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Resurrection of the Dead and Final Judgment
What are Paradise and the "Third Heaven?"
What are Heaven and Hell Like?
Will We Know Our Relatives and Friends in Heaven? Will We Still Be Married?
Is Hell Eternal, or Just the End of life?
Jesus told His disciples not to fear for their lives; eternal life is infinitely more valuable than one's earthly life:
Don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (NLT, Matthew 10:28-29)
In his Letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul looked forward to the time he could leave this earthly life behind and be with Christ:
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (NIV, Philippians 1:21-24)
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. (NIV, John 11:11-13)
For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. (NIV, Acts 13:36)
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. (NAS, 1 Thessalonians 4:13)
From this, some people reason, the souls of the dead are asleep and unconscious during the intermediate state and will remain that way until Christ comes again. The majority view, however, is that these references to sleep are just a figure of speech for death, perhaps used to indicate that death will not be the final end for those who are saved.
Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his [Christ's] voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (NIV, John 5:28-29)
God will judge different people by different standards, depending on their knowledge of the Gospel and the wealth, abilities and responsibilities that have been entrusted to them (Matthew 10:14-15, 11:20-24, Luke 20:45-47, 21:1-4, John 9:40-41, 15:20-24, Romans 2:12-16, Galatians 6:3-5):
From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. (NRSV, Luke 12:48)
While we are still living, or until Jesus comes again, we have every opportunity to repent (change our ways from evil to good). But in the end we will all be judged. (Matthew 12:35-37, Acts 2:38, 17:30-31, Romans 14:10)
Jesus stated that we will be judged based on what we have done (or failed to do) to help other people in need:
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” (NLT, Matthew 25:31-46)
The apostle Paul put it this way:
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (NIV, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10)
Related verses: Matthew 16:24-27, John 3:16-21, Acts 10:39-43, 17:29-31, Romans 2:5-16, 1 Corinthians 4:5, James 2:12-17, 4:11-12, 5:7-9, 1 Peter 4:1-6, Jude 1:14-15, Revelation 22:12-13
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
Heaven (or heavens) has several meanings in the Bible. The physical heaven refers to all of the universe beyond earth (Genesis 1:1, Matthew 24:29, Revelation 12:3-4).
Heaven is also the dwelling place of God (Deuteronomy 26:15, 1 Kings 8:28-30, Matthew 5:44-45).
When Christ returns, heaven and earth will be re-created or brought to perfection in accordance with God's will (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1). This new perfect world will be the final dwelling place for those who are saved (John 14:2-3, 1 Peter 1:3-4).
Several different words in the original Bible languages represent the abode of the dead or state of the dead. Many Bible versions translate all these words as "hell," but that obscures their distinct meanings. Some newer versions leave these words untranslated to preserve the distinctions and original meanings:
Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. (NRSV, Ecclesiastes 9:10)
In later Jewish writings, Sheol/Hades was conceived as having separate regions of comfort for the righteous and punishment of the wicked, and that idea is also seen in Jesus' Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus:
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. (TNIV, Luke 16:22-26)Gehenna (Hebrew ge-hinnom, meaning "valley of Hinnom") was a valley outside of Jerusalem. At the time of Jesus it was used as a garbage dump where fires burned continuously. In former times, it was used it as a place of idolatrous practices, including human sacrifices (2 Chronicles 28:3, Jeremiah 32:35)
Jesus used this evil place where fires burned continuously as a metaphor for the fate that awaits the wicked after death:
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. (NAB, Matthew 5:22)
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. (NAB, Mark 9:43-45)
The Christian conception of hell as a place of punishment for the wicked is most closely associated with the word Gehenna as used by Jesus.
The word Tartarus appears once in the Bible. It comes from Greek mythology and is apparently used to represent a place of punishment:For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but condemned them to the chains of Tartarus and handed them over to be kept for judgment; (NAB, 2 Peter 2:4)
The book of Revelation uses the term "lake of fire" to describe the fate of the wicked:
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (NRSV, Revelation 20:10)
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (NRSV, Revelation 20:14-15)
Jesus also told the thief on the cross, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43). That suggests that Paradise is the same as the intermediate state where souls are taken immediately after death. Paradise is also mentioned in Revelation 2:7.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ... Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ... And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (NRSV, Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (TNIV, Revelation 21:3-4)
Many of our ideas about heaven and hell actually come from sources other than the Bible. In particular, The Divine Comedy, an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri in the 1300s, vividly describes hell, purgatory and heaven as imagined by Dante. Many of those ideas have endured to the present time.
Jesus did say that we will not be married in heaven:
Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. (NRSV, Luke 20:34-37)
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (NRSV, Matthew 7:13-14)
Related verses: Matthew 20:16, 22:14, Luke 13:23-28, John 3:19
The apostle Paul makes the analogy that our earthly bodies are like seeds that die and fall to the ground, then sprout into new, glorious forms of life (1 Corinthians 15:35-44). It is only an analogy, however. The Bible uses vague and poetic language to describe heaven, hell and eternal life. Perhaps the reason we know so few details about eternal life is that, as with other spiritual matters, the reality of it is simply beyond our human ability to comprehend. As Paul wrote,
Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. (NLT, 1 Corinthians 13:12)
Related articles:
What Does the Bible Say about Salvation?
What Does the Bible Say About Forgiveness of Sins?
What Does the Bible Say about the Second Coming
of Jesus?