Although my current sermon series on Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife has been extremely enjoyable, it’s also been quite challenging. It has raised some challenging questions in my own mind, and a few from my kids as well. I think it’s so challenging because it’s very important to us, but we don’t have any first hand experience of it, and can’t, until we’ve gone through it. It would be so much easier if we had a step by step introduction to what happened so that we could know we were prepared, maybe something like what we try to do for our kids when they first start school. “First, you’ll go to this room and you’ll meet so and so and they will ask you to…and then you’ll go to this room, etc.” That would be nice.
Anyway, one goal of this series was not only to address the most basic questions about eternity from a biblical perspective, but also to entertain questions people might have about eternity. So I’d like to invite people to post comments here, or on my Facebook page, related to the topic of eternity. What questions do you have? What doesn’t make sense? What do you think?
If there was step by step instruction would more people live their life in fear of Hell and thereby serve the Lord? That used to be how some sermons went when I was younger; you were scarred into salvation and possibly missed the wonder of God’s love and mercy. Interesting that doubters focus on hell and question how a loving God could send people there. They fail to realize what he has prepared for us if we do serve him.
First question, do you think it wrong to want to go to Heaven now? When I look at many of the hymns it seems there were many people like I who wish we were done with this world and living with the Father. I wonder the response if you asked people; would you like to go to heaven right now or it there something you want to experience or do here in this life first?
Second, is Luke 16:19, a parable or a actual event that took place?