Are You Going to Heaven?
Where have
they gone?
Where are all the spiritual giants of the Bible
people such as
Enoch, Elijah, David, Daniel, Sarah and Moses?
These people fearlessly obeyed God in the face of
persecution and even martyrdom. Surely all these
individuals went to some kind of eternal reward
when they died, didn't they?
The answer is no -
Jesus Himself
plainly said “No one has ascended to heaven but He who
came down from heaven”(John 3-
Much later, the apostle Paul, writing about the Old Testament heroes of faith, confirmed, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises" (Hebrews 11:13). So when and how will the great people of God receive their reward? What about you? What hope do you have of life after death? How will you receive your reward? Only through a resurrection from the dead! Without a resurrection, there is no hope for anyone. Yet the Bible reveals that, eventually, everyone who ever lived will be resurrected from death to life.
Jesus had to straighten out the
Sadducees, who taught there was
no resurrection. He said: "But
concerning the resurrection of
the dead, have you not read what
was spoken to you by God, saying,
`I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living" (Matthew
22:31-
The same holds true for David. After Jesus' own resurrection, Peter said, "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried." A bit later Peter said, "David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34). Does David have no hope to be alive again? Yes, he absolutely does. He will also come back to life in a resurrection.
The prophet Jeremiah, under
inspiration of God, wrote of a yet
future time called the "latter
days." In those days, God
promises, "And David their
king ...
I will raise up for them"
(Jeremiah 30:8-
So David, now dead, will come
up out of the grave in the future.
And so will every true Christian
who has been called by God
throughout the ages. Every such
Christian must remain dead until
a certain event occurs -
The fate
of all humans
Paul said, "It is appointed for men to die once"
(Hebrews 9:27). That is the fate of every human
-
I Corinthians 15, sometimes called the
resurrection chapter, explains how this process
works for a true Christian and when it
will occur.
Beginning in verse 35, Paul addressed the kind of
body a resurrected saint would have. Paul
made it clear that it would be a
kind of body that was no longer
subject to death. Since flesh and blood cannot enter the
Kingdom of God, humans would have to be
given immortal, spirit bodies. Paul summed up
this teaching in these words: "Behold, I tell
you a mystery: We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all
be changed -
God's master plan
For the moment, let's backtrack to put
the resurrection into
its proper historical perspective. For the
last 6,000 years God and Jesus Christ have been
working out their supreme plan for
humanity, a plan conceived "before
the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4).
Part of that plan called for God
to choose a very few individuals
during these 6,000 years for
specific responsibilities. These
persons had to be powered by God, through His
spirit, for special callings.
Noah had to build an ark by
faith. Abraham had to leave his
homeland. Moses had to lead the
children of Israel out of Egypt
and give them God's law. The
prophets had to foretell future
events. True Christians now are
called to deliver God's final warning
message to the world before the return of Christ.
Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for sin as
the perfect sacrifice. Then He was resurrected
from the dead as
the firstborn of
those who would, in their time,
also be resurrected.
For the last nearly 2,000 years Jesus has been in heaven, seated on the right hand of God the Father, serving as the High Priest of those God has called into His Church (Hebrews 1:13, 4:14). This group of people is to be resurrected at Christ's Second Coming.
Held in trust
Jesus said to His disciples: "I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself; that where
I am, there you may be also"
(John 14:2-
Jesus is preparing "places" or positions of responsibility for every true Christian. Notice that these positions include being where Christ is at His coming. For any true Christian who has died, his or her reward has already been prepared but not presented. Even though that person is now dead, resurrection is sure. And that person's reward is reserved and protected by Jesus, who is in heaven. That's why Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12). Notice when Jesus said that reward will be meted out. The answer is found in the Bible's closing chapter: "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work" (Revelation 22:12).
In Matthew 25, Jesus described what would take place at His Second Coming: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him ... Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world' (verses 31:34).
For God's true people, the resurrection to eternal life and the receipt of positions of responsibility occur at Christ's return. This will be the Kingdom of heaven simply because that's where it originates. It is to be distinguished from the "kingdoms of this world" (Revelation 11:15), which God's heavenly kingdom will supplant. That's why Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). His Kingdom is of heaven.
Reserved in heaven
Think of it this way: You tell a friend that you
will buy him dinner at an expensive restaurant
of your choice.
You reserve a table for the two of you in your
name for a certain hour. It's the "table of Mr.
Jones," if that's your name. At
this table, held
in your
name, is where the free
dinner will be dispensed.
Your friend cannot receive this gift until the time of
the reservation. And he must wait until you
come to the restaurant at which
time and place you will meet
him. Your table will then also
become his table, because he is to
share in the meal. That's
the same way with the reward of the saved. It is reserved for them and will be
dispensed by Christ at a certain future time at
a designated location. The time happens to be
the Second Coming. The location where the reward
will be given happens to be planet earth.
Right now, our eternal "inheritance"
is "reserved in heaven" (I Peter
1:4).
The true Christian's citizenship
as a member of the Kingdom of God is held in
trust even while that person may now be dead and
buried (Philippians 3:20-
Neither group will receive that citizenship
until Christ returns and changes physical bodies
into spiritual ones.
Resurrection in "last days"
Daniel described the last days and the first resurrection in these words:"At
that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the
sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall
be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life" (Daniel
12:1-
This is the time Paul forward to when he said, "There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (II Timothy 4:8).
Events of resurrection
day
Let's now take a closer look at the specific event of the resurrection of the
dead to occur at the very time of Christ's coming.
The final conversation between Jesus and the disciples is recorded in Acts 1. The disciples asked Jesus when He would "restore the kingdom to Israel" (verse 6). They were really asking, "When are You coming the second time?" Jesus didn't give them a specific answer, saying, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority" (verse 7). Now, more than 1,900 years later, that event is still in the future. As Jesus departed out of their sight, an angel asked the disciples: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven" (verse 11).
Paul later gave the Thessalonians more details about the
resurrection of the dead in relationship to Christ's Second Coming: "We who are
alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who
are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with
the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:15-
True Christians who are alive when Christ returns will
be changed to spirit "in the twinkling of an eye" (I Corinthians 15:51-
No higher than a cloud
Both groups will ascend together as high as the clouds while Christ descends
from heaven. From this moment on the resurrected saints will be wherever Christ
is. But where is that? Will everyone then go to heaven with Christ? Jude
wrote, quoting a prophecy of Enoch, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands
of His saints, to execute judgment on all" (Jude 14-
The prophet Zechariah filled
in other important details about
the return of Christ: "Behold, the
day of the Lord is coming ...
For I will gather all
the nations to battle against Jerusalem
... Then
the Lord will go forth and fight
against those nations, as He
fights in the day of battle. And in
that day His feet will stand on
the Mount of Olives, which faces
Jerusalem on the east. And the
Mount of Olives shall be split in
two" (Zechariah 14:1-
The saints will remain on earth
with Christ and assist Him in the
formation of a new government
that will bring peace and happiness
to humanity. At the resurrection, the saints
will receive a "crown of life" (Revelation
2:10). Christ will give them
"power over the nations" (verse
26). The Kingdom
of God will at last be set up on earth! Numerous
Bible prophecies tell what it will
then be like for 1,000 years, during
the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-
But what about all those who lived through the ages but were not called by God to be in the first resurrection? What is the fate of the rest of humanity?
The rest of the dead
Revelation 20:5 tells us the fate of all those
who died without having been called to the
truth: "But the rest of the dead did not
live again until the thousand
years were finished." In verses 11 and 12, John
gives us additional details about a period
God's Church refers to as the Great White Throne
Judgment. In a vision, he saw "the
dead, small and great, standing
before God ...
And the dead were
judged according to their works." Christ
and the saints will ultimately extend their
government and ministry to every human who
has ever lived. All these dead humans
will be resurrected back to physical life so
that they, too, can learn to trust and obey God.
Then they, too, will be changed
into immortal spirit.
Finally, at the end of this period of time, "Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (verse 15). This is the second death, from which there is no resurrection (verse 14). During all this time the resurrected saints will rule under Christ, administering justice and assistance to humans on earth. But what happens when that work is finished? Will Christ then return to heaven with the saints?
The end is the beginning
No, Christ will not return to heaven. When the
work of offering salvation to all humanity is
complete, that will only be the
beginning!
Consider this analogy: After four years of
schoolwork, college students attend a "commencement"
exercise and graduate. But their lives are not
over upon graduation. Rather, their work is just
beginning -
God promises His saints. "To
him who overcomes I will give to
eat from the tree of life, which is
in the midst of the Paradise of
God" (Revelation 2:7).
What is this Paradise?
It is explained by the stupendous
events recorded in Revelation 21 and 22. John
saw, in vision, "the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband."
Then John heard a loud voice
saying, "Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them, and they shall
be His people, and God Himself
will be with them and be their
God" (Revelation 21:2-
Did you catch that? Christ is
not going to heaven. The immortal
saints are not going to heaven. God the Father
Himself is coming to earth -
Home base: earth
God will dwell on earth. He will then say,
"Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5)
Yes, there will be new works,
exciting projects, indescribable vistas of which we now
know almost nothing.
No one will be going to
heaven. Heaven is actually coming
to earth. Earth is destined to become the center
of all activity in the universe. Productive,
eternal life emanating from an earth
based headquarters is the reward
of the saved.
There isn't a single scripture in the entirety of the
Bible that says Christians go to heaven when
they die -