As an impressionable youngster I was impressed to the point of goosebumps and nightmares. The emotional gauntlet the viewer had to endure caused many to wave the white flag. I gave my life to Jesus every time I went.Looking back, how could anyone not have left those dramatizations realizing that heaven is the way to go?

But does everyone really want to go to heaven?

(Thanks Loretta!)

People like the idea of heaven (though many of the ideas out there are based on incorrect descriptions or personal fantasies) and what it may entail but have a hard time with the requirements for entry.

Heaven is God’s realm. It is holy because God is there and is filled and consists of His nature–life, joy, love, peace, and light. The Bible explains that those in heaven will worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continually for eternity. Why would someone who doesn’t worship God want to go there?

This is where things get offensive.

2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Jesus’ death on the cross is a billboard of sorts exposing God’s desire that no one go to hell and suffer eternally but receive His forgiveness and freedom through repentance.

But does everyone really want to go to heaven?

There are a couple views out there about the nature and quality of hell. One perspective supports the belief that because God is omnipresent hell is where His wrath is fully poured out on those who die rejecting and denying Christ. Another view upholds the idea that hell is the place completely devoid of God creating an absence of His love, peace, light, joy, and life while fostering qualities and characteristics that He doesn’t possess.

The second outlook promotes the concept that hell consists of attributes that those who don’t want God want.

In the first chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans he explains that the Creator God made intimacy and relationship with Him accessible but people choose to worship what He created instead. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. People chose to worship temporary and earthly idols instead of the eternal and divine God.

(Now if I were God and people responded to me this way I would make them do a ridiculously humiliating dance in front of and eat the idols they worshiped. People would be doing the cabbage patch, electric slide, and macarena while “raising the roof” as they chewed and swallowed their dollar bills, items of clothing, cars, gadgets, and dirty magazines.) Instead of rubbing their noses in their poo the true God gives them what they want, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires,” “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts,” and, “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.” According to author C.S. Lewis, “idols always break the hearts of their worshipers.” Our replacements for God have given us what we wanted…hell.

God sends no one to hell. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the full expression of God’s love for people destined for hell to save them from hell. God is the one who actually wants everyone to go to heaven. We are the ones who would rather choose our own way, our own agenda, and our own methods of salvation. And God will let us.

God doesn’t send anyone into eternal separation from Him but He allows us to send ourselves there. Love doesn’t force but love sacrifices. And thats just what God did to rescue us from our selfish determination.

God sent His Son to suffer hell on a cross to save us from sending ourselves to there.

Eternity Starts Now

Americans have a slight obsession with eternity and we don’t even know it.

Think about the way we describe certain things. After taking a bite of a piece of The Cheesecake Factory’s Brownie Sundae Cheesecake someone will say, “Wow! That’s heavenly.”

(Heaven on a plate?)

In the midst of a relaxing visit to the spa someone will sigh, “I’m in heaven.” And it’s unavoidable going to an exclusive beach resort without someone portraying it as, “a glimpse of heaven.”

But it’s not only in the way we describe our experiences eternity gets jumbled around with romance and love all the time. Boyfriends promise to love their girlfriends forever (and then breakup with them for someone more heavenly, right?). Around Valentines day you’ll find a smattering of eternal promises on bears, hearts, and boxes of candy. My son has a sign above his closet in his room that expresses our eternal feelings toward him, Love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond, forever and always. As I discussed a couple blogs ago it’s not only heaven that gets the only eternal press. Hell gets its fair share of verbal recognition as well with descriptive phrases like, “Hell(z) yeah (for all those who enjoy Nascar or Kid Rock) yeah,” “Easy as hell,” and “Hard as hell.”

Why do we use eternity to describe so many temporary things?

Is it a figment of our imagination?

Is it a Freudian slip?

Is it a deep seated longing taking any opportunity it can get?

In the Hebrew Testament, the writer of the book of Ecclesiates makes a small comment with huge implications (it’s just after the part written by The Byrds).He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. God has set eternity on everyone’s heart, but have a difficult time making sense of this infinite factor in our finite being.

But we do our darndest when we take a bite of cheesecake or pick out a Valentine’s Day card.

Everyone has an eternal awareness. Everyone also has an eternal longing. We don’t want the breath-taking sunset to ever end. We want to freeze this or that moment in time (Zack Morris style). We don’t want the last day of summer break or a vacation to come to a close. We want the kiss goodnight to last forever. And if you’ve got the legs and stamina Chris Brown wants to spend his life on the dance floor forevaevaevaeva.

(A maven of all things eternal?)

A few thousand years before Chris Brown made the eternal hit list Jesus was talking about eternity telling people that He was from heaven, He would return to heaven, and that He was bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Even before Jesus came to earth people were talking about Jesus’ eternal nature; King David (1,000 years before Jesus) revealed that even though the Messiah (Jesus) would come after him He always existed before him (Psalm 110:1). And they were saying very similar things about Jesus’ eternality after He left earth. The Apostle Paul revealed that, He is before all things, in the letter he wrote to a church in Colossae (around 30 years after Jesus’ ascension). Jesus was not the only one to proclaim His eternal nature, it both preceded and proceeded Him.

Many have the misunderstanding that eternity begins when we die. Speaker Clayton King claims that our eternity begins when we are born. If we are going to continue on forever than our eternal life begins when our life begins. It doesn’t start when this life stops.

So the question isn’t if we will live forever after we die but how and where will we live once we die. During Jesus’ final prayer He prayed, Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. This segment of Jesus’ prayer exposes the reality that our post-death eternity is determined by satisfying our pre-death eternal longing.

Our hearts long for eternity now.

Jesus is eternal.

Is Jesus what our hearts truly desire in it’s failed attempts to find Him in food, vacations, and relationships?

When Jesus died on the cross He forgave us for trying to satisfy our eternal longing with everything but Him. And His resurrection frees us to find our fulfillment in the One who has been forever. As Jesus prayed, it’s when we know and believe that He is God that our eternal ache is relieved on earth and fulfilled completely with Him in heaven.

Jesus became finite so we could live with Him infinitely.

 

 

When Hell Comes To Town

In one of Jesus’ most well known speeches, The Sermon on the Mount, He essentially reveals that lust is a form of adultery and that adultery brings hell to earth. This is how He said it, You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

In the original language the word used for hell is Gehenna. In Jesus’ day Gehenna was a literal place outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem where people would discard their trash, fires would burn constantly, and wild dogs would roam, moan, and gnash their teeth with other strays. A couple hundred years prior to Jesus’ life the area of Gehenna was known as the Valley of Ben Hinnom. During Israel’s rebellious years under the rule and leadership of wicked kings the people would offer child sacrifices to the different gods they worshiped. When Jesus spoke of Gehenna He used it to describe a literal place as well as a spiritual reality and eternal location.

The trash dump and the ancient alters were aweful places and represented terrible situations. Something like a small version of hell on earth. If Jesus came to earth 60 years ago or so and preached the Sermon on the Mount He may have used Auschwitz in place of Gehenna. If He spoke His famous words in the 90′s He may have used Rwanda instead. These places all experienced hell and whenever they’re brought up it’s nearly impossible to separate the horror from the location.

Within the rich content Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught His followers to pray, Father, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
This is a prayer for heaven to come to earth. This is a prayer for the rule and reign of God to immerse our world in grace and peace, forgiveness and freedom. This is a combat prayer against the spread of hell on earth. The brilliant N.T. Wright explains it this way, As Christians, we look for the marriage of heaven and earth, not their separation; and in that light we must look with Christian realism at the possibility of a different, and disastrous, marriage, which has become all too real a possibility in our own day: a marriage of hell and earth. That is what Jesus warned about in His own day. We can do no less in our own day. This is why Jesus teaches that simple lust is just as dangerous as full blown adultery, they both leak hell into the suburbs, cities, and countries of our planet.

It’s not lust alone that brings the quality and character of hell to earth. Our sin – our dispair, pride, ungratefulness, greed, anxiety, revenge, apathy, judgmentalism, hate, and fear – prove that hell exists because they make it a reality on earth. Jesus said we’re in danger of the fires of Gehenna when we entertain and allow these things to remain active in our lives. The world is in danger of becoming a smoldering “trash dump” if we do not allow heaven in to consumer our lives and smother hell in our hearts.

The death and resurrection of Christ were the climax of heaven intersecting with earth. The cross forgives us for turning earth into hell and the resurrection frees us from living like hell so we can take part in the movement and mission of Jesus bringing heaven to earth.

Jesus came to earth to extinguish hell with heaven.

Hard as Heaven

It’s common to hear the phrases, “Hard as hell,” and, “Easy as hell,” used in a variety of social settings and personal interactions. The phrases are used to describe different experiences. One student may describe an exam as, “Easy as hell,” while another student may describe the same exam as, “Hard as hell,” based on how difficult the test was for either student. These expressions are used to describe different tasks, challenges, and situations. A breakup might be, “Hard as hell,” for one person in the relationship but, “Easy as hell,” for the other.

I over analyze popular idioms and catchphrases. I’m baffled about the meaning of sayings like, “Chewing the fat,” or, “She didn’t know a hill of beans,” or, “Close but no cigar.” When people make a remark like these in the midst of their communication I frequently get lost trying to figure out what in the world they mean and how they originated.

I’ve done the same with, “Hard as hell,” and, “Easy as hell.”

Upon closer examination these phrases can used without the descriptive language, “as hell.” A boss could describe a moment of confrontation with an employee as “easy” while the employee may describe it as “hard.” If you contemplate it for less than a minute “hell” is used for emphasis. But how did hell warrant the quantifiers: hard and easy?

In my opinion the maxim, “Easy as hell,” is an accurate phrase. Hell is easy, natural, automatic. St. Paul describes it this way, There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Living like hell is easy as hell. According to Paul, it’s what we all do innately.

When someone uses the expression, “Hard as hell,” their adjective is off. A quick glance at the daily paper or evening news paints a pretty horrific picture of humanity. Killings. Abuse. Theft. Deceit. Betrayal. (The news exists to give movie producers and directors ideas.) Hell is believed to consist of fire, flesh eating maggots, and a mix of Celine Dion’s and Limp Bizkit’s greatest hits played on nonstop repeat. These things are pretty miserable but what word accurately defines the cruelty, injustice, and evil that permeates the globe? Are these things just an expression of that reality?

It doesn’t take much work to conjure up hell but it is nearly impossible to simulate heaven. Just as fire and pitchforks don’t do hell justice, naked babies, harps, and marshmallows misrepresent heaven. I believe our best depictions and projections of heaven pale in comparison to the actual reality of heaven, but it is undeniable that there will be a stark contrast between the qualities of heaven and hell.

To live out the qualities of hell is easy. Living out the qualities of heaven is, well, hard as heaven. Because we have a particular disposition for living it makes turning the tables or righting our wrongs a near impossible tasks. When things are natural it makes doing the unnatural, unnatural. Jesus said, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again…no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

Physical rebirth is impossible. Spiritual rebirth takes water and the Spirit. It takes removing, washing away hell, and replacing it, filling it, with heaven.

Spiritual rebirth is unattainable on our own. Spiritual rebirth is as hard as heaven. Unless heaven does the work for us.

Heaven is as it is because of who dwells there. Heaven doesn’t make God holy. God makes heaven holy. God came to earth, in the person of Jesus, to make our lives holy not just so we could go to heaven when we die, but so we can live like it while we’re alive.

On the cross Jesus experienced hell so we could live like heaven and experience it forever.

Why Choose.

Everyone makes an innumerable amount of choices each day. We choose what we’ll wear–the dress that fits the mood with the shoes to match, or what you wore yesterday because you just don’t give a care. We choose whether to brush our teeth or leave it up to Listerine to do the trick. We choose to brew up a French Press ourselves or buy one from the local coffee shop. We choose to drive under, over, or at the speed limit. We choose to listen to Brotha Fred or WBT. We choose to hold the door open for the people behind us as we head into work. We choose to gossip about our bosses social life and ridicule his hairy ears. We choose to drop $5 into the homeless guy’s cup. We choose to avert our eyes. We choose to eat, pray, and love. We choose to play with our children or plop on the couch. We choose to exercise. We choose to read or watch TV before bed. We choose to turn in early or turn into zombies.

Did I choose enough examples?
(And this doesn’t even include those big choices like who you’ll date or marry, what college you’ll attend or job offer you’ll accept, or who you’ll befriend, unfriend, and ignore on Facebook.)

There is a lot of debate and discussion around the issue of choice. From academic to informal settings. From one denomination to the next. From the private to the social sector. And in the midst of it all themes such as: right and wrong, influence, environment, free will, and God get blended together.

I wrote the choose series to indirectly describe the source of our choices. People will blame their choices on conditioning, environment, parents, lack of love, peer pressure, opportunities, and whatever else might support their argument. When it all comes down to it and if we’re willing to be honest with ourselves about our choices, we are  the ones who ultimately made the choice. We are the source of our choice.

And our choices are motivated by selfishness, self-salvation, and personal gain.

From the choice we make to cheat on a test to the choice we make to act compassionately toward someone. The illegal and the altruistic all flow from the same vain. What gets us ahead of others, what makes us feel good about ourselves, what satisfies an appetite, and what we think makes us look good before God.

We are the source of our choices.

Timothy Keller describes this concept in a terrific and clear manner in his book, Prodigal God. Within the pages he pinpoints and compares the motivation behind those who choose “self-discovery” and those who choose “moral-conformity.” Both groups of people want to be God. Both groups want to call the shots and control their destiny. The excessive controls his life by doing everything according to his definition of truth and the moralist controls his life by doing everything by the book. Both groups are usually at odds with one another. They are always at odds with God because of their differing, yet self-motivated, attempts to be Him by controlling their lives themselves.

Our choices must become subject to something other than ourselves. Some will say, “That sounds like a violation of free will!!!!!!!” (Exclamation used to try to capture the enthusiasm of those who usually bring up this point.) We have no idea how to use our free will. We only use our free will to satisfy our will (yes, even when it’s covered in the mask of a selfless and caring act).

Our free will is corrupt and it must be repaired to function properly.

This is why it’s so easy to choose despair, pride, lust, ungratefulness, greed, anxiety, revenge, apathy, judgmentalism, hate, fear, and captivity. Our sin, our self-discovery or our moral conformity, disable us from doing the opposite of these things. Our will is only free to sin.

This is extremely offensive and feels very violating doesn’t it?

The Gospel exposes our weaknesses and offers us grace to be saved from our self-centered free will and to be given a renewed free will. Timothy Keller writes, “The Gospel is distinct…in its view, everyone is wrong, everyone is loved [by God] and everyone is called to recognize this and change.” The Gospel reveals that God empowers us to choose Him and live His way.

The greatest and most selfless choice that was made took place on a cross. Pastor, Andy Stanley explains that Jesus’ life wasn’t ever taken from Him, He choose to give it up and die Himself so we could be freed from our selfish free will and given a free will like His. Jesus’ death on the cross enables us to say, “No,” to sin, “Yes,” to God, and follow Him forever.

Jesus choose death so we could choose life.

Choose Death

Because its easier to choose…

Despair.

Pride.

Lust.

Ungratefulness.

Greed.

Anxiety.

Revenge.

Apathy.

Judgmentalism.

Hate.

Fear.

Captivity.

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Resurrection is impossible.

Choose Jesus. Choose resurrection.

Choose Captivity

Because it’s easier to think that we’ll never get out.

That we’ve got control over it, there’s no way it has control over us.

That putting our faith in Jesus will hinder our rights and privileges.

That we aren’t becoming what we idolize and worship.

That we can drop our obsessions without hesitation.

That our bitterness towards them is really making them suffer.

That we don’t need help, and if we did we could handle it on our own.

That for the majority of us staying up late and sleeping in even later is all done in the name of productivity.

That we’ll attain peace once we get everyone to like us.

That we’ve got a handle on our sin and we can save ourselves if need be.

That what we do with our bodies has little to no impact on who we are becoming as people.

That the way we treat sex isn’t impacting our view of ourselves, others, and God.

That if we just did better than so and so we would finally be satisfied with ourselves.

That working seven days a week will allow us to rest and spend quality time with our families in the future.

That slavery only involves handcuffs, chains, and labor.

That our identity is based on acceptance, style, and diet.

That our late night rendezvous with the internet aren’t influencing our thoughts, decisions, and interactions.

That we’ll put it to rest once we get our way.

That we would be truly happy and content if we were dating someone.

That everyone else is at fault but we never do anything wrong.

That buying that dress, car, computer, phone, or any other gizmo out there will dissolve all our worries.

That the cross of Jesus Christ is only for those who have problems.

That slavery only existed in 1800′s America.

That every guys does it so why would we resist and fight it?

That the television has no grip on our souls.

That there’s something wrong with us if we’re not married yet.

That our political involvement only has other’s best interests in mind.

That we would know if we were caught in a mess…trust us.

That we’re not interested in them because of their bank account, square footage, or what occupies their garage.

That our value is determined by the allure of our face, waist, or bust.

That it’s not an addiction it’s more like a hobby or relaxant or social thing.

That our reputation will be tainted it we’re associated with the likes of them.

That only the weak and naive fall prey to slavery.

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Freedom is hard.

Choose Jesus. Choose freedom.

Choose Fear

Because it’s easier to think that everything is out of control.

That there’s a limit to God’s provision.

That God is out there with a cosmic paddle ready to spank everyone who sins.

That our hearts are better off kept to ourselves.

That no one is dependable.

That the “storms” are beyond God’s power and intervention.

That everyone will let us down.

That our comfort zones are harmless.

That pleasing people is better than obeying God.

That the risk isn’t worth the reward.

That Christianity is a straightjacket.

That she’ll never go out on a date with a guy like you.

That if we don’t give the homeless our money we’ll save them from drugs and alcohol.

That we’re protecting ourselves by not following Jesus.

That dreaming is a waste of time because dreams are made to be crushed.

That everyone always has a hidden agenda or ulterior motive.

That if we give our lives over to God we’ll become fake or we’ll have to become monks and nuns.

That the unknown should stay unknown.

That the status quo is more thrilling than possibility.

That giving up control would make things worse.

That nothing is possible.

That if God found out about _____________ He would definitely reject us.

That we’ll be taken advantage of and exploited if we give our lives away for the benefit of others.

That we’re too young, too old, under qualified, inexperienced, washed up, or out-of-date.

That befriending those of another race or lifestyle will harm our reputation.

That standing up for the outcast and overlooked will cause us to be rejected.

That failure is the only option out there.

That we really care and love someone if we withhold the truth from them.

That we shouldn’t share Jesus’ love, truth, forgiveness, and freedom with others because we’ll offend people.

That Jesus only died for the clean cut, the prettiest, those with a perfect record, and those who go to church.

//

Trust is hard.

Choose Jesus. Choose trust.

Choose Hate

Because it’s easier to think that we’re entitled to it if someone wrongs us.

That our teachers deserve it for failing us.

That it’s the only appropriate response to our parent’s rules and restrictions.

That it will alter God’s feelings towards us.

That doing so will cause our ex to feel our pain and heartbreak.

That it’s acceptable because it’s natural.

That it’s the only way to avenge what was done in the past.

That our world is better for it.

That it will scare away our enemies.

That’s how God feels about us and the reason why our lives are so miserable.

That holding it over their heads displaces our pain and frustration.

That it’s the only way to get back at those who don’t like what we like.

That it’s the only way to get back at those who don’t like us.

That it will keep Jesus from forgiving and freeing those who have offended us.

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Love is hard.

Choose Jesus. Choose love.

Choose Judgmentalism

Because it’s easier to think that we have the right condemn people for the mistakes they make while ignoring ours.

That withholding God’s love, truth, and forgiveness from someone will actually draw them closer to God.

That ridiculing Tiger loud enough will divert people from noticing the “secrets” we try to hide.

That those practicing a homosexual lifestyle are beyond the forgiving, freeing, healing, and transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That we’re not worse than we think we are.

That there isn’t an obvious “plank” in our own eyes.

That we deserve _________ but others don’t.

That they deserve _________ but we don’t.

That African Americans, Indian Dalits, and Jews are sub-human.

That God saves us so we can exclude people from His salvation.

That their sin is worse than ours which somehow makes us better than them.

That neglecting the next generation will properly prepare and equip them for the next generation.

That inner city kids won’t amount to anything anyways.

That our suits, sport cars, and sex appeal make us superior to the blue collar and no collar around us.

That there never really was a time when we were foolish, disobedient, deceived, or enslaved.

That your denominational affiliation makes God love you more.

That we perfectly measure and assess people’s worth.

That we can play God.

That humility and confession are expressions of weakness.

That looking down our noses is the clearest and most unhindered way of viewing people.

That we can advise God on who to extend grace and who to withhold it.

That they’ll never change.

That we should shun people from our churches until they clean up their act and get their life in order.

That we’re always right.

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Kindness is hard.

Choose Jesus. Choose Kindness.

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