How is heaven real?

Sincerely,
Searching For Evidence

Dear Searching For Evidence,

Heaven, like all spiritual things (angels, God, demons, Satan, hell, etc.), is invisible… but still very real.  There are many things in life that we can’t see, but the evidence proves that they exist.  We can’t see the air, but there is a lot of evidence that it exists.  We can’t see the core of the earth, but evidence proves it to be real.  Gravity is invisible, but it still holds us to the ground.  Just because we can’t see heaven doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

We know heaven exists because we know that God wrote the Bible, and the Bible says that heaven is a real place (Php 3:20).  We recommend reading the article “Who Wrote The Bible?” on the subject of Bible evidence.  We may not be able to see heaven, but it is as real as can be.

Will God forgive suicide after a period of time?

Sincerely,
Term Limits

Dear Term Limits,

Suicide is murder, self-murder, and is therefore very clearly a sin (Rev 21:8). The only difference between suicide and murdering someone else is that you don’t get a chance to repent after suicide. Suicide is a final decision and leaves no room for correction or for asking forgiveness.  Since you face the judgment after death (Heb 9:27), there is no “period of time” in which forgiveness can be sought.  The Bible never teaches that there is a purgatory (although many religions teach this) that someone who committed suicide could dwell in and await forgiveness.  Suicide is a dreadfully scary and final act that leaves no opportunity to change course.

I am a born-again believer, and I have a good friend who is also.  My friend recently lost her dad due to a sudden heart attack.  She is grieving.  Her relationship with her dad was not all that she wanted it to be, and after she was saved (which has been well over ten years ago), she had shared with her dad what Christ had done in her life.  What is more painful is that her dad did grow up in a Christian home, but he never accepted Christ.  My friend is frustrated with the sentiment that christians can find comfort in knowing their loved ones went to heaven.  She asked me where her comfort is when she knows her dad was not a christian, and he did not go to heaven.  All anyone says to her is that you don't know what went on in the last moments of his life, but she is certain there was probably no last moment conversion for her father.  While she has the comfort of her faith for herself, how is a believer to find peace or acceptance in the reality that a close loved one went to hell?

Sincerely,
Friend Of The Mourning

Dear Friend Of The Mourning,

The sorrow we feel when we lose a loved one is, at times, almost unbearable.  That pain can be amplified when we do not have hope of someday seeing that person in heaven.

God says that He finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek 33:11).  That tells you that God will not send anyone to hell by accident, from spite, or out of malicious intent.  Anyone who ends up in hell really, truly belongs there.  When your friend’s father faces God on the Day of Judgment, God will make the right decision concerning his fate.  There is some comfort in knowing that God will not make any mistakes.

God has a deeper, more complete understanding of eternity than you or I do.  He is completely loving (1 Jn 4:8).  If your friend’s father goes to hell, it will be because the most loving and wise God of all creation knew that was where her father chose to be.  Ultimately, there are some sorrows and tears that pain us so deeply that we will never get complete comfort this side of heaven… but your friend can know that when she gets there – all tears will be wiped away (Rev 21:4).

When God cast Satan out of heaven and gave him the earth to rule over, why then would God make the choice to create man on Earth?  The more I read the Bible, my feelings towards being a christian began to change.  God creates man on earth, knowing Satan is there.  God destroys the earth with the Great Flood because He saw that the earth was wicked.  God binds Satan for a thousand years and then turns him loose again to rule once more before he is cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.  This life God gave us seems to me to be a stage for His amusement.  I love my children and would never set up such drama in order for them to prove to me they love me... why has GOD??

Sincerely,
Toyed With

Dear Toyed With,

If God had set the earth up as a stage for His amusement, then He never would have come and died on a cross for us (Jhn 3:16).  God specifically restricts Satan’s ability to tempt us (1 Cor 10:13), and God makes it clear that He never asks us to endure any trial that He isn’t also willing to endure (Heb 2:18).

This life is all about letting people have the freedom to choose their own destiny (Deu 30:19).  Even the flood that Noah’s family endured was for their benefit – it saved the only faithful people on the planet from the corruptive influence of sin (1 Pet 3:20).  God doesn’t desire any of the wicked to perish (Ezek 18:23).  His desire is for all mankind to choose Him.  God honors our freewill by giving each of us an entire lifetime to choose for ourselves whether we want to spend eternity with Him or away from Him.  It isn’t about us proving our love… it is about God respecting the freedom He gave us.

Basically, the biggest thing I do not understand about Christianity is the concept of being sentenced to eternal damnation.  In all my experience, I have been told that God is wise, loving, and caring towards all.  And without a doubt, He must be if He created this wonderful world.   But wherever I have searched, it seems the one condition for going to hell is not believing in Jesus.  Unless I am wrong, this would mean that the average peaceful, celibate, Buddhist monk who would have spent almost his entire life demonstrating nothing but kindness and love towards others (and perhaps has never even heard of God or any Christian doctrine) would be sentenced to everlasting torture in a pit of fire.  Whereas you could have a normal American man who claims to believe in Jesus and goes to church but is not honest and does not even try to practice things like kindness, love, or compassion towards others go to heaven.  Christianity says this man ends up going to eternal paradise when he dies, while the peaceful monk roasts.

To me, this is not right, and it would make more sense that with all of the different and diverse religions of the world, one’s afterlife would be determined not by his beliefs, but by his thoughts and actions towards himself and others.  And another thing, many if not most, religions (except Buddhism as far as I’m aware) promise torment in the afterlife if you are not a follower of said religion.   What makes Christianity any different?  Because it’s the “right one?”  As far as I’m concerned, I could argue any other major religion’s case as much as Christianity’s.  Others have ancient texts that have documented miracles performed by supposedly divine characters.  I believe in a God, no doubt, but I would think if He was so wise and powerful as to create the universe, He would not sentence a peaceful and loving soul (let alone any soul) to such a thing as eternal damnation just because we weren’t His follower.  It makes more sense that such a God judges by one’s actions.  Beliefs should be irrelevant, mainly because every religion is capable of scaring people into following it.  I’m just as concerned about Islam being correct as I am Christianity.  If I am not one or the other, I burn forever.  This makes no sense.  Please give me your opinion.

Sincerely,
Anti-Torture

Dear Anti-Torture,

A common misconception is that people are saved because they are good.  If making good choices were the standard for going to heaven... no one would make it there.  We go to heaven because we want to be with God and because we commit our lives to faithfully living for Him (Eph 2:8).  Heaven is a perfect place, and no one is perfect... therefore, no one deserves to go to heaven.  If imperfect people go to a perfect place, that place ceases to be perfect.  That is why all sin is deserving of hell (Rom 6:23)... all sin separates us from the perfection of God's existence.  The only way back to God is through the blood of Jesus (Jhn 14:6).  Buddhism (among other religions) may be able to teach you some good morals, but it can't cover your previous sins.  Only Christ can pay that price (1 Jn 4:10).  Only Christianity provides the whole and verifiable truth (read "Who Wrote The Bible?" for proof that the Bible, unlike other books, was written by God).

When God designed mankind, He made us in His image (Gen 1:26).  One result of that design is that all humans have eternal souls.  That is a positive thing.  God intended for Adam and Eve to never die and to always enjoy the blessings of fellowship with God in the garden (Gen 2:8).  Eden was a perfect situation, and it was our sin that destroyed that perfection.  Mankind sinned, and that sin causes us to die (Rom 6:23).  God gives us the freedom to choose life or choose sin; the fact that we all choose to sin is not His fault (Rom 5:12).  Heaven is a perfect place, and if God allowed sinful people into heaven, it would cease to be perfect.  Our actions and choices have condemned us.

God, however, wishes to save us from ourselves.  He sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins (Jhn 3:16).  He provided us with the Bible, which shows us the path to receive salvation (Rom 10:17, Rom 1:16).  We should not blame God for those who go to hell any more than we should blame a doctor when his patient refuses to take their medication.  It is true that many people will go to hell (Matt 7:13), but God doesn’t desire that any should perish (Ezek 18:23).  God sent us a Savior in Jesus Christ, even though we didn’t deserve Him (1 Jn 4:14).