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Requiem for Eleanor Rigby

God teaches us about loneliness and offers a way out

Have you ever watched a homeless person from a distance and wondered whose daughter she is? Whose sister or mom or classmate? How did she get where she is? How did she get so alone? In the sixties, the Beatles wrote a song about Eleanor Rigby, a woman who led a life of quiet desperation. We are told she “waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for?” Then the chorus: “Look at all the lonely people. Where do they all come from?”

Where do all the lonely people come from? The ultimate answer comes not from the Beatles, but from the Bible, and it is not a comfortable answer: Lonely people come from the ranks of those who choose to live apart from God.

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What is heaven like?

What is it like to be in heaven - Revelation 22

Throughout history, people have been convinced there is life beyond the grave. Jesus and the Jews of His time believed that everyone would enter the afterlife and be judged by God. Some would spend eternity with Him; others would be condemned to eternal separation. They spoke of the heavens as having several layers: the most basic was the earth’s atmosphere, the home of birds and clouds. The second was the realm of the stars in outer space. The third level transcended physical boundaries and was called paradise and the heaven of heavens–the home of God, His angels, and His people.

Inquiring minds have lots of questions about this place called paradise, but if we want to understand the nature of heaven, the first thing we must do is shed the silly images we’ve seen on television and in the movies. Heaven is not filled with remorseful people trying desperately to return to earth–it’s populated with folks having the time of their lives.

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Why did God create hell?

hell_pxby

What does the existence of hell tell us about God’s nature? Most of us have difficulty reconciling a loving God with a deity who wants to mete out eternal punishment. Those who reject the notion of hell often put it this way: “I believe in a loving God, and a loving God would never send people to hell.”

This is an important question, and when we look to the Scriptures for an answer, we find that no one wants people to go to heaven more than God does. No one wants people to avoid hell more than God does. This is the heart of the Bible message–God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it (John 3:17). In 2 Peter, we read that God’s desire is that no one would perish, and in 1 Timothy we are told that God desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. In Ezekiel 18 God asks, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their evil ways and live?”

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Will God give us a second chance after we die?

Will God give us a second chance after we die

I have often heard God described as “the God of the second chance,” and I know that to be true because of the many second chances He has given me. God has been incredibly gracious toward me and you and everyone else, so it is not surprising that many of us believe that our loving God has made arrangements for all of us to go to heaven.

Some of us are convinced that evil people are made ready for heaven in some kind of purgatory. Others believe we are in a karmic loop and are reincarnated until we get it right.

The idea behind the belief in a second chance after death is that hell is full of people saying, “If I only I knew then what I know now. I was so blind. If God gave me another chance, I would repent and do whatever He says.”