ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 329
Hell and purgatory
“Nothing impure” will ever
enter New Jerusalem, nor
“anyone who does what
is shameful or deceitful”
(Revelation 21:27), which
raises questions about the
fates of the people who are
excluded. Images of tortuous
destruction by fire are often
associated with hell. In
Revelation 21:8, God warns
that evildoers will be put in
“the fiery lake of burning
sulphur” and will suffer “the
second death.” The description
of hell is another example of
apocalyptic language and
serves as a warning about
being separated from God for
eternity. Roman Catholics
also affirm belief in purgatory,
a place where God’s people
are purged of remaining
sin through refining fire
(1 Corinthians 3:11–15). By
the Middle Ages, purgatory
was believed to be a physical
place where people were held
after death to be made pure
before entering Heaven.He himself is raised from the
grave to a new life. Christian logic
sees a correlation between Jesus’s
resurrection and ours. Jesus is
resurrected because He has
defeated sin and death, and the
grave could not hold Him. Jesus
has ascended to heaven and is
waiting for the moment when the
present creation has “passed away”
and God’s new creation is revealed.
Jesus is described by Paul
the Apostle as the “first fruits
of those who have fallen asleep”
(1 Corinthians 15:20). The words
“first fruits” and “fallen asleep”
are believed to indicate that what
happened to Jesus will happen
to those who die in faith, “that
God will bring with Jesus those
who have fallen asleep in Him”
(1 Thessalonians 4:14). At the new
creation, Christians believe that
they, too, will share a new life as all
things return to their original
purpose of worshipping and service
to God in a relationship of love.Heaven on Earth
For centuries, an image of the
afterlife as a vague, heavenly realm
where people float around playing
angelic harps has captured popular
imagination. The eschatology of
the Bible has little to do with thisidea. Christians look forward to the
coming of heaven on Earth. This
means that every part of the world
we know will be transformed by
the rule of Jesus, the King of the
City of Peace, the New Jerusalem.
Evil will have been destroyed, the
old will disappear to be replaced
by the new, providing a fresh
start for all who believe. At death,
Christians who have “fallen asleep,”
secure in God’s presence, await
resurrection in the new creation.
Christian eschatology reaches a
grand finale: at some unspecified
moment, a sumptuous wedding
feast will celebrate the marriage
between heaven and Earth, God’s
home and ours.
However, eschatology, “the last
things,” is not only found in the
future in the Bible. Another strong
theme in the New Testament is
that Jesus brings some of God’s
future into the present. His core
message is, “The kingdom of God
has come near. Repent and believe
the good news!” (Mark 1:15). By
placing all their trust in Jesus,
Christians bring that kingdom into
their lives. The “last things” begin
now—through their prayers and
deeds, empowered by God’s Holy
Spirit—and continue forever. ■Freed from purgatory, souls are
welcomed by the Virgin Mary, God
the Father, His Son, and the Holy
Ghost (as a dove) in a 19th-century
print by François Georgin.Creation itself will
be liberated ... and
brought into the
freedom and glory of
the children of God.
Romans 8:21The perishable must
clothe itself with the
imperishable, and the
mortal with immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:53US_322-329_The_New_Jerusalem.indd 329 27/09/17 2:54 pm