As our guide steps off the bus, we see a paradise peopled with majestic beings surrounded by towering waterfalls, staggering cliffs and mountains, and gorgeous wildlife. Far in the distance, there's an occasional glimpse of a heavenly city. But there's a catch. Blades of grass cut like knives into their feet. The water is too real to wade in or drink.
Flowers weigh more than the inhabitants of hell can lift.
Yes, their surroundings will torture them for a time, but gradually they may grow accustomed to reality. The majestic inhabitants of heaven promise the visitors that they will eventually thrive in paradise, if the visitors will be brave enough to abandon their self- worship and trust in Christ. Of all the unsaved characters we meet in this novel, only one turns from his sin and is saved. The rest respond to God's grace in arrogance and fear, providing a tragically familiar caricature of sinful attitudes. You'll see your sinful tendency played out poignantly by the calculating little man who hopes to steal golden apples from heaven, so that he can sell them in hell.