Hardly anyone thinks they’re going to hell. Even the most irreligious of people assume they’ll end up in a better place. But if anything the Bible says about heaven is true, most people wouldn’t want God to send them there. It would violate everything they’ve believed in and committed themselves to. Let me explain.

Our idea of heaven has a fatal flaw

The popular notion of heaven is of a big family reunion (if you’re fond of your family, that is) or else the place of your greatest pleasures and pastimes. “Uncle Joe is probably up there having a round of golf, right now,” we comfort ourselves. But I don’t think we’ve thought through that picture well enough.

If heaven doesn’t somehow eliminate the problem of sin, how could it still be heaven? If Uncle Joe is up in heaven, addicted to fentanyl, doesn’t that sound more like hell than heaven?

The Bible resolves the problem of heaven that most people avoid

The Scriptures explain that heaven is holy and free from all impurity. Revelation 21:27 says, “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Not only is there no cocaine in heaven, but there are no rapists, murderers, gossips, or cheats either. Most people assume this without considering how.

To keep all that is unclean out of heaven, God must root it out of our hearts. Sin is like a cancer that has to be removed. The problem is that most people aren’t willing to give up their sin. They deny it’s a problem and excuse its effects. But even sins like pride, judgmentalism, and selfishness would have disastrous effects if left to develop for eternity.

Only an unjust God would force people to give up their sin

It would be cruel and unfair for God to violate our freedom and force us to conform to His will. And yet without that, we would cling to our addictions, weaknesses, and bad habits and turn heaven into hell.

Jesus has a different plan. He invites all—the good and the bad—and only asks that they repent and put their trust in Him. Through repentance, we renounce all that God calls sin, and through faith, we put ourselves under new management with Jesus as our Lord. Through His death, Jesus opens the door to new life. When we respond to His invitation, He begins to change us now and will perfect us later.

Heaven isn’t the place for people who don’t care for God

God is the host of heaven and the centre of attention. His people will worship Him and reflect the glory of His character (Revelation 7:15). People who ignore God in this life and reject His will for their lives show by their decisions that they don’t want what the Bible calls heaven. It would be unfair for God to force them into it.

Hell is that place reserved for all who want to be free of God’s interference and prefer their own will to His. Notice how it’s described in 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

“They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

Completely separated from God’s favour and glory, people will realize that God was the One who made life worth living. They’ll see that every good gift in this life was ultimately from God. Without God, His goodness, and His restraining presence, even golf would feel like torture. Of course, it takes faith to believe that, and that’s the faith that can spare people hell.

Hear the invitation of heaven

If you’re someone who has vague notions of heaven marked by reunions and buffets, consider the problem of sin and Jesus’ invitation to repentance and faith. And let your heart be captured by the amazing vision of heaven that the Bible presents.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

- Revelation 7:16-17

In awe of Him,

Paul