Dichotomy: Hell and Heaven

The Lord gives us many warnings about "hellfire and brimstone" in the New Testament. What exactly is He warning us about? And why so many more words of warning about Hell, than enticement about Heaven?

Hell is the realm of ultimate contradiction, where God's will is carried out only by denying God's will to its residents. It is not His will "that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9); in the name of isolating evil from the joys of Heaven, a place is set aside where evil has its way. Agony, selfishness, denial, powerlessness, division, hatred, anger, and above all pride are the norms in Hell. Humanity, created by God, is corrupted permanently; all truly human desires are forgotten, while un-human desires are eternally frustrated. Made for the punishment of demons (Matt. 25:41), Hell is everything inappropriate for humanity, the culmination of rejecting God's love for us.

Heaven, then, is Hell's unequal opposite. Just as darkness cannot overcome light, Hell cannot overcome Heaven. Where Hell is the culmination of rejecting God's love for us, Heaven is the culmination of our love for God. Our goal is not the created Heaven, but the Uncreated Lord Who loves us and Whom we should love with all our hearts, souls, and strengths. Heaven is a secondary concern, not an end in itself.

And, where Hell is so easily definable, Heaven is not. Where Hell is easily obtainable now, Heaven is the reward which comes only to the patient. The Lord speaks of Hell with very specific descriptions ("where the worm dieth not, and  the fire is not quenched"), but His most specific description of Heaven, "in My Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2) still leaves much to the imagination. The message seems to be, "Just you wait and see, it will be better than any words can describe."

(For further reading: The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis.)

Posted on Feb 26, 2007 at 4:41:19 AM EST.