Heaven and Hell
The Kingdom of heaven is already in the midst of those who live the spiritual life. What the spiritual person knows in the Holy Spirit, in Christ and
the Church, will come with power and glory for all men to behold at the end of the ages.
The final coming of Christ will be the judgment of all men. His very presence will be the judgment. Now men can live without the love of Christ in
their lives. They can exist as if there were no God, no Christ, no Spirit, no Church, no spiritual life. At the end of the ages this will no longer be
possible. All men will have to behold the Face of Him who “for us men and our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate… who was crucified
under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried . . . ” (Nicene Creed) All will have to took at Him whom they have crucified by their sins: Him
“who was dead and is alive again.” (Revelation 1-.17-18)
For those who love the Lord, His Presence will be infinite joy, paradise and eternal life. For those who hate the Lord, the same Presence will be
infinite torture, hell and eternal death. The reality for both the saved and the damned will be exactly the same when Christ “comes in glory, and
all angels with Him,” so that “God may be all in all.” (I Corinthians 15-28) Those who have God as their “all” within this life will finally
have divine fulfillment and life. For those whose “all” is themselves and this world, the “all” of God will be their torture, their punishment
and their death. And theirs will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:21, et al.)
The Son of Man will send His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace
of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. (Matthew 13:41-43)
According to the saints, the “fire” that will consume sinners at the coming of the Kingdom of God is the same “fire” that will shine with
splendor in the saints. It is the “fire” of God’s love; the “fire” of God Himself who is Love. “For our God is a consuming fire”
(Hebrews 12:29) who “dwells in unapproachable light.” (I Timothy 6:16) For those who love God and who love all creation in Him, the “consuming
fire” of God will be radiant bliss and unspeakable delight. For those who do not love God, and who do not love at all, this same 66consuming fire”
will be the cause of their “weeping” and their “gnashing of teeth.”
Thus it is the Church’s spiritual teaching that God does not punish man by some material fire or physical torment. God simply reveals Himself in the
risen Lord Jesus in such a glorious way that no man can fail to behold His glory. It is the presence of God’s splendid glory and love that is the
scourge of those who reject its radiant power and light.
... those who find themselves in hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who
understand that they have sinned against love, undergo no greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes
hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in hell are deprived
of the love of God… But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed! (St. Isaac of Syria, Mystic Treatises)
This teaching is found in many spiritual writers and saints: St. Maximus the Confessor, the novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. At the end of the ages God’s
glorious love is revealed for all to behold in the Face of Christ. Man’s eternal destiny - heaven or hell, salvation or damnation - depends solely
on his response to this love.
edit on 15-8-2012 by TruthSeekerMike because: (no reason given)