I was raised within the culture of the Religious Western
Ideology, and there were certain subjects that were really not deeply
investigated or discussed. They were more like tangents to the faith, their
existence to be acknowledged but not debated, for they didn't strongly impact
the mission of the church. What is Heaven, what happens when we die, what is
our future after death, what happens to earth, our bodies, the existence of
hell, were all pushed into a category of issues that don't impact the church today
and its mission today... The cursory teaching was that if we have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, if he's our Lord and Savior, then when we die
we will go to Heaven and be with Him. If we don't, then we go to Hell, a place
reserved for sinners who reject Jesus. Accept it and move on. But is that
teaching accurate?
Our focus, as a Christians, should centrally be on these
very issues, for what happens eternally should directly impact how we live
temporally. We should live today to impact eternity. But first we need to
understand what the Scriptures teach about our hereafter... As a Christian I
believe in the sanctity of the Bible, but I have learned caution in accepting
the accuracy of every translation or transliteration of the Scriptures. Sometimes
it is important to go all the way back to the original writings, and dissect them
within their context to learn what is really being taught. With that said, I
have learned that my early lessons of Heaven, and Death, et al, is far from
scripturally accurate... (It is also noteworthy to add that, unlike other
religions, Christianity has an end game, a known destination, rather than
endless reincarnations or repetitions of the same fate, as taught by many Eastern religions)...As Christians, when we die I do believe we go to be with Jesus, but this is a temporal state, while we wait for the Judgment of mankind, both Christian and not. This temporal state is indeed life after death. But it is the life after life after death that should create excitement within Christians! For that is where life really begins! After the judgment we will be given new bodies; physical, glorious, and imperishable, modeled after the resurrected body of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we will be uniquely us, recognizable yet perfected, a truly physical body, not just a "spiritual" one as some teach. (It is interesting that even today, in our "perishable" bodies science says we completely change every atom and molecule in our bodies approximately every seven years- so even if you love who you are right now you'll be a completely different person in a few years! I guess people can change!). Knowing that what we do today, in these scant seventy to eighty years we're given here on this earth, will impact our lives in eternity, should give us purpose and direction today to better impact our tomorrow. But where will we live?
For years I disputed the teachings of the Latter Day Saints,
who claimed that only a select few (144,000) would go to heaven and the
remainder would live on earth. I was taught all Christians go to Heaven. It
turns out that isn't scripturally accurate. It turns out that God isn't going
to abandon this earth, His creation, any more than He will abandon me, His
creation. Instead, He is going to "make-over" this earth, making a
new earth, a perfected creation, just as we are given new and perfected bodies.
It is here, on this new earth that we will make our homes, live our eternal
lives, lives with purpose and direction, to the glory of God, our Father.
(Turns out, though there is much in the teaching of the LDS church I disagree
with, as to earth they were dead on). I don't claim to know all that the future
holds, nor do I know the "accessibility" of Heaven for us, but I do
believe we will have access to the home of the Father. But our lives will be
here, on a new and perfected earth. As such, it makes me more acutely aware of
my planet today, and how we care or don't care for it. It is important to not
just leave it better for our children, but also to care for it as my future
home. Though I believe God will "create" a new earth, I don't believe
He will destroy His old creation; rather, as previously stated, He will
"makeover" this current one. (I was tempted to include the many
scripture references to support my comments for this blog topic, but decided
against it for the sake of brevity, but you can investigate on your own in
Paul's two letters to the Corinthians, his letter to Colossus, the writings of
I John, and Revelations, to name a few).
As for those who choose to reject God, will they spend
eternity in Hell? Is there a Hell, as some dispute? Well, that's an issue for
another blog. I will simply comment this- I believe that separation from God
must be a living hell, for without Him there is no hope, no future...
Food for thought...
