Question:  Dear Greg,

            I have a question on Satan and his demons.  When they were cast out of heaven, where were they cast?  The earth or hell?

            Thank you,

            Sandra

Answer:  Dear Sandra,

            First, some definitions: heaven and hell are not geographical places located on any celestial map—as earth is.  So when we say heaven, hell and earth, we are comparing apples and oranges.  Earth is a place.  There is a location in the universe where earth is.

            Heaven is wherever God is—it is the presence of God.  It is eternity in God’s presence.  Hell is just the opposite.  It is where God is not.  Hell is eternity outside of God’s presence.  Thus, it is possible to have heaven on earth, and hell on earth.

            In Luke 10:18, Jesus, the second Person of the Godhead, says that he saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.  Hell is a state in which one is not in God’s presence.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht