Heaven and hell are Biblical terms, no doubt contemplated by many, while simultaneously misunderstood by most. People say things like “I know I’m going to hell,” or “I hope I’m going to heaven;” or “Maybe the Big Guy will consider my good deeds over my bad ones.”

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In our broken and sin filled world, it’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “My life is already hell here on this earth.” And while people may truly be suffering in this life, there is no comparison to what the Bible describes as the eternal destination Jesus speaks of as hell. What then does the Bible say about heaven and about hell? Let’s find out.

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Heaven

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What is heaven like? Heaven is a real place fully described in the Bible. The word heaven is found 276 times in the New Testament alone. Scripture refers to three heavens. The apostle Paul talks about being “caught up to the third heaven,” but he was prohibited from revealing what he experienced there. (See 2 Corinthians 12:1–9).

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Since a third heaven exists, there must also be a first and second heaven. The first is most frequently referred to in the Old Testament as the “sky” or the “firmament.” This is the heaven where weather occurs, clouds float, winds whirl, and birds fly. The second heaven is what we refer to as outer space, the region of the stars, planets, and other cosmic objects, as described in Genesis 1:14–18.

The third heaven, the location of which is not revealed in Scripture, is the dwelling place of God. Jesus promised to prepare a place in heaven for His followers: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2)

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Heaven is also the destination of Old Testament saints who died trusting God’s promise of the Redeemer: “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19)

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One of the most well-known verses in the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

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In Revelation, the apostle John was privileged to see and report on the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. (See Revelation 21:10–27). John witnessed that the new earth will possess the “glory of God” (Revelation 21:11), and the very presence of God will be among men. In the eternal state, there will be no night, and the Lord Himself will be the light for the city. The sun and moon will no longer be needed (See Revelation 22:5).

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The New Jerusalem will be filled with the brilliance of precious stones and crystal-clear jasper. The city has twelve gates (Revelation 21:12) and twelve foundations (Revelation 21:14). Paradise is restored: the river of the water of life flows freely, and the tree of life as described in Genesis is available once again, yielding fruit monthly with leaves that “heal the nations” (Revelation 22:1–2). The Bible gives us a glimpse of heaven, but the reality of that place is beyond the ability of finite man to imagine: “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Heaven is a place where there will be no more tears, no more pain, and no more sorrow. Death has already been conquered. But the best thing about heaven will be the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We will be face to face with the Lamb of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. Because of His sacrifice, we can enjoy His presence for eternity.

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In 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible addresses the resurrection and the resurrected body. Our heavenly bodies will be different from our natural bodies, with some striking contrasts. Our earthly bodies are subject to decay and corruption, but at the resurrection they will be made incorruptible: “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53)

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This verse also tells us our resurrected bodies will be characterized by immortality and not susceptible to death. Also, whereas our natural bodies are weak, our resurrected bodies will be characterized by strength: “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.” (1 Corinthians 15:43)

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We will have a body in heaven, and it will be like the body we have now; but greatly improved. God redeems the whole person, body, soul, and spirit. Our resurrected body will be “heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:40) “imperishable” (verse 42), “glorified” (verse 43), “spiritual” (verse 44), “immortal” (verse 53), and bearing “Christ’s image” (verse 49). So, we will not lose our identity, but in terms of today’s verbiage, you will still be you, with major updates.

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Philippians 3:21 contains the promise that Jesus “who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

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After His resurrection, Jesus was recognizable for who He was (except when God prevented people from seeing, as in Luke 24:16). He had His hands and His feet (Luke 24:39). He ate food (Luke 24:42). His body was transformed, but it was still His body. The same will hold true for us in the resurrection.

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Our natural bodies are associated with the word dishonor in 1 Corinthians 15:43 because they sustain damage; they scab and scar, they lose function, and eventually they decay and die. In short, they bear the marks of corruption and brokenness. Sometimes our bodies are damaged due to our own sin. Other times, by others. But everyone in this world grows old, and the ravishes of time have their effect. The process of physical deterioration is a direct result of humanity’s fall into sin. But God, through Christ’s transforming power, is able to raise up His children with new, glorious bodies, just like when Jesus healed the man with the shriveled hand, “And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.” (Luke 6:10)

This is a small picture of what the resurrection of the body will accomplish. We will be “completely restored,” free from the devastation of sin, and instead, possessing the glory of Christ.

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The Bible does not say exactly what we will look like in heaven. What age we will be? Will the texture of our hair stay the same? Will we have the same eye color? The same fingerprints? These details are not revealed in Scripture. We do know that whatever was associated with our natural, perishable condition will be removed. No more pimples, pains, wrinkles or limps. No more cataracts, coughs, or diabetes. No more missing teeth, lazy eyes, or hereditary defects. Although Jesus may still bear His scars in heaven, ours will be gone.

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That Other Place

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Not surprisingly, a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than believe in the existence of hell. According to the Bible, though, hell is just as real as heaven. Jesus mentions hell or another word referencing hell (Gehenna; Hades; outer darkness, eternal fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc.) at least 25 times. The Bible explicitly and consistently teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death. We have all sinned against God: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). The just punishment for sin is death: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

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Since all our sin is ultimately against God, and since God is infinitely holy, the punishment for sin must also be infinite. Eternal hell—the second death—is the penalty we have earned because of our sin. 

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This reality of hell was taught by Jesus. His warnings about hell are clear in passages such as Matthew 5:22: “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

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Mark 9:47–48: “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’”

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And Luke 12:5: “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

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The Bible is a book of Truth. We can’t simply accept the parts we like, while rejecting those that scare us or that we don’t want to think about. If Jesus is real, and the words He spoke were true, then everything He said must be authentic and accurate.

The punishment of the wicked in hell is described in Scripture as “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23–24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place “burning sulfur” where “the smoke of . . . torment rises forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10–11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). 

 

The punishment of the wicked in hell will be as eternal as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)

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The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God. Those in hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God and the lordship of Jesus Christ, the Savior they rejected: “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

 

Regardless of whether we want to believe it or not, hell is real. Regardless of whether some priest or minister or teacher has denied it, hell is a place of torment and punishment that lasts forever and ever, with no end. Praise God that, through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for our sin, we can escape this terrible and eternal fate.

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In these pages we will learn that both heaven and hell have transitioned over the centuries. In the past, paradise (heaven) was in the Garden, then down in the earth. For the time being, hell is still deep within the earth, but heaven has relocated to the third heaven with God the Father and Jesus Christ. At the end of Revelation, hell will be located in the eternal Lake of Fire, and heaven (paradise) will be located back on the New Earth. Don’t let any of this trouble you; this is what the Bible teaches, and what God’s perfect will entails.

I hope you come to understand what the Bible says about heaven and hell; but much more than that, I hope and pray that you will repent and turn to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The gift has been given. The price has been paid. The work has been completed. All you need do is turn to Him and receive it for yourself. God doesn’t choose our eternal destiny; we do.

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May our Lord Jesus Christ be praised and honored and glorified by all that we say, all that we think, and all that we do.

H.K. Holevinsky