Heaven Or Hell, Which One Will You Choose?

The reality of life on earth ultimately ends with death. Even though our physical bodies stop functioning, life after death continues. Every person will spend eternity either in heaven or hell.

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12

The Apostle John spoke often in his gospel and three epistles about eternal life. He also recorded in Revelation things he saw about heaven and the pit of hell.

Many people have thoughts about the afterlife with the belief they will spend it in heaven. Throughout the fifth chapter of this epistle, John makes it clear who will live there.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 1 John 5:1
All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. 1 John 5:10

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Jesus Shared God’s Testimony

What has God testified about His Son? In the Gospel of John, the apostle recorded a conversation Jesus had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus laid out God’s testimony for him.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

Jesus described to Nicodemus the concept of being born again. But the Lord didn’t only give Nicodemus a one-sided message. He continued by sharing the other side of the coin.

But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. John 3:18-19

That night, Nicodemus heard the difference of spending eternity in either heaven or hell. To ensure this inquiring Pharisee heard the Lord’s message, Jesus repeated it to him one last time.

The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” John 3:35-36

Let’s examine the descriptions of heaven and hell as written in Revelation. John observed a lot of activity in heaven, but we will keep our focus on its makeup.

The Descriptions of Heaven and Hell

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street.
On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.
And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5

Doesn’t heaven sound fantastic? But wait a minute, God will also create a New Jerusalem. So, if we turn back to chapter twenty-one, we can get a picture of it.

When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.
Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel).
The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
And the wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones.
The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl!
And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. Revelation 21:16-19,21

The Fury of Hell

In an earlier chapter, We also learn about God’s throne room and the sea of glass. So, we have taken a glimpse of heaven but must also visualize the fury hell.

Before we describe hell, please understand that God created it for the devil and his fallen angels. But those who reject the death and resurrection of Jesus for salvation will go there, too.

The Lord bound Satan for 1,000 years, loosed him, and then delivered him to his eternal destiny. There, he will join the Antichrist and the false prophet forever.

Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10

All those who enter eternity without Christ in their lives will stand before God for the final judgment. No one at that judgment will go to heaven, they will all end up in hell.

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.
I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15

Avoid Hell and Go to Heaven

What a vast difference between the glory of heaven and the fury of hell. Every living person can avoid the sentence of eternal damnation by believing in Jesus and obediently living for Him.

Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Romans 3:23-24,26

Lord, everybody wants to go to heaven and no one wants to go to hell. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, empower us to effectively share this good news with others.