I will attempt to answer these questions in two ways:
1) I will attempt to offer what I believe is a traditional, and historic Christian position on these subjects and
2) I will attempt to answer biblically based on what I believe is a faithful and critical analysis of relevant Scripture
Others may disagree, and that's fine. But I am trying to provide a fairly broad answer.
So, I was born and raised in the LDS church and ever since very young, I have heard the same story of the premortal existence where the plan of salvation was presented by Jesus Christ and the alternative plan was presented by Christ and our brother, Lucifer. I was taught that the afterlife consists of three kingdoms which are basically heaven for Non-believers, Christians, and Elite Mormons and that we are essentially god in embryo here to be tested.
I no longer believe in the Book of Mormon or any LDS doctrine but I am very lost on how to fill in the picture once the Mormon stuff is taken out. What do real Christians believe about life before we were born on this earth?
Nothing. Before we were conceived and born we just didn't exist.
The historic, orthodox Christian position is known as creationism. Now, that might be confusing, as this isn't about how to read the creation story in Genesis. Creationism, here, refers to God creating the individual human soul in the womb. So that when we are conceived bodily in the womb, God creates our soul and the body is ensouled.
So we aren't embodied souls, but rather ensouled bodies.
What do you believe about Lucifer and how he came to be Satan(do you believe Lucifer and Satan are the same person)?
In general usage, yes. Lucifer is simply another name for the devil. Satan was an angel that fell.
That said, I personally tend to argue, based on a critical analysis of the relevant passage of Scripture that where we get "Lucifer" as a name for the devil isn't talking about the devil, but a mere human being.
In Isaiah there is a rebuke against the king of Babylon, and part of this rebuke is that the king of Babylon sardonically called "day-star", or more literally is called by the ancient name given to the planet Venus, this word is translated as
lucifer in Latin, meaning "light-bringer". Lucifer is simply the Latin translation here, and it's not the only place where this word gets used in the Latin translation of the Bible. In the New Testament St. Peter calls Christ the "morning star", which is again translated as "lucifer" in Latin.
In fact, "Lucifer" was a name given to a number of early Christians, including Christian saints. Such as St. Lucifer of Cagliari.
But over time the passage in Isaiah came to be read in an anagogical way which hinted at describing the fall of Satan. And so the prophecy against Nebuchadnezzar is seen as having another meaning, that of the fall of Satan. And given the importance the Latin Bible had in the Western Church for so long, the word lucifer came to be used as another name for Satan.
So it's really a question of how we read that particular passage in Isaiah. Is there a deeper meaning in the passage behind the more literal explicit meaning.
What is Christ's plan of salvation?
God's plan of salvation is what we read about in the Bible, the unfolding story of redemption that begins with Abraham and culminates in God, the Eternal Word and Son, becoming man, conceived of the Virgin Mary, and who by His life, death, and resurrection restores us to life and communion with God, so that we might have life not only in this life, but eternal life in the Age to Come when God makes all things new.
Do you know the answers to why we are here?
That's a tough existential question, I think big picture the reason why anything exists at all is because God created it, and because it is good. Our existence is intrinsically good, the problem is sin and death which has broken and wounded creation, and that is why we need to be reconciled to God in Christ, and which is why we hope and look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the renewal of all creation--a new heavens and a new earth.
In relation to what? After this life? Well what happens after death isn't something anyone can answer, because there's nobody to answer that question from personal experience, and God hasn't really revealed much. But Scripture does speak of our being absent from the body and present with the Lord, and describes God's saints and martyrs around His throne. Exactly what that all means exactly and all the details is anyone's guess--but there is enough to confess and belief that between the death of the body and the resurrection of the body, we go and rest in God's presence. This is usually described as "going to heaven".
At Christ's coming the dead will be raised, and God will restore and renew all of creation, we read in the Apocalypse of St. John (aka the book of the Revelation) that God will make His abode with man on earth, and so we shall always and forever be with God, even as God fills and illuminates all things forever and ever, ages unto ages of ages, to endless unfathomable glory.
Biblically speaking, it depends. In Hebrew the word is always plural, so it is always "the heavens", rather than singularly "heaven". And very often simply means "all that stuff up there". But Scripture also speaks of God as being "in the heavens", but also that He is way beyond and above the heavens. So God says, "The heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool" and we read where Solomon after building the Temple says, "The heavens, not even the highest heavens, can contain You! How much less this house which I have built?"
But this association is a strong one, and so "heaven" is very often conceived as being "where God is", though this isn't really that literal, because God is everywhere. He is everywhere, and is beyond all things, and fills all things. So in that sense "heaven" here isn't about location, it's not "up there", it's not a place at all. It's really about God's Divine and Regal presence as the King of everything, He rules over all, and "heaven" is a way of describing His sovereign rule as king. Which is also why in the Gospel of Matthew we often see "kingdom of heaven", where in the Gospels of Mark and Luke we see "kingdom of God"--these are the same thing. It refers to God's rule, His kingly power, it describes God-as-King. And so in this case "heaven" is simply a euphemism for God.
So "Heaven" therefore is where God is, though "where" is a weird way to phrase it, since God is everywhere--there is no where God isn't.
But what really matters, at least in terms of what it means when this mortal life has expired, that we will be with God, we will enjoy Him in His rest until the resurrection--and we are with God forever and ever in the Age to Come.
-CryptoLutheran
