Question about heaven

[big john]

When does a person go to heaven?Is it at the moment of death,or do they sleep until jesus comes back?

[dasmybaby]

my personal belief is that If the person is saved they go immediately at death. if not saved, unfortunately, they don't go at all...

[TheKing]

yeah theres two different theories...one is immediately at the gates...the other is you lie in waiting until the rapture

but either way itll seem instantaneous to you after your death so arguing this point is really and truly moot

[dasmybaby]

yeah theres two different theories...one is immediately at the gates...the other is you lie in waiting until the rapture

but either way itll seem instantaneous to you after your death so arguing this point is really and truly moot


this is true...i really hadn't thought of it that way.

[dollfus46]

I was never clear on that either, BigJohn. I just have faith that it'll happen. I do believe the Bible says something about the Lord coming and taking the dead first. So, maybe our souls are in a special place of judgement before hand. Purgatory? I ono. Glad you axed the question though

[big john]

Thanks king,thats right ,what does it matter ? It feels instant.
ok,another question,will we have a body like jesus had when he came back from the dead? One that can feel and see and hear and touch?

[jkspatty]

One would think that the Bible would be just a tad more specific on things like this.........

[dasmybaby]

i've always heard/believed that we'd be given a "perfect body." i would assume we'd be capable of all that...

[pimpalert]

What about them people who been cremated? Ain't no rising for them that I can see.

[Conveyor Belt]

What about them people who been cremated? Ain't no rising for them that I can see.

Yeah, didn't Jesus get resurrected with the wounds in his hands? Which begs the question, if you lose a leg, will it still be gone? Jesus had the wounds to prove it was him, right?

Anyhow, BJ, I think you go there now. Where ever there is...

[dollfus46]

Yeah, didn't Jesus get resurrected with the wounds in his hands? Which begs the question, if you lose a leg, will it still be gone? Jesus had the wounds to prove it was him, right?

Anyhow, BJ, I think you go there now. Where ever there is...

Good point, CB. But we aren't Jesus and aren't coming back here. Jesus came back to prove who He was. We won't even be in these bodies anymore. The body will turn to dust. At least that's what I think. You know, we aren't meant to know it all. We are told that all will be revealed when we get to heaven;, and we have faith that will happen.

[firefly]

What does it matter if we who are saved are "asleep in Christ" or go to Heaven immediately after death? We KNOW that we're going to be with Him in Paradise. We believe in things unseen for we walk by faith & not by sight.:)

[timforjesus]

the bible specifically talks about a new heaven and a new earth.. Jesus said in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus that Lazarus went to "Abraham's Bosom" he didn't say heaven... if he went to heaven he would have said so... he was straight up about everything else... but that's just me...

[timforjesus]

Yeah, didn't Jesus get resurrected with the wounds in his hands? Which begs the question, if you lose a leg, will it still be gone? Jesus had the wounds to prove it was him, right?

Anyhow, BJ, I think you go there now. Where ever there is...

so will a blind man go to heaven blind? a lame man be lame?... Jesus bore his wounds as a reminder to us as to just how much he suffered to get us there... and because he is God and he can make those kinds of decisions...

[Pine Belt Girl]

I think that we will spiritual beings, not physical beings, in heaven. We won't be constrained by our bodies. We'll attain the ultimate awareness of God and His love and experience eternal peace and joy in the all-encompassing spiritual union we will attain with God and with our loved ones and with believers world wide and throughout time.

[bpitt]

I don't know, but I do know that I can't wait to see my grandparents again.

[Conveyor Belt]

so will a blind man go to heaven blind? a lame man be lame?... Jesus bore his wounds as a reminder to us as to just how much he suffered to get us there... and because he is God and he can make those kinds of decisions...

I donno... my grandmother came to me as she appears in pictures when she was in her late 20's. I don't know what happens when you die. I know it's something, but until we die, we don't 'KNOW' anything, we just have faith that it'll be one thing or the other.

[jayjern]

This is a tough, tough issue. I agree with TheKing, but I wanted to give what I think the Scriptural support for that position is...

Paul refers to those who are saved, yet dead as "sleeping in Christ" or as "asleep in Christ."

The passage that causes cofusion is this one:

"And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord." (2Corinthians 5:8, TLB)

That is the Living Bible translation. Here it is in the KJV:

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2Corinthians 5:8, KJV)

But, here is where this becomes difficult. Consider what Jesus said...

"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man." (John 3: 13, NASB)

Peter also said:

"For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
"SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."' (Acts 2: 24-25, NASB)

I think Paul clarifies the issue here:

"Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." (I Corinthians 15: 18-20)

Here's how I think of it. Oftentimes when I go to sleep, it seems like the next moment the alarm clock goes off, even though I slept for 8 hours. When you were a kid, how many of your parents would say, "take a nap" on a long trip. When you wake up, you've gone several hundreds of miles though it seems like, to you, that you just left.

I think our perception of eternity will be an instant transformation from this world to heaven. I believe it will be like the blink of an eye, which is why Paul could correctly say, "absent in the body, present with the Lord."

I think Doc has it right....however most Pastors believe the soul is in heaven upon death. Also the Seventh Day Adventists believe the soul stays in the grave. In 1st or 2nd Peter (I am shooting off the hip) Jesus is said to go to hell for three days...where he preached...then led those out of hell who believed....adds more to the confusion...but would seem to justify those who did not have the opportunity to know Jesus to come into heaven.

[XC9]

What about them people who been cremated? Ain't no rising for them that I can see. I believe your soul (spirit) goes on the journey home instantly as the heart ceases to beat. If you are cremated your spirit has already risen. Just my beliefs.

[timforjesus]

the body is flesh and corruption, pay no mind to what the body is like...

Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

[big john]

Ok mat 10-23 answers another question I had.I thought when you went to hell,you felt the fires of hell forever,but this says evil is destroyed.That makes sense, evil folks,satan and his demons are put out of existence. since it is punishment from god,that is why the bible says it's eternal,do I have this correct?

[EricStratton]

Some spirits have told me that the evil ones have to live in Petal for eternity....Purgatory is more like New Augusta.....

[big john]

Some spirits have told me that the evil ones have to live in Petal for eternity....Purgatory is more like New Augusta.....Now that would be waaaay too cruel and unjust!!

[kevin]

If Heaven ain't a lot like Dixie than I don't want to go! But I bet it is...