I am not sure where most people get their ideas of heaven and hell. I could have told you all about them before I was a Christian, based on the things I was told or saw on TV or in books. I wonder now where some of those ideas came from. Angels with wings, male and female, playing harps while sitting on clouds. People who have died becoming angels. The devil, clad in a red cape, with horns, tails, and pitchfork, in charge of torturing people. Very little of this has any basis in reality, but it is important to know what kind of mental image you might be creating in the minds of someone you witness to.
When they imagine heaven, most people think of a place that is inherently pleasurable, even fun or exciting. Hell is an unpleasant place, tho some imagine themselves continuing to enjoy the same sins that got them there. I think most people believe that the place matters more than the person; that any given individual would enjoy heaven and hate hell. I don't think that is accurate. While nobody will like hell, for someone who has not accepted the Gospel, heaven would be worse than hell.
Heaven is not a good place. It is a God place, describing and demonstrating all of God's attributes, and celebrating His glory. It will be a good place only so far as God is good, and everything that is good comes from God.
For someone who has not accepted the Gospel, heaven would be an endless, continuous reminder that their life was a complete waste. And not only a waste, but they will be constantly reminded that they deliberately and consciously spit in God's face every time they enjoyed His gifts to them and pretended they came instead out of their own merit. They would be constantly reminded of their own complete lack of any merit.
Hell will be the absence from all good things. Satan will not be in charge there, as he is one of the inmates. He will be much too busy suffering himself to bother anybody else. Nobody will be partying with their friends. Friendship will not exist in hell. Celebrations will not exist there, either.
Heaven is going to be heavenly because of all the heavenly people there. Freed from the flesh, we will be free to show God's spirit within ourselves in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. How could a place filled with such people be anything other than heaven?
Hell will be filled with people who rejected the influence of God, and as a result have been freed from it. It will be full of people who can't love, have no joy or peace, are impatient, etc. As if unquenchable fire wouldn't cause pain enough.
