{"id":4032,"date":"2014-08-27T23:19:31","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T06:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/?page_id=4032"},"modified":"2014-12-08T07:56:04","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T15:56:04","slug":"so-what-is-heaven-and-hell-by-andre-rabe","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/andre-rabe\/so-what-is-heaven-and-hell-by-andre-rabe\/","title":{"rendered":"So What Is Heaven and Hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Is Heaven and Hell?<\/a> by Andre Rabe<\/p>\n

So many think of heaven and hell as \u2018somewhere else\u2019 and \u2018some other time\u2019, namely, the hereafter. But there is a heaven and there is a hell that starts right here and right now.<\/p>\n

When Jesus taught on prayer, He did not say: \u201cFather, help us escape from this world and go to heaven where your will is done\u201d. No! He said: \u201cYour will be done on earth as it is in heaven\u201d Mt 6:10<\/p>\n

He had a vision of heaven coming to earth. The gospel is first of all not a message of how to enter heaven, but of how God emptied heaven to enter man!<\/p>\n

The story of the lost son and his older brother is such a vivid picture of what heaven and hell is in the here and now. You can read the story in Luke 15 to get the context, I\u2019ll get straight to the point.<\/p>\n

The younger son wastes his inheritance and faces great hardship in a foreign land. He eventually comes to himself and realises that even the slaves in his father\u2019s house has a better life than he does.<\/p>\n

He starts imagining what to tell his father. During the the long journey home, he recites this story to himself. We pick up the story in verse 19: \u201cI\u2019ll say to him, Father, I\u2019ve sinned against God, I\u2019ve sinned before you; I don\u2019t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.\u2019 He got right up and went home to his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: \u2018Father, I\u2019ve sinned against God, I\u2019ve sinned before you; I don\u2019t deserve to be called your son ever again.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the father wasn\u2019t listening. He was calling to the servants, \u2018Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We\u2019re going to feast! We\u2019re going to have a wonderful time!\u201d<\/p>\n

The father had a different point of view, a different speech, a different story that included restoration and a party!<\/p>\n

Heaven begins for the younger son when he abandons his own point of view, his well recited speech, and simply flings himself into the arms of his father, accepting his point of view, his story. Heaven begins when we let go of every excuse we can think of, not to enjoy the father\u2019s embrace. Heaven begins when we let go of the guilt and go with the flow of a party that we did not deserve, but nevertheless is the desire of our father.<\/p>\n

Just let Him kiss you! Just let Him embrace you, and enjoy the party!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pick up the older brother\u2019s story from verse 25: \u201cAll this time his older son was out in the field. When the day\u2019s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, \u2018Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast\u2014barbecued beef!\u2014because he has him home safe and sound.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn\u2019t listen. The son said, \u2018Look how many years I\u2019ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHis father said, \u2018Son, you don\u2019t understand. You\u2019re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours\u2014but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he\u2019s alive! He was lost, and he\u2019s found!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The older brother also has a point of view, a perspective in which he saw himself as a diligent and hard working man, and deserving of much more than his younger brother. He does not see his father as generous towards him, or even as a fair man!<\/p>\n

As with the younger son, the father tries to persuade him of a different perspective, a different view of himself and their relationship.<\/p>\n

Hell is being with the father, yet not knowing him.<\/p>\n

Hell is being at the party, but not joining in, sulking because of the father\u2019s generosity towards the less deserving. It would have been less of a hell if it was somewhere else \u2013 the music, the smells, the joy in the air is what makes the older brother\u2019s attitude so hellish!<\/p>\n

Hell is possessing everything the father owns, but still slaving away, trying to gain what you think you don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

Hell begins when you cling to your own opinion, your own point of view, when you refuse the father\u2019s version of your story.<\/p>\n

It seems that the more focused we are on a heaven and a hell that is somewhere else and some other time, the less involved we are in bringing heaven to earth, here and now.<\/p>\n

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Here is a video where Andre unpacks further our concepts of “Heaven” and “Hell” and what Scripture has to say:<\/p>\n