“There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen; and every day he lived a life of joy and splendor. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores. And he longed to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs came and licked his sores. In time, the poor man died; and he was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom.

The rich man also died, and they buried him. While he was in Hades, in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off, with Lazarus in his bosom, and he cried out: “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in great torment in this flame.” “Son,” Abraham replied, “remember that during your life you received your good things, and Lazarus received the bad; now here, he is comforted, and you are tormented. Besides all this, there is a great chasm between us and you, so that those who might wish to cross from here to you or from there to us cannot.” The rich man said, “I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house; for I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them about these things, lest they also come to this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.” “No, Father Abraham,” he said, “but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” And Abraham replied to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not believe even if someone were to rise from the dead.”^[1]

Although people have many opinions about what happens to us after the end of our lives, everything points to the fact that we have a Creator who made us in His image. God breathed of His Spirit into human beings and made us eternal beings. We will live forever; we will exist for all eternity after this life ends. God has given us His Word, in which He has revealed His eternal truth through the sixty-six books written by sixty different authors. These authors lived in different periods and all spread God’s truth.

This parable begins with the words, “There was a rich man,” indicating that the Lord Jesus was recounting a real event. He even mentions the name of the poor man who ended up in Abraham’s bosom. If we want our names to matter, we must be in a good relationship with God. This parable is about heaven and hell. People question the existence of eternal life. All the words spoken in this parable are worthy of belief because the Lord Jesus Himself speaks them. Jesus has existed from eternity; He existed before the creation of the earth, and He came down from heaven to show us the way to Him: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him; and without Him nothing was made that has been made.”^[2] All of God’s creation in heaven gives glory to the Father and the Son.

There is good and there is evil; there is life and there is death; there is heaven and there is hell. Right now, millions of souls are groaning in torment in hell. If anyone could escape from there and were given one more chance, that soul would repent immediately, because what matters is eternity. Our life is fleeting. “For what is your life? You are but a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”^[3]

Hell was created by God as a place of punishment for the devil and the fallen angels. Then He will say to those on His left: “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!”^[4] God wants all people to be saved; all who end up in hell suffer the consequences of rejecting God’s love. Because of people’s stubbornness, they end up in that dreadful place of torment. The devil desires to draw humanity into hell in order to grieve the heart of God, who is full of love for people—so full of love that He sacrificed His only beloved Son for the redemption of our souls.^[5] It is a battle between the evil one and God for our souls. The devil lures people through sin and the desires of this world, but depending on the choices we make in this life, we determine our eternal destiny.

The torments suffered by the souls who end up in hell are very much like physical pain, only they are of a much greater intensity. The rich man states that he is being terribly tormented in the flames of fire. In the book of Revelation, we read the following words that confirm the rich man’s end: “Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before the throne. Some books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in those books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it; Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. Each was judged according to his deeds. And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”^[6] The dead will receive a body that will be tormented eternally.

God must be sought for who He is. Through sin we have rebelled against Him, and if we do not be reconciled to Him during this brief time we live on earth, we will end up in that place of eternal torment. God knows every day of our lives even before we are born, and with each passing day we draw ever closer to eternity. God has given us His written Word to guide us toward heaven, where we find everything we need to do so that we do not end up in hell but may live an eternity in the glorious presence of the Lord God.

Hell is a place of torment of the conscience, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched,”^[7] a place that brings to mind all the moments when God offered a chance at salvation, and this thought will gnaw at the soul that has ended up in hell.

Hell is a place of terrible torment where those who end up there can see the glory into which the saved souls enter: “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves cast out.”^[8] We are the ones who decide our own fate; we must not put off the decision to go to heaven rather than hell, because we do not know how many days we have left on earth.

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen; and every day he lived a life of revelry and splendor.” This was the rich man’s way of life, which prevented him from thinking about eternity and the way he was squandering his life by indulging in every pleasure. He used all his material possessions to support himself, to keep himself busy managing his wealth, and to entertain himself. But death comes to both the rich and the poor. Everyone will be judged according to how they lived their lives. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or evil.”^[9]

Hell is a place of unceasing weeping, a weeping of pain and suffering. The earth is called in Scripture “the Valley of Tears,” but our weeping must be due to the sins we have committed. “Why should a man weep while he lives? Let each one rather weep over his own sins! Let us take heed to our ways, examine them, and turn back to the Lord.”^[10] The rich man wanted his four brothers who were still alive on earth to be saved; he knew that their only chance to be saved from that eternal torment was to repent: “but if someone from the dead were to go to them, they would repent.”^[11] All who have rejected the call of the Lord Jesus, all who continue to live in sin and for themselves, will receive the reward for their deeds. The Lord Jesus wept for us, but we, in turn, must also mourn over our sins and our shame.

The punishment for sin is eternal. Those who call themselves Christians and blaspheme the Lord through a life of sin will be severely punished, as Scripture says: “How much more severe a punishment do you think will be meted out to the one who tramples underfoot the Son of God, defiles the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace?”^[12] “Their punishment will be eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”^[13] The most tragic aspect of hell is that it has no end.

Heaven is prepared for all who have repented of their sins on earth and have answered God’s call to repentance. Heaven is a place of eternal happiness in God’s presence; there will be no more sin, no more temptation, but all things will be made new: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice coming from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with people! He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them. He will be their God.”^[14] His presence will drive away from that place all past memories, all anxiety, all weeping, and all our sins.

In heaven there will be no more suffering or pain, and “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death will be no more. There will be no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”^[15] Nothing unclean will enter heaven, for if God were to allow such a thing, heaven would become hell: “Nothing unclean will enter it (the kingdom of God), nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood; but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”^[16]

Most of the time, we are tempted to seek God when we are in trouble or facing problems, but that is not the right motivation. We must seek God so that He may wash us clean of all impurity, cleanse us from our sins, and clothe us in pure garments worthy of His kingdom. Our task as Christians is to proclaim salvation to all people, so that no one will end up in that place of torment; if we are truly Christians, we will seek out lost souls and care about the state of their souls.

^[1] Luke 16:19–31.

^[2] John 1:1–3.

^[3] James 4:14.

^[4] Matthew 25:41.

^[5] John 3:16.

^[6] Revelation 20:11–15.

^[7] Mark 9:44.

^[8] Luke 13:28.

^[9] 2 Corinthians 5:10.

^[10] Lamentations 3:39, 40.

^[11] Luke 16:30.

^[12] Hebrews 10:29.

^[13] 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

^[14] Revelation 21:1, 2, 3.

^[15] Revelation 21:4.

^[16] Revelation 21:27.