Is There a Key To Heaven?

Have you ever lost your keys? Imagine being outside your own house and not being able to get in because you do not have the key.
-
What if you do not have a key to heaven? Can you simply slide the locks on the pearly gates? How about just climbing over the gates? It is not that simple. Without Christ, you cannot even get close to heaven. Consider the account from Luke 16, where Jesus tells of two men who died. "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'” (Luke 16:23-26 NKJV)
-
In this parable Jesus tells us that there is a great gulf between the place of torments and the place of comfort. Even if you think of hell simply as the grave, Jesus shows us in Luke 16 that the place of the departed dead has a place of comfort and a place of torments and that there is no way to get from the one place to the other. Notice as well that the place of torments had flames.
-
As bad as this place of torments is, things will get even worse. “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14-15 NKJV)
-
Right before this we are told of the dead standing before God. This is referred to as the Great White Throne Judgment. Those who are not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire along with the place called Hades/Hell.
-
Some are not worried about this place because they figure that they can just hold out until the fire burns out. Christ makes it clear in the Gospel of Matthew that this is a foolish idea when He says, "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:41 NKJV) Notice that the fire is everlasting. Still some suggest that even if the fire is everlasting that those being punished will soon be burned up. This too is false for Jesus says, "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:46 NKJV) Notice that the punishment is everlasting. Remember the man in Luke 16 who was in the place of torments. That torment will not end. God is a merciful God but He is also a just God who must punish sin. We are all sinners and deserving of the lake of fire (see Romans 3:23 and 6:23)
-
There is some good news. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Though sin must be punished, God loved us enough to send His son Jesus Christ to take the punishment for us when He died on the cross. If we confess our sinfulness and trust in Jesus alone as we believe in Him, then we are given eternal life and written in the book of life. That means we do not have to keep track of a key to heaven. Jesus will let us in. He promised, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37) It also means if we do not believe on Him that we will face eternal damnation.