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newton3003
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The Bible tells us that if we have been judged as being righteous, we will go to Heaven. The Old Testament in Psalm 23 tells us we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Psalm 139:8 says, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there!...” (Some have argued that this is an exaggeration in that nobody goes to Heaven on their own undertaking. But this passage acknowledges that Heaven exists for us.) Jesus in John 14:2 says, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
But if we are judged worthy enough, when do we go to Heaven? Is it just after we die in the flesh as Jesus went to Heaven, or do we have to wait until some time in the future? Daniel 12:1-3 says that at a time in the future, we will be delivered, “everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life…” Seems that we don’t go to Heaven just after we die.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 distinguishes between those who died before, and those who are alive when God decides to pull up all the righteous into Heaven. That passage says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then WE WHO ARE ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
So, it appears that at a future date we will go to Heaven, with those having passed away first to be the first to go, followed by those who are alive at the time of God’s appearance. As the passage infers, in the meantime those who have passed away will be sleeping until the time comes.
But a little confusion if thrown in by Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12: 13-21. There, Jesus tells of a rich man who stores things up for himself and who plans to “eat, drink and be merry” for many years thereafter. But God says to him that He is summoning his soul now. This parable was told thousands of years ago, and we know that God didn’t raise up those who were left then. What to make of that?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” But as Ezekiel 18:4 says, “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die,” so, not all souls go to Heaven, even though all souls belong to God. A distinction is made between the soul and the spirit within the soul, as if God lends the spirit to the soul. So it seems that the spirit can return anytime, but there is still some confusion as to when the soul can return.
I think that if it’s true that the soul only returns at a certain time in the future, Jesus would have worded his Parable differently. He could have said, for instance, something like, ‘After the rich man laid up his belongings for future enjoyment, God called on him saying, “Fool, I am taking back your SPIRIT now, and your soul will sleep in the ground until the time comes when I make my Kingdom known to whoever is left.”’ But Jesus in his Parable says that God summons the rich man’s soul right then and there. Does Jesus know something that his disciples with the Thessalonians didn’t? Did Jesus know something that Daniel didn’t know or share? Or did Jesus’ Parable get lost in the translation, so perhaps he did say that God told the rich man that his SPIRIT was being summoned?
Apparently, considering what 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, there is Scripture and there is Scripture. So which Scripture do we go by? Until that is resolved, perhaps, we really don’t know when we become bona-fide residents in Heaven.
But if we are judged worthy enough, when do we go to Heaven? Is it just after we die in the flesh as Jesus went to Heaven, or do we have to wait until some time in the future? Daniel 12:1-3 says that at a time in the future, we will be delivered, “everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life…” Seems that we don’t go to Heaven just after we die.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 distinguishes between those who died before, and those who are alive when God decides to pull up all the righteous into Heaven. That passage says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then WE WHO ARE ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
So, it appears that at a future date we will go to Heaven, with those having passed away first to be the first to go, followed by those who are alive at the time of God’s appearance. As the passage infers, in the meantime those who have passed away will be sleeping until the time comes.
But a little confusion if thrown in by Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12: 13-21. There, Jesus tells of a rich man who stores things up for himself and who plans to “eat, drink and be merry” for many years thereafter. But God says to him that He is summoning his soul now. This parable was told thousands of years ago, and we know that God didn’t raise up those who were left then. What to make of that?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” But as Ezekiel 18:4 says, “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die,” so, not all souls go to Heaven, even though all souls belong to God. A distinction is made between the soul and the spirit within the soul, as if God lends the spirit to the soul. So it seems that the spirit can return anytime, but there is still some confusion as to when the soul can return.
I think that if it’s true that the soul only returns at a certain time in the future, Jesus would have worded his Parable differently. He could have said, for instance, something like, ‘After the rich man laid up his belongings for future enjoyment, God called on him saying, “Fool, I am taking back your SPIRIT now, and your soul will sleep in the ground until the time comes when I make my Kingdom known to whoever is left.”’ But Jesus in his Parable says that God summons the rich man’s soul right then and there. Does Jesus know something that his disciples with the Thessalonians didn’t? Did Jesus know something that Daniel didn’t know or share? Or did Jesus’ Parable get lost in the translation, so perhaps he did say that God told the rich man that his SPIRIT was being summoned?
Apparently, considering what 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, there is Scripture and there is Scripture. So which Scripture do we go by? Until that is resolved, perhaps, we really don’t know when we become bona-fide residents in Heaven.