Hi all,
I am new here, so if you have gone over this subject before, forgive me. I am currently doing another study on Heaven. I have heard two schools of thought about when we go to heaven: The moment we die, out soul goes to heaven and when we die, we stay in the grave until Christ returns to earth for the second coming. I would love to know what you all think.
Bridget
In the Old Testament the saints slept until Jesus came.
When Jesus came,and shed His blood,the Old Testament saints sins were completely washed away,and they rose to be with Jesus.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,which all people who die in the Lord go to be with Him(2 Corinthians 5:8;Revelation 6:9-11).
This current heaven has been tainted with sin by Lucifer,and the fallen angels,and the earth by people,so they will pass away one day,in which the heavens will melt with fervent heat,and the earth shall be burned up,and all that is therein,for all sin must be purged with fire(2 Peter 3:10).
God said that He will create a new heaven,and a new earth,which Jesus said He went to prepare a place for the saints,that where He is the saints may be there also,and the former earth shall not be remembered,or come to mind(Isaiah 65:17,John 14:1-3).
The new earth,the New Jerusalem,shall be a place where sin has never been,and sin will never be(2 Peter 3:13),and the angels,and saints,will remember nothing prior to the New Jerusalem,for it is associated with sin,and rebellion,and the angels,and saints,will feel like they have always been there,and nowhere else(Revelation 21:1-5).
Sin,and rebellion,will never come up again,and the angels,and saints,to never have choice again,but they are not robots,but they made the choice to do the will of God while they had choice,so they never have to face that again,and all they will know is what is of God,and the flesh is gone,so there is no ways of the flesh,and in the flesh dwells no good thing(Roman 7:18).
The saints prior to the being at the New Jerusalem will receive a glorified body,and they will be soul in a glorified body,like God's glorified body(1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
People are soul,spirit,flesh,and all spirits go back to God who gave them regardless if they followed God,or not(Ecclesiastes 12:7),so the saints will not have the spirit in heaven,and they will put off the flesh for in the flesh there dwells no good thing,so they will not have the flesh in heaven.
The saints will be their soul in a glorified body,for it is the soul that lives forever.
Jesus is God manifest in the flesh(1 Timothy 3:16),which means God manifest all His attributes to the man Christ Jesus(John 1:1;14;18,John 3:34,Colossians 2:8-9,Colossians 1:18-19),and the Spirit in Christ is still connected to the omnipresent Spirit of God,for God cannot be separated,and the man Christ Jesus is the personal human body of God,which God laid down His life for the saints(1 John 3:16),and purchased the Church with His own blood(Acts 20:28).
God glorified that body,and will sit on the throne in the New Jerusalem,which is the throne of God and the Lamb,God in the glorified body of the man Christ Jesus,and God will shine through the man Christ Jesus,and light the New Jerusalem,for the Lamb is the light thereof(Revelation 22:3-5:Revelation 21:22-23).
The saints will have glorified bodies like God's glorified body,and will have a higher position in heaven than the angels,for angels are the last in the authority structure of God on earth(1 Corinthians 11:10),and they are ministering spirits sent to minister to all who shall inherit salvation(Hebrews 1:13-14),and the angels desire to look in to the salvation of the saints(1 Peter 1:12).
This present earth,and heaven,will pass away one day,and those who die in the Lord will be with Him right now,and the final destination of the saints will be the New Jerusalem,a new heaven,and earth,where they will have glorified bodies,like the man Christ Jesus' glorified body.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
The man Christ Jesus prayed that the saints could have the same glory that He had at the beginning,and be where He will be,and behold His glory,which is for the saints to receive eternal life,a glorified body,and behold Jesus' glory as He sits on the throne in the New Jerusalem.
God calls things that have not happened yet,as though they already happened,for if it is a plan of God to happen in the future,it is the same as if it happened in the beginning,for it will surely come to pass with no hindrance,like the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world,and the prophets blood slain from the foundation of the world,and all the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
So the man Christ Jesus can have that glory in the beginning before He actually received it,and the Father can love Him before He is actually born,for God calls things that have not happened yet,as though they already happened.