Do Christians go to heaven? Do we "sleep" until the end of time, when God will create a New Earth for us to live in? Give me some bible quotes to help me out
People often say we go to heaven when we die, but I'm starting to think that we will not be in heaven, but in the new Earth.
Discuss.
Well, from the story of the Rich man and Lazarus in the Bible, we know that when a person dies, if they are lost, their spirit goes directly to hell, which is the temporary holding place before the Great White Throne and the Lake of Fire.
We know also from the Bible that Enoch and Elijah both went directly to heaven, without ever having died. Must be nice. (Heb. 11:5, Gen. 5:22, 2 kings 2:11).
In Revelation, on two occasions, John actually speaks to a human being in heaven, whom he mistakes for an "Angel".(Rev. 19:10, 22:9).
Now these "Angels" might have been Enoch or Elijah, or someone else. At any rate, the implication is that John spoke to a human being who was already in heaven in a new body.
Also we have this.
2 Cor. 5
1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7(For we walk by faith, not by sight 8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The over all indication in Paul's teaching, plus the various other passages, seems to be that the mortal body dies, and the spirit and soul go directly to heaven or hell.
For reasons that I admittedly do not understand, some passages seem to indicate that the body will be resurrected at the second coming. in fact, this is specificly called the FIRST resurrection in the Book of Revelation, and it happens at the END of the Tribulation. (Rev. 20:6)
"Soul Sleep" is refuted simply by virtue of the fact that Revelation shows some human beings already in Heaven, and the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus showed Lazarus to be conscious and aware of his surroundings in "paradise" or "abrahams bosom" where he was comforted.
"Paradise" and "Abraham's bosom" are not the same thing as "heaven", which I believe I can show from scripture, but that is probably for another thread.
Suffice it to say, "Paradise" in pre-resurrection time was to "Heaven" as "Hell" is to "Lake of Fire". Because the Cross was not a historical fact, most believers appear to have gone to "paradise" temporarily while they waited for the promised redeemer.
Why Enoch and Elijah got to bypass this system entirely is unclear, but apparantly they really were just that much more faithful than the rest of us, at least that is what the writer of Hebrews implies.
