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Why are we taught that we would go to heaven when the Bible says that a new earth will be created?
Revelation 14:3 says that 144,000 will be redeemed from the earth. When people say that they want to go to heaven, is it safe to assume that they are hoping to be 1 of the 144,000?
Isaiah 65:17
AMP - 17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
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Asked June 29 2013
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Anonymous
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D W
Supporter
Q: "Revelation 14:3 says that 144,000 will be redeemed from the earth. When people say that they want to go to heaven, is it safe to assume that they are hoping to be 1 of the 144,000?" A: No. The 144,000 will be Jews who minister the Truth of God's Word during the Great Tribulation. Christians will have already been caught up to meet our Lord in the Rapture of the Body of Christ. They will probably number in the millions. Q; Isaiah 65:17 New Heavens and a New Earth 17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind." A: Isaiah foretells the coming of the new heavens and earth. All things will have passed away; they will be remembered no more. In conclusion: Following the end of the Church Age, that we are now in, there will be the Rapture. Following the Rapture there will be the Great Tribulation, where there will be evil, destruction and death beyond imagination. Jesus will arrive in His Second Coming to end the Trib and to declare war on evil, in what will be known as Armageddon. Following Armageddon, a Kingdom of God on earth will be established for those Jews, known as "the remnant," who survived the Trib, to include those Jews who acknowledged Jesus as their Messiah 2,000 years ago. The latter will be resurrected and will enter their Kingdom, perhaps 3 million in number. There they will live with Jesus on the Throne of David for 1,000 years. Thereafter, there will be a New Heaven and a new earth. Remember: Christians will have already departed this earth at the Rapture. At the end of time as we know it, the occupants of the New Heaven and earth will be citizens thereof, children of our Most High God. This is a lot of information ~ ~ ~ Do a Bible study with a Pastor and teachers in a local church where the above TRUTH is taught. You may also want to visit: http://www.booksie.com/don_watson
Tim Scott
Supporter
People don't understand correctly what happens when a person dies. In another question, I addressed the issue. Death is a sleep. Psalm 13:3; When you die, your thoughts perish. Psalm 146:3-4. Jesus is the only one who can wake is from the sleep of death. John 5:28-29;1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:52-54; On the last day of the world, which is the second coming of Jesus, then will we receiver immortality. Not before. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:5)Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 9:6) Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Ecclesiastes 9:10) That's why It's so important to make sure we are in Christ before we die. This life is the probation time to see if we are fitted for heaven. When we die, our fate is sealed either for eternal life or eternal death. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? (Job 14:10) As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: (Job 14:11)So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. (Job 14:12) If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:14)His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. (Job 14:21) As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. (Job 7:9)He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. (Job 7:10) And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be. (Job 7:21) And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
James Teeple
Supporter
On the Cross with Jesus (next to him ) the repentent criminal said Lord remember me , when you GI to your Kingdom. Jesus response was verily I tell you today you will be with me in PARADISE.!! So how can we be asleep and in the ground , if Jesus took him to Paradise. "Just wondering".
Nathan Waterman
Supporter
The phrase 'died and went to heaven' does not occur in the Bible. The Hope of the Christian is Resurrection unto eternal life, not mere survival of death.
Pam Johnson
Supporter
The new earth will be created for all those who believed in and called on the name of Jesus and tried to live in obedience to Him. This new earth is created AFTER the judgment of all people and those whose names are not found written in the book of life will be cast into hell forever (Revelation 20/21). While everyone waits for this final judgment of mankind, those who will be on the new earth are already welcomed into heaven and waiting for the main event. Those who will go to hell are in Hades waiting their final judgment. Rev 20 talks about 7 things being thrown in to hell......the devil, his angels, death, Hades, the beast and his false prophet, and all those whose names were not written in the Book of Life by Jesus himself.
Rotimi EWEDEMI
Supporter
From a biblical viewpoint, the answer to the question whether those who say they want to go to heaven are hoping that they will be among the 144000 is a big YES! The 144000 are spiritual Israelites and not literal Jews and are followers of Christ, and will be chosen from all the nations of the world. "And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth! (Revelation 5:9-10 AMP). This tallies with 1Peter 2:9-10: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy (AMP). Combined with Daniel 7:13,14,18,22,27; Luke 12:32; 22:14,28-30; John 14:1-4; 1Corinthians 6:1-4 and Revelation 14:1-3; 20:1-6; 21:2,9,14, we clearly see that the 144000 (the saints of God, the little flock, the bride of Christ) are chosen to go to heaven to be co-kings with, and under-priests to Jesus in the heavenly kingdom or government which God will make to rule over the earth. That government will turn the earth into paradise (Isaiah 9:6,7) and residents will be those who believe in Jesus. "Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away (Revelation 21:3-4(AMP). John 3:16; Psalms 37:9-11,20,22,27,29,34; Matthew 5:5 etc also apply. From the above, the Bible holds out the hope of everlasting life in both heaven and on the earth. The book also makes it clear that God's purpose is to fill the earth with righteous, obedient, undying humans living under the rulership of his Son ruling from heaven with the saints. God himself will chose those whom he wants to go to heaven. The number according to the Bible is the 144000. Thus, contrary to popular teaching, salvation does not necessarily mean going to heaven. See also Psalms 115:16. In view of the above, it is my opinion that the answer to the question as to why we are taught that all approved Christians will go to heaven while the Bible says a new earth will be created is obvious. Those who so teaches need to do further prayerful study and meditation on the Bible. Christ's original 12 apostles were the foundation members of the 144000 (Revelation 21:9,14). From Luke 6:12-15, it is clear that while "all apostles are disciples, not all disciples are apostles". The apostle class constitute the "little flock" of Luke 12:32 and " original sheep" of John 10:16. Further, they are secondary part of the seed of the woman of Genesis 3:15, (compare Romans 16:20 and Revelation 12:17) and the secondary part of Abraham's seed...heirs with respect to the promise, Galatians 3:16, 26-29) . These go to heaven, or will be " raptured", to be with Christ as promised in John 14:1-4. The disciple class constitute the "other sheep" of John 10:16. These inherit everlasting life on earth. They are the great crowd. We are thus assured that God's promise to bless 'all the earth' by means of Abraham Seed (Genesis 22:17)-Jesus plus the 144000-will be fulfilled. This ensures that God's original purpose to fill the earth with righteous mankind will come to pass.
Grant Abbott
Supporter
Heaven is the temporary resting place for every Christian [believer in Jesus] and every Old Testament Saint [believer in God] until Jesus comes again to give us our glorious new bodies and our eternal inheritance on the new earth. At Jesus’ resurrection, the souls of all the OT Saints were resurrected and they ascended with Jesus to heaven. At the moment of our death, the soul of every Christian rises to be united with Jesus in heaven. In heaven we rest from our labours and struggle against sin in this world, and we worship God for our salvation. We know this is true from the following passages in Revelation. Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 6:9-11 "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been." At his second coming Jesus will bring all the souls of believers who have died with him from heaven. They will all receive glorious new bodies, like Jesus own body, like the bodies of the angels. Those believers who are still alive will also rise to meet Jesus and their bodies will be transformed into glorious new bodies. We know this is true from 1 Corinthians 15:12-58. Jesus will then punish all evil and wickedness through the Great Tribulation, as explained in the trumpet and bowl judgments in Revelation chapters 8,9, &15. The purpose of these judgments is to give all humanity one last chance to repent (hence the two witnesses in Revelation Ch 11 and the angel proclaiming the eternal gospel in Revelation Ch 14. But only a few people will repent. At the end of Jesus’ second coming, he will destroy all evil, wickedness, corruption and decay from the face of the earth as explained in 2 Peter 3:10 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare." Then Jesus will renew the earth to match God's original creation, which was perfect, but there will be some changes. All the animals that ever existed will return to the new earth [even the dinosaurs]. There will no longer be in oceans or seas. There will be no sun, moon or stars. The New Jerusalem will come down out of Heaven and God will now dwell upon the earth with all believers and we will enjoy our eternal inheritance on this new earth. We know this is true from Revelation Chapter 21 & 22.
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