Heaven and Hell
A note on the audio: This lesson's audio is a sermon recording in Korean. The notes below are in English, but pressing play will play Korean speech.
Psalm 90:3-6
Our lives pass by as briefly as waking from a dream on a summer night. Whatever days remain to us will pass just as quickly.
Reflection Questions
What do you think about the emptiness of life, and about death?
God made human beings in his own image.
Genesis 1:27
This means that God placed a spirit within us.
Genesis 2:7
A person is not only a body — a spirit lives within it. The body is the house in which the spirit dwells. When the body dies, it returns to the earth, but the spirit stands before God.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
What happens when a person dies and the spirit leaves the body? Scripture is a book that prepares us for that. Some may find this uncomfortable to hear. But God's word is not only what is pleasant to hear — it is truth itself, and we need to hear it as such.
1. What Happened When Jesus Was Crucified
When Jesus was nailed to the cross, two criminals were crucified beside him, one on each side. At first they too hurled insults at him, but as the moment of death drew near, a change took place in one of them.
Luke 23:42-43
He recognized that he was a sinner and faced the fact that he would soon stand before God. He also recognized that Jesus, beside him, was without sin and was the Savior, and in the end he pleaded earnestly to be saved.
Jesus did not come to condemn people but to save them. Jesus is not ruled by death — he holds the authority to lead people into heaven.
Romans 2:16
Jesus matters profoundly when it comes to our eternal destiny after death. As death approaches, even those we love cannot go with us, and that is truer still of what lies beyond it. But Jesus is with us and saves us — not only while we live, but in death and forever after. Death is not the end; there is an eternal realm beyond it.
Hebrews 9:27
Reflection Questions
What do you think about the eternal realm after death?
2. Jesus Spoke About What Comes After Death Through the Story of the Rich Man and the Beggar
Luke 16:19-21
This story is about a rich man and a beggar. The rich man lived in luxury, and the beggar lived in misery. Whether life goes well or poorly, one day this earthly life comes to an end.
Luke 16:22
Both the beggar and the rich man died. The rich man was given a funeral, but the beggar received no funeral at all. Scripture speaks plainly about what happens after death.
Luke 16:23-24
Through this story, the lesson explains that the senses and memory of the spirit remain alive even after death. The rich man is shown suffering in the realm of the dead, begging for even a single drop of water, and not even that is granted him. The lesson records this as words Jesus himself spoke.
Matthew 25:41 · Mark 9:49
Reflection Questions
How does Scripture describe hell?
The lesson explains that hell is an eternal place, and that God does not want anyone to go there. But it explains that if a person rejects God, sins in secret, and does not repent even when given the chance, that person will stand before God's judgment seat on the day physical death comes. The lesson says that Jesus bore the cross so that people could turn from sin and become people who go to heaven, and that this is the love of God.
John 3:16-17
What we must do is repent and believe in Jesus.
3. Why Does Scripture Have So Much to Say About Blood?
In the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, the blood of sheep and goats was sprinkled, and in the New Testament, Jesus shed his blood on the cross. The lesson presents Scripture as a story about blood.
Leviticus 17:11
Matthew 26:28
Reflection Questions
What does blood accomplish? What does the blood of Jesus accomplish? Research this question as thoroughly as you can before writing your answer.
Romans 3:24
Ephesians 1:7
Reflection Questions
What does redemption mean?
Reflection Questions
What does justification mean?
Reflection Questions
What do grace and "freely" mean?
2 Corinthians 5:1
Heaven is real. When this earthly life ends, we leave this house of the body behind. If we have been saved, we enter the eternal home in heaven that God has built, and that home is where we truly belong.
Believing in Jesus is life itself. Jesus matters profoundly when it comes to our eternal destiny. We must live believing in Jesus, loving him, and following his word. There will be times when we grow weak, waver, and fail, but the lesson says that those who are saved get up again by holding on to the cross. Jesus is merciful, and the lesson urges us, when our life's journey is finished, to enter heaven through the blood of Jesus.
Reflection Questions
Do you want to go to heaven? The lesson explains that going to heaven means believing in Jesus, depending on him, and following his word. What part of this is difficult for you?