Heaven and Hell: What's the Purpose? What's Your Choice?

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” -I Kings 8:27 NKJV

            People talk about Heaven and all its splendor. They talk about getting to do this or that when they get there, but what is Heaven? Heaven is simply the dwelling place of God and His angels. There is so much in the Bible about what is in Heaven. The Bible talks about God sitting on His throne surrounded by elders dressed in white and creatures proclaiming his praise (Revelation 4:2-14). People also wonder what Hell really is. Hell is a place of punishment for Satan, the fallen angel, and all his followers. Hell is where death resides (Proverbs 7:27). It is a place where torture and pain exist and never end (Revelation 20:12).

      Now what is the purpose of Heaven? Heaven is where God dwells. There are some other beings there, too, like angels and elders and such. We’re not sure if we will ever be in this specific heaven, also known as God’s throne room. We do know that we will live on the earth in the future, though. God made earth for man to live. However, because sin is in the world, God has set up and designed a plan for man to live on a sin-free Earth. A new Earth (Revelation 20:4, Revelation 21:1).

            What is the purpose of Hell? We don’t really know too much for sure about Hell and whether or not Hell/Hades/Sheol/Abraham’s Bosom/The Lake of Fire are different places or the same place with different names. What we do know is that people are separated from God there. And that is the worst punishment someone can go through. We do know that one day, Satan and his followers will be thrown into the lake of fire - an eternal place of suffering where they will spend eternity (Revelation 21:8, Revelation 20:15). 

     So now you have the choice. Where do you want to spend eternity? If you died right now where would you go? The good news is you DO have a choice. You can accept Jesus as your savior and spend eternity with Him forever. All you have to do is ask Him into your heart, ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and accept His forgiveness.

            If you want to talk to one of our life coaches about being saved, you can e-mail us at admin@youthforamerica.org and we will help you with this important decision. Also, this is a difficult topic that one short devo could never fully grasp. If you have questions, ask your pastor, or send us an e-mail. We’d love for you to dig deeper into what God says about this.