EXISTENCE OF HEAVEN AND HELL
Online Small Christian Communities have been good platforms to share the word and participate in crucial topics concerning the church and society at large. This week, St. Francis SCC discussion on the existence of heaven and hell had a lot to learn from. I feel privileged to share the following concerning it.
Our Lord spoke of “sheep on his right hand and goats on his left” (My 25:33) showing that He will separate one from the other on the day of judgment. Some will go to heaven and others will not: “not everyone who calls me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Mathew 16:27 also records that the Son of man will come in the glory of His Father with his angels and he will reward each one according to his behavior.
Heaven will be a great place. A reward in deed. “Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” (Mt 5:11-12)
Hell will be a punishment for sin. Precisely, a punishment for refusing to repent. In Jesus parable in Mt 22:11 -13, when the king came in to look at the guests, he said,’ how did you get in here my friend, without a wedding garment?’ and the man without the wedding garment was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘ Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” The wedding garment symbolizes the grace Good gives us when we are baptized or when we go to confession. God never forces us to repent but anyone without the grace that comes from being sorry will be rejected. The Catholic catechism says:” To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice.” The book of Revelation says hell is the “legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false God’s or any other sort of liars.”
Augustine said: “God created us without us but he will not save us without us”. This is a profound quote about our cooperation with God. In the ministry of Catechesis it is important to focus on God’s unconditional love for us, but it is also important to know that our decisions, the freedom God has given us have eternal consequences for our lives. Reflecting on this quote from Augustine here are three things to consider:
- God desires our happiness and came to save us, but it goes beyond the concept of the popular notion that the God of the universe is love and accepts me as I am. This is true but not complete. He loves us as we are but desires for us to live within His will and follow His ways. As St. Augustine affirms, God cannot save us without us because without our cooperation he will not force Himself upon us.
- God’s justice and mercy go together – they are not separate from each other. When God loves He is at the same time just and when God is just He is at the same time loving. Often we want to separate these two things. Many see the God of the Old Testament as a just and authoritative figure. And in the New Testament they see God as one who loves us and came to save us. While this is true; it is not without our submission to His will and not merely the idea that whatever I think will make me happy is what God is okay with.
- God is continually inviting us into His friendship and life. We live in a world that doesn’t believe in objective truth but God is truth. His invitation for salvation and abundant life is offered constantly to us. God does not conform Himself to our ideas, but He invites us and has shown us in so many ways how He is willing to humble Himself for the sake us our salvation. This is good news while it also asks for a response that is in conformity to God’s will and ways.
In conclusion, as we live here on Earth let’s remember there is something better prepared for us. As the letter to the Hebrews says:” For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14).
By Felix Murinda
