I used the term “what I know” rather than “what I believe”. To me this is an important distinction. “I believe” implies that I have studied, processed the information, and come to some conclusion that feels “comfortable” to me. Almost like some theory that has not been proven but seems to fit the world as I believe it is. (Okay, okay. I’m an engineer, what do you expect? There is little gray in my thinking, I think in black and white.) Since I know that the Bible’s scripture is truly the word of God then I take God’s word from scripture as truth. After all, if God says it is this and that then who in the heck am I to question it. God knows everything, right?
When I first began my Bible studies I focused on understanding who God is, what He thinks, and what He wants from us and for us. Basically, building a relationship with God.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 --- Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD.
Once I was diagnosed with cancer my focus shifted a bit. Oh, I still work toward understanding and knowing God, but as you might expect, I began turning my attention to what follows this earthly life, how the transition is made to the spiritual life, and what the spiritual life is like. Maybe I need to back up a bit here. There is a spirit world. In the book of Daniel there is a clear reference to the spirit world and a glimpse of what goes on there. (Daniel 10:1-20) What is revealed to Daniel by the Archangel is not the peace and tranquility of Heaven but rather a reference to the battle between good and evil. Of course, that does not mean that is all that goes on in Heaven, but that is what is revealed in this instance.
Where or how this Spirit world exist along side the Earthly world I have not a clue, but it is there. Somewhere in this Spirit world is what we have traditionally called “Heaven”. God, Jesus, the Archangels and angels exist in this Spirit World (as does Satan and his demon angels). God has crossed over to the Earthly world. Archangels have crossed over to the Earthly world. But Jesus Christ, the only perfect man, is the only person in “uncorrupted” human form to cross over from the Earthly world to the Spirit world, so far.
It seems as though the popular belief is that a person dies and, if found worthy, immediately passes into the spirit world (heaven) where he or she spends eternity with God in a joyous and peaceful existence. Meanwhile, life goes on as normal in the Earthly world with the person who has passed looking down upon the rest of us. Sounds great. But there is nothing in the Bible that suggests this.
Unfortunately, there is not one place in the Bible to go to in order to get a clear understanding of death and resurrection. Verses are scattered around both the Old and New Testament that refer to death and resurrection that beg to be pieced together into one coherent explanation. Fortunately we have the Internet at our disposal where many folks have pieced the thread of verses together for us. I have shamelessly compiled the following versus from others’ labors (thank you for your work).
What God Tells Us About Death, Resurrection and Eternal Life
A Peaceful Sleep, No Sense Of The Passage Of Time
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5 RSV)
"For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again." (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 RSV)
"Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.... For David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29,34 RSV)
"No one has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven, the Son of man." (John 3:13 RSV)
The Millennial Kingdom and Later The Resurrection (White Throne Judgment)
"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 RSV)
"We shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, ... and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. ... For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
"Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" (Isaiah 26:19 RSV)
"But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning 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 the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, 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, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with The Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 RSV)
"Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6 RSV)
"for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:28-29 RSV)
"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2 RSV)
"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15 RSV)
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:4)
Okay, let me try to summarize what God is telling us.
- Dead is dead. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.
- The dead have no memory, no thoughts, and no activity. Just a long, peaceful sleep.
- Time stops for the dead.
- There is a seven-year period of tribulation where the Anti-Christ rules over the earth and many Christians are martyred for not worshipping the Beast. During this period many non-believers will find Christ and accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
- After the tribulation, the martyred Christians and those Christians still alive at the time who survived the tribulation will enjoy the Millennial Kingdom on earth with Jesus as their king. This is a period of peace and tranquility on this earth.
- After the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth the final battle between good and evil will occur and Jesus will defeat Satan (Armageddon) once and for all.
- After the battle Earth as we know it will end and all of the dead, since the beginning of time, will rise for the final “White Throne Judgment”.
- The final judgment will separate those who are worthy to enter God’s kingdom from those who are not (sheep and goats).
- Those found worthy will be resurrected and join God in Heaven and those who are not found worthy, well, they won’t.
We have all experienced deep sleep. Our head hits the pillow and the next thing we know it is morning. It seems like an instant while indeed it was hours. Figuratively, time stopped for a period of time. Those hours of sleep appeared to pass in an instant. So it will be when we die. We will fall into a deep, restful sleep and then awake for the Great White Throne Judgment. Every person since Adam and Eve who have died are right now in a deep sleep, unaware of the passing of time. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, the Apostles, everyone. Suddenly, when the time comes for the White Throne Judgment, they will all awaken without the sense that time has passed. One moment they are alive and the next they are looking Jesus in the eye, being judged as either a sheep (worthy of Heaven), or a goat (not worthy of Heaven). It seems like an instant to them but in fact many years have passed. Pretty neat. I look forward to looking into the face of Christ in what will appear to me to be the instant I die.
What is the Rapture?
There are many Christians who believe that, just before the seven years of Tribulation, all true Christians will be carried off into heaven with God so as not have to experience the agony of the Anti-Christ’s reign on Earth. Those “Left Behind” will, during the Tribulation, be forced to either worship the Anti-Christ or accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Those who make the conversion to Christ during the Tribulation, as well as those Christians already raptured prior to the Tribulation will join Christ during His reign in the Millennial Kingdom. I have searched the Bible looking for God’s word about a rapture and can find nothing that suggests that a rapture will occur. Many Theologians who are much smarter than me conclude that scripture supports a rapture. I find it hard to agree. Maybe, maybe not.
The Millennial Kingdom
The Millennial Kingdom will be really neat. For a thousand years Satan and his demons will be locked up, unable to influence those in the Kingdom, and Christ will reign as King over the earth. It will be a period of peace, harmony, and tranquility. Can you imagine? Think of all of the chaos around the world today. Think of dirty politics, crime, injustice, deceiving, immorality, and wars. These will not exist in Christ’s Kingdom on earth. I would love to live long enough to experience the Tribulation and either survive it or be martyred so that I could experience Christ’s reign on earth for a thousand years. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful time to be alive? Since no one knows when it will occur perhaps I will be able to experience it. Who knows, maybe tomorrow!
White Throne Judgment
At the end of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom Satan and his angels will be let loose for a short period of time during which Armageddon will occur and Christ will defeat Satan once and for all. This is when all of the dead will instantly wake up from their timeless sleep for their final judgment. Jesus will place those who are found worthy of Heaven (the sheep) on His right side and those not found worthy (the goats) on His left. Those found worthy will inherit a place in Heaven.
Matthew 25:”31-34 -- "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
Oh how I want to be a sheep. I long to look Jesus in the eye while he tells me, “Come Paul, who is blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
Ongoing prayer: “Please Lord. Help me to live the rest of my life such that you can judge me worthy to join you in Heaven for eternity.”
My Thoughts on Eternal Life with God in Heaven
What is Heaven like? I don’t really know. There is little in the Bible about what eternal live in Heaven is like other than those there spend eternity worshipping God and doing His work. As the popular Christian song by Mercy Me goes, “I can only imagine.” Okay. Here is what I imagine. Think about what really makes you happy. Think about the jobs that you have had or the tasks that you have performed or the recreation you have enjoyed or the relationships that you have had that really brought joy to your life. Now imagine experiencing that level of joy all of the time with no distractions from the toils or disappointments in life. I imagine Heaven to be like that. I imagine that those in Heaven will be busy doing God’s work whatever that may be. Those in Heaven will be tasked with doing what they do best and what they really enjoy doing, all in the glory of God. Wow.
My Thoughts on Non-Christians Being Deemed Worthy for Eternal Life In Heaven
I know some really good people who admit to me that they simply cannot accept Christ into their lives. Not because of not wanting to, but rather because they just have a hard time believing in the whole concept of Jesus as the only begotten Son of God who was made the perfect man and who was sacrificed for our sins so that we can be justified and accepted into God’s kingdom for eternity. I mean, these are really, really good people who, in my humble opinion, would be otherwise found worthy of Heaven. Now I am not about to second guess what God tells us in the Bible, but I can’t help but think that there is some sort of loophole that will allow Jesus to judge these people worthy.
All Christians know that the only way to the Father is through our Lord Jesus Christ. When asked by his Disciples how they will know the way Jesus told them:
John 14:6-7 -- ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also.
This has always implied to us that the only way into heaven is by accepting Christ as our Savior. But is that really what he is saying? Yes He does say, “If you know me, you will know the Father also.” But he also says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Does this imply that, as long as Jesus believes that you are worthy, for whatever reasons, He will allow you to know the Father? (Okay, I am going way out on a limb here, but I can’t help but wonder. No lightening bolts yet.)
Consider this:
Deuteronomy 29:29 -- The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children for ever, to observe all the words of this law.
In this verse, God tells us that what is written in the Bible is everything we need to know in order to live a righteous earthly life and then to inherit eternal spirit life in Heaven. He is also telling us that He has secrets that we don’t need to know about. These secret things are for Him alone to know. I pray that one of these secrets things will allow Him to make room in Heaven for those Non-Christians who are really, really good people. Imagine one of these really, really good people who is not a Christian looking Jesus in the eye at the final judgment. Jesus then says, “I have known you since you were conceived in the womb. I know that you have not yet accepted me as your Lord and Savior but you lived a really, really good life. I also know that once you experience me as your Lord you will be a faithful servant and will contribute to the building up of our Heavenly Kingdom. Since I am the only judge and the way to the Father I judge you worthy. Welcome to Heaven.”
(Still no lightening bolt.)
I know. This may be a stretch. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that would support this. It is only my wishful thinking. But you know, I want to spend eternity with these really, really good people.
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