GRIT AND GRACE
AFTERLIFE
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 7:1, 13-14
JANUARY 24, 2010
In the year 213 BC the Qin emperor, Qin Shi Huang, began to build the Great Wall of China. On the physical level, it is one of the greatest accomplishments in human history. And Qin Shi Huang built that wall to protect him, to guard himself, on this earth and in this life. But I think many of you know that he was actually more concerned about the next life, more concerned with the afterlife. In 1988, Barb and I went to China. We went to Beijing. We saw the Great Wall of China. We marveled at it and then we flew on China Air from Beijing to Xi’An because we wanted to see Qin Shi Huang’s vision of the afterlife.
As we got on China Air, the thought occurred to us that we might immediately enter the afterlife. The plane really sounded like a bucket of bolts and we’re just standing in the aisle talking to folks and suddenly the plane took off. I mean, no announcement, no, “fasten your seat belts,” no stewardesses. We were gone. But we arrived in Xi’An and we went down under the earth and we saw Qin Shi Huang’s vision of the afterlife. He had constructed a subterranean world complete with subterranean rivers. On the huge ceilings of the cavernous area, they painted sky and there was a subterranean city that they had built. I think many of you know that he had made terracotta replicas of individual members of his imperial army and had taken them into the grave with him. It was his vision of his afterlife thinking, that he would have all this in the life to come.
Barb and I traveled with some of you to Egypt. We went to Cairo, went to Giza, and saw the pyramids. We went down the Nile, we went to Luxor, and we saw the temple at Karnak and we saw the Valley of the Kings. Really, it’s all about the afterlife as well. The reason the Egyptians wrap their pharaohs in mummification was so that their bodies would be preserved for the afterlife. The reason that they put great treasures inside of these great tombs was so that they might be able to have money to burn in the afterlife. It’s all about the afterlife. Now, here we are today and the world hasn’t changed that much. Not really. Everyone is still very much interested in the afterlife. People have a lot of questions. People want answers. They want to know about the life to come, the afterlife.
Now, in the Bible much is said about the afterlife and we’re going to look at it in terms of grit and grace. The Bible tells us there are only two destinies beyond this world and those two destinies are heaven and hell. So, we’re going to take a look at this in terms of grit and grace and we’re going to begin with the grit. We’re going to begin with hell.
So, let’s take a few moments and see what the Bible has to sayon this subject of hell and the grit of this. Now, in our passage of Scripture for today, Jesus said, “The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to hell, that leads to destruction, and those who enter thereby are many.” Jesus said, “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to heaven that leads to life and those who find it are few.” It’s a hard, hard teaching. In fact, it’s so hard that some have wondered if Jesus was really talking about the afterlife. Some have wondered if maybe he was talking about the easy life that leads to destruction of this life and the hard life that really brings life to this life. But the problem is that when you look at it exegetically there is no doubt that he is referring to the afterlife, and when you look at the parallel passage in Luke, chapter 13, very clear Jesus is talking about salvation and eternal life and the final judgment.
So, this is a hard teaching. Hell not only exists, but there are a whole lot of people going there. Now, we see throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, this promise of both heaven and hell. And what I’d like for us to do is take a few moments and take a look at, in the Christian world, three different views of hell. I must say this: Only one of these views is biblical. All three views are found in the Christian world, but only one is really biblical.
The first view of hell is called annihilationism, and you have some Christians that believe hell is really annihilation—that hell is temporal, is temporary, is finite, its non-eternal, it’s not everlasting, it’s temporary and it’s punitive, but after a period of time, depending on how bad you were, it all comes to an end and you’re annihilated. Annihilationism. You just cease to exist. Your soul is lost and it is dead forever. It is the loss of being, the loss of existence.
Now, this concept has found some popularity, particularly among Hyper-Calvinists who are concerned with the theodicy and the justice and goodness of God. Because of their extreme theology, they have a hard time with the justice of God since they have God predestining everyone in the world to heaven or hell before he ever created( supralapsarianism), before any one of them fail. Indeed, on the basis of nothing, in Hyper-Calvinism, people are simply sent to heaven and hell, created for heaven and hell. So can hell be eternal and punitive and you maintain a good and just God? And so, you see Hyper-Calvinists who have turned to annihilationism as a possible answer.
The problem is that annihilationism is not biblical. Annihilationism just doesn’t fit the teachings of Scripture. You look at the words for hell in the Bible and you see “apoleia,” you see “olethros,” and you see “phthora.” Now, these three words basically describe hell. “Apoleia” means destruction, olethros means ruin, and “phthora” means corruption. So there is destruction, ruin, and corruption, these 3 Greeks words. And the question is, in terms of annihilation, can they mean the loss of being? Can the word destruction mean to lose existence? Can the word ruin mean to lose your existence? Can the word corruption mean the loss of existence? And the answer is generally no. One of the three words rarely can mean the loss of being. But generally, these 3 words do not mean the loss of being. They mean the loss of well-being, and there’s a tremendous difference. Hell is not the loss of being, it’s not the loss of existence, it is the loss of wellbeing. That’s how hell is described. It’s eternal and it’s an eternal loss of wellbeing.
More to the point, does the Bible say that hell is everlasting? And the Greek word is
“aionios.” The Greek word is “aionios,” which is often times translated eternal or everlasting. Can that word ever mean just a long period of time? And the answer is yes. Rarely, this word “aionios” simply means a long period of time.
But here’s the problem: there’s this principle in the Greek language of parallelism. So for instance, when Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this. The day is coming when all who are in the grave, all who are in the tomb will hear my voice and come forth, some to everlasting life and others to everlasting ruin.” Now, the word “aionios” is on both sides of that parallel and the principle of parallelism in the Greek language is you have to give the same meaning on both sides to the same word. So, you can’t say that everlasting life and everlasting death or ruin is temporary. You have to give the same meaning. So, this word “aionois,” which means everlasting or eternal, can’t mean everlasting on one side of the equation and then just mean a long time on the other side. If heaven is everlasting, hell is also everlasting, and the Bible makes this clear again and again and again. So, annihilationism is for some people a comfort, but it doesn’t really fit the teachings of the Bible.
A second view that’s in the Christian world is the view of “universalism,” and you see a number of Christians around the world and through Christian history who have been universalists. This was true of Origen, one of the early church fathers, who in the second century taught universalism, universal salvation, that ultimately everyone would go to heaven. He was condemned at the Council of Constantinople because that view doesn’t really fit the clear teaching of the Bible. Today you have Karl Barth, and Karl Barth was the great German theologian and Bartianism taught universalism, that ultimately everybody would be saved.
In universalism, hell exists but it is again temporal. It’s not eternal. It’s temporal and it’s not punitive. It’s redemptive. Hell is remedial so that those who go to hell have a remedial experience. They have a redemptive experience and they’re not there for a long period of time. They may be there for a long period of time or for a short period of time, but ultimately, they are redeemed and they go to heaven. This is universalism. So, ultimately, hell is emptied. Hell is emptied; hell is temporal. It’s remedial and it’s redemptive. So, this is universalism. Hell exists, but it’s just temporary. It’s not punitive. It’s remedial. Its redemptive and ultimately people graduate and they graduate to heaven and everyone is saved. Universalism.
Again, this view, obviously, to the world has great attraction, but it’s not biblical. It’s very tough to defend this view biblically and universalists like to pull a few Scriptures out of context. For instance, they look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 22. And what does it say? “As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.” So that sounds kind of like universalism. “As in Adam all die, so in Christ so shall all be made alive.” And because of the principle of parallelism, you have to give the word “all” the same meaning on both sides of the equation. So, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive,” all means everybody.
But you’ve also got to look at Adam and Christ: all in Adam and all in Christ. All in Adam refers to the human race, the whole human race is in Adam, so the whole human race dies. But the whole human race is not in Christ. The Bible tells us only those who believe are in Christ. So all who are in Christ shall be made alive. So, the teaching of the Scripture there is not universalism. It’s just that everybody who is in Adam will die and does die. Everybody who is in Christ will be made alive, but those are in Christ are those who respond the gospel and believe.
Of course, universalism also fails simply because these 3 words for hell in the Bible, “apoleia, olethros and phthora,” are not redemptive words. These are punitive words. And universalism also fails simply because, as we’ve already said, “aionios,” the word for everlasting or eternal, because of the principle of parallelism must mean an everlasting hell if you have an everlasting heaven. The word must have the same meaning in both contexts. So, these teachings, annihilationism and universalism, are in the Christian world, but they don’t really fit the Bible.
So, what does the Bible say? The Bible’s view is basically the traditional view, and it’s hard. It’s grit. And it’s this: hell is punitive and hell is everlasting. Hell is eternal and it’s punitive. That’s the grit.
Now, let’s move to the subject of grace. And I think most of you are ready to make that move. So, let’s move to the subject of grace and talk a moment about the subject of heaven, because the Bible tells us that we’re saved by grace. By grace we have been saved through faith. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. So, we are saved by grace. Heaven is grace. So, when you come to Jesus Christ you receive him as your Savior and Lord—your Savior because he died for the sin of the world, and your Lord because he is the Son of God, King of Kings and destined to reign forever. So, you take Jesus as your Savior and your Lord and in that moment, the Bible says (and this is called the gospel) when you take Jesus as Savior and Lord by his grace your sin is completely forgiven you. All of your sin—your past sin, your present sin, and your future sin—with regard to heaven is all forgiven you by his grace.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the sin in our lives won’t bring natural consequences. Our sins do bring natural consequences. Nor does it mean that God does not discipline us, because God is our loving heavenly father and indeed he disciplines his children. He disciplines all who are his, and so when we sin there are natural consequences. God may indeed discipline us if we continue in that sin because he loves us so much. But with regard to heaven, the moment you embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, all of your sin is forgiven you with regard to salvation, with regard to heaven, and that’s all grace. That’s all the grace of Christ.
Heaven itself is grace and the Bible tells us that when we arrive in heaven in that day, at the consummation. When all Christians have arrived in heaven, all Christians will be given a new body. And that’s grace. We will receive a new body that operates on higher principles. That new resurrection body is promised to all who believe in grace. The body is described as “heavenly,” which is the Greek word “epouranoi,” and it means fit for or appropriate to the heavens. So, this body is fit for earth, barely. That body that operates on higher principles will be fit for the whole of the creation. It will be fit for the universe. It will be fit for the heavens. It’s “epouranoi” and it’s grace.
That resurrection body will also be indestructible. The Greek word is “aptharsia,” which means no longer subject to decay. And that’s grace. These bodies are subject to decay. That body, which is given by grace, will not be subject to decay and it will be powerful: the Greek word is “dunamis.” The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that these bodies are sown in weakness, but that body will be sown in power. And it is grace.
It’s a spiritual body. The Greek word is “pneumatikos.” That doesn’t mean that it’s an invisible body. Jesus in his resurrection body said, “See me. Touch me. See that a ghost has not flesh and bone as I have.” So, this body has substance, its “pneumatikos,” it’s spiritual in the sense that it’s governed by the spirit. And that will be grace. That body will be governed by the spirit, “pneumatikos,” and that is grace.
It’s glorious. The Bible tells us it’s a glorious body. The Greek word is “doxa,” from which we get the word doxology, and it means worthy of praise, worthy of glory, and that’s all grace and that new body will be praiseworthy and glorious by his grace.
We’re also promised the heavenly city. We’re promised the New Jerusalem and it is crafted by God, and it’s all grace. And this glorious city, the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, will be ours and we will enter it and we will exit it. We will visit the new creation and the new earth, all the works of God’s hands, but we will assemble in the New Jerusalem. And it is grace. Of course, the new heavens and the new earth are themselves expressions of God’s grace.
People want to know, “Well, does that mean that God is going to take the existing universe, or what some call the multi-verse, and is God going to recreate it or is he just going to transform it?” Biblically we don’t know for sure, but he’s going to craft new heavens and a new earth, and he says, “You will rejoice in that which I create.” It’s all grace, and as we were once given stewardship on the earth… by his grace, mankind was given dominion over the earth and we have, at times, abused that dominion. But in the life to come, we who are his people will be given dominion over the new heavens and the new earth, over all the works of his hands, and it’s grace. It’s all grace. And we will be with the angels by his grace. And it will all be grace.
Now, I’d like to take a few minutes before we come to the table and give a little apologetic for the biblical teaching on hell. I’d like to take a few moments to give a little apologetic, a little defense for the biblical view of hell. I want to say that I think many people in the Christian world, and certainly in the non-Christian world, do not understand what the Bible is teaching with regard to hell. The Bible uses a number of words and phrases to describe hell, and sometimes hell is referred to as a Lake of Fire. That’s true in Revelation chapter 19 chapter 21, and twice on the lips of Jesus. Hell is referred to as a Lake of Fire. At other times in the Bible, hell, as in Revelation 9, 11, 17 and 20, again is at times referred to as a dark pit, a bottomless pit.
Then at other times… and I think for our Lord Jesus, his favorite description of hell is the outer darkness. As you go through the parables of Christ and there’s judgment at the end of the parable, where does the worthless servant go and where is the worthless servant cast? “Cast him into the outer darkness. There men will weep and gnash their teeth.” So, we have this other description of hell. And of course, Jesus also referred to hell as Gehenna. And outside of Jerusalem there was this valley called Gehenna, and it was a garbage dump. So, you have that image of hell. That hell is Gehenna. It’s this garbage dump.
So, you have all these images of hell and I hope you understand the beauty of the biblical literature genre. I hope you understand that in the Bible you have eternal truths described sometimes in very figurative and wonderfully communicative language. Jesus, in the Bible, is described as a lion and he’s also described as a lamb. This doesn’t mean that he’s literally a lion or that he is literally a lamb, but he bears the cross and the crown so he is the lion and the lamb. Jesus is described as the Lily of the Valley. He is also the Rose of Sharon. You can say, well how can he be both a lily and a rose? Well, he’s neither, but those are words that describe the beauty of his person and character. So we have these different images of hell and they’re all different but they have this in common. What they have in common is suffering. Hell is a place of suffering. All these descriptions of hell and all this biblical language means it’s a place of suffering.
Now, we might ask this question, and indeed we do: why are people suffering in hell? Why are they suffering there? And I think here’s the grave error that exists in some parts of the Christian world and certainly in the non-Christian world: People think that folks are suffering in hell because God is there kicking butt. I don’t know if that’s biblical phraseology, but that’s what people think throughout the Christian world. People think (and certainly in the non-Christian world) that souls are suffering in hell because God is there is beating the heck out of them and God is just doing this forever and forever and forever because God can’t get enough vengeance and God is so filled with wrath.
So, you have this image and it’s just not biblical. It’s not biblical at all. God’s not going to be beating the heck out of people in hell because God’s not even going to be in hell. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, hell is exclusion from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might. God isn’t going to be there. It’s exclusion from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might. Jesus isn’t going to be there. In the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 25, in the final judgment of the nations Jesus separates the sheep and the goats and what does he say to the condemned? “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.” He’s not even going be there.
So, what is causing the suffering in hell? Understand this: the Bible says, “In God’s presence is fullness of joy.” That’s why people throughout history have longed to experience God and his presence. And the Israelites marveled at the glory cloud and the pillar of fire, the presence of God. They marveled at the temple and the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies where the Shekinah, where the presence of God in substance, dwelt, hovering over the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. The people longed for the presence of God.
In our living room we have 3 paintings. We have a Kinkade painting called Mountain Chapel, which I think is beautiful. We have two these paintings by a San Diego artist and one is the picture of the Via Dolorosa and the Sea of Jerusalem and it has a Muslim Imam and it has a Jewish Rabbi and a Christian pastor or priest in conversation on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem—discussing the Bible, which is open on the lap of the priest. And it’s a cool painting. And we have this other painting by the same San Diego author of the Wailing Wall in the City of Jerusalem, and you just see this beautiful image of the golden sun shining on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and people just lined up in prayer at the base of the Wailing Wall, sticking their little written prayers in the cracks of the wall. And what’s that all about? It’s about the presence of God. That’s about the Shekinah, which the Jews believe still remains there. The Wailing Wall is the only part of the temple mount that still remains, so they go there seeking some touch, just some little touch, of the presence of God.
I don’t know what hell is like, but I know that God is not there. I know that in God’s presence is fullness of joy. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be in some kind of condition or state or perhaps place where there is no presence of God. I can’t even imagine. In this world even an atheist, even a devou,t rabid atheist, still is surrounded by the presence of God. Nobody in this life has experienced the absence of God, but that’s what hell is. And so, you understand, people who go to hell are people who, in a sense, have chosen it. Think about this: Heaven is a place where God reigns. Heaven is a place where Jesus reigns. All who are going to heaven love that. I mean, if you’re going to heaven, you want to be where God reigns. You want to live a life that pleases God. You have a desire to please God forever and ever and ever and that’s why you’re in heaven. You’ve got a desire to please Jesus and that appeals to you. I will admit even as Christians sometimes we just want to please ourselves. Sometimes we just want to live for ourselves, but most of the time, if we really believe, most of the time, we want to live for him. We want to please him.
There are billions of people in this world who do not want to live for God. Billions of people in this world want to live for themselves. They may not state it blatantly. They may not vocalize it, but in their hearts, the Bible tells us, billions of people just want to do it their way. And God’s going to say, “Okay.” God’s going to say, “Okay, you can do it your way. You can reign over your own life. You can be your own Lord and Master and you can do that forever and ever and ever, but I’m not going to be there. I’m not going to be there.” And it’s miserable. It’s vacuous. It’s hollow and empty. People, forever and ever and ever, just existing for self.
I love that C.S. Lewis book called The Great Divorce. The Great Divorce describes heaven and hell and the great gap between heaven and hell and you have this passage where people in hell are, in Lewis’s imagination, given this opportunity to ascend to heaven and see what they think. And the closer they get, the more they hate it. I mean, they’re miserable where they are, but they hate the thought of living for God. Even a new heaven and a new earth would not be fun if you had to live for God. And so they return to what they have chosen: The Great Divorce.
As we close, before we come to the table, I want to just mention one thing about Jesus. Our son Drew is a pretty smart guy. Barb and I feel like, intellectually, he’s exceeded us. God has blessed him that way. In high school he took all these honors and AP classes and just excelled and so, when he went to college, he was given this awesome scholarship and because he had so many AP and honors classes he could have started college at the beginning of his junior year so that he could have completed college in two years.
Now, he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want only two years in college because he wanted 4 years of socialization. He goes to college for 4 years, but he really gets 3 degrees. In 4 years, he gets 3 majors and a minor and then he decides to go to med school and takes his MCATS and he scores in the highest percentile in MCATS. So, he’s got many opportunities to go to medical school and he chooses CU. He chooses CU and we’re grateful for that because in-state tuition in med school is much, much better. And he has great and wonderful training at CU and when he received his MD. CU then invited him to stay and do a 4-year residency with them and he did. And now he’s gone to the University of Wisconsin in Madison where he’s in a fellowship in retina surgery. He’ll be an Ophthalmologist and surgeon.
Now, Drew, you know, is a pretty smart guy and a wonderful Christian who loves Christ, but Barb and I have this one problem with Drew. He keeps locking his keys in his car. Now, I say, how hard is this for the boy genius? I mean you take the keys out of the car before you lock the car, right? And if you can’t get that down, it’s probably good to have some kind of backup plan where you have a second key. Maybe you keep it in your wallet, except that Drew tends to lose his wallet as well. And Barb and I, when Drew was doing some general surgery, thought, “Wow, hope he doesn’t leave something in somebody’s chest cavity, you know?” But the truth is, Drew is a wonderful surgeon and he’s already done thousands of surgeries and he just loves it and he is like most surgeons. When they are doing most surgery, they are extremely focused and they, for the most part, do not make mistakes. And I would trust Drew to do a surgery on me any day.
But, you know, it is an embarrassing thing when you lose your keys or when you lock your keys in the car repeatedly. Drew will call me. He’ll call me and say, “Dad,” and I know something’s wrong right off when he calls me “dad” because Drew doesn’t normally call me “dad.” Drew normally is very playful. He calls me “Jimbo.” He calls me “old man.” “How’s it going, old man?” But when he calls and says “dad,” I know, “Ah, something’s happening. He’s locked his keys in the car.” And you know, it’s kind of embarrassing, right? Once a member of the church offered their place in the mountains to use and we got up there and we realized we left the key at home. Our family has problems.
Now, here’s the deal. In the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, the first chapter, Jesus makes this statement: “I am the living One. I died, but I’m alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades. I have the keys of heaven and hell. I have the keys.” And he doesn’t lose them. You come to Revelation 3, the message of Christ to the church of Philadelphia, and he introduces himself as the one who has the keys of David. And of course, the keys of David on this earth were used to open up the treasury in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Jesus has the keys to all the treasures of the heavenly Jerusalem. He has the keys. I hope you know that. He is the judge. We don’t judge anybody. As Christians, we shouldn’t ever judge anybody’s destiny. He’s the judge. Even the Father does not judge. The Bible says the Father judges no one. Jesus said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son that all might honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father.”
He has the keys. And why is that? Because he died for the sin of the world, he died for everyone on the planet, and he alone has the right to judge and he will judge the nations and his judgment will be true. So, we don’t judge, but we know this: all who believe in him, all who receive him as Savior and Lord, will be saved. That’s the gospel. He has the keys, and he can do it. That’s his grace.
So, before we come to the table, I want to say a prayer, and if you’ve never asked him to use the keys for you, if you’ve never invited him to be your Savior and Lord, if you never asked him to save you, let this be the moment. Let’s pray.