Going To Heaven?

Funny how it seems to be unanimous among Christians and people in general that everyone they know who is deceased has “gone to heaven.” And everyone feels as though they also are “going to heaven.” Well, I would that all of the above were true, AND THEN SOME!! But the truth of the matter is that NOBODY “goes to heaven” after they die. Look for it in the Bible. It’s simply not there. Heaven is NOT the place where the redeemed of God go to after they die. This is really simplistic and it won’t take a whole lot of scriptures to show the truth of it. Jesus was not a fictional story teller and he wasn’t a dramatist either. Jesus made it very clear in the account of Lazarus and the rich man that after death the beggar went to “the bosom of Abraham,” while the rich man whose crumbs he ate from “lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torments” (Lk. 16:22,23). Jesus also said that he himself would spend “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mat. 12:40). The scriptures also tell us WHY Jesus went to the heart of the earth: “By which [the holy Ghost] also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (I Pet. 3:19,20). We are given a little more detail on that particular matter in another place: “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (I Pet. 4:6). To be certain of where it is that God’s elect DO go after death, and where Jesus went that is in the heart of the earth; we have this memorable account: “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in PARADISE” (Lk. 23:39-43). It is paradise where the righteous spirits of those whose bodies have died, go to after they leave this world. So it was also paradise where Lazarus the beggar went to after he died, and that is why he was across the divide from hell, because hell is also in the heart of the earth.

The word ‘bosom’ in the account in Luke 16, is a Greek word called ‘kolpos,’ and one of the meanings of the word is “a bay of the sea.” I don’t believe that Lazarus was sitting in Abraham’s lap when the rich man saw him, but rather that he was in a ‘bay,’ or region of paradise which Abraham presides over. Jesus did not have to literally go to the flames of hell itself to preach to the spirits of those who were there. He could preach right across the ‘gulf’ to those who were in hell, even as Abraham was able to communicate with the rich man who went to that place of torment. It is certain that Jesus did go to paradise, and he took the now famous thief on the cross with him. We should also note that paradise is a heavenly type realm, and that glory and bliss is enjoyed by those who are there. The Christian religion today teaches that ‘Christians’ go to heaven after they die, and there is another very serious problem with that mindset. The notion of ‘going to heaven’ leaves the impression that after we supposedly go to heaven, everything is set for eternity. But according to Jesus there is a literal resurrection of the dead, both for the just and for the unjust (Jn. 5:29). These two separate resurrections are a thousand years apart, with the “resurrection of life” being at the Lord’s second coming; and the “resurrection of damnation” being at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ and his saints on the earth after his coming (I Thess. 4:16,17; Rev. 20:4,5). It also is certain that the resurrection of God’s elect will be a bodily resurrection, because Jesus is “the firstfruits” of that resurrection, and we know that he raised bodily (I Cor. 15:20,23; Jn. 20:26-28). It is at the second coming of the Lord when the elect are raised, that both the dead and living who have finished their course in true holiness will be clothed with immortality and glory like Jesus was (I Cor. 15:23, 42-44, 51-53; Philip. 3:20,21; I Jn. 3:2,3). The spirits of the righteous dead will come from paradise at the Lord’s appearing and be reconciled with their bodies, and there will be an instantaneous raising and glorifying of their bodies. It is only after the thousand year reign that anyone goes to heaven, and that will only be for the great white throne judgment, where all who have ever lived will be judged and issued their allotment for eternity. The disobedient will go to the lake of fire that burns with brimstone, and the “pure in heart” will go to the new earth forevermore (I Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 20:6-15; Mat. 5:8; Rev. 21:1-4).