Where in the Bible does it ever say anything about us going to heaven? There is no scripture, in the Bible that says: I, you, we or anyone has gone or is going to heaven!
Jesus said no one has gone to heaven. Jo. 3:13 “No man has ascended to heaven but”
Himself.
In Mat.5:5 we are told that the meek will inherit the earth. Does that that mean the meek are going to get a different reward than some others? I don’t think that can be shown from scripture.
When Christ returns He will “land,” if you will, on the Mount of Olives according to Zech.14:4 “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.”
In Rev. 22:12 Jesus says that when He comes that He will bring His reward with Him. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
Now in Jo. 14:2-3 Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place or office for us, but He is going to bring it with Him when He returns. He does not say anything about us going to heaven to receive it.
Just because we are to receive heavenly gifts or a heavenly reward does not mean that we have to go to heaven to receive it.
Paul wrote in 1Cor. 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Although we can not know everything about our future reward, God has seen fit to reveal the basics.
Jesus was born to be King Isa. 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isa. 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, (i.e. Kingdom) For (or because) the EARTH shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
The government shall His responsibility; That government will have no end; Christ will sit on the throne of David,(a throne here on earth.) No harm will come in that Kingdom, because the knowledge of God will completely cover the earth. This Kingdom is obviously on earth. Enough said?
When Christ returns, He returns to set up His Kingdom. Note; Rev. 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Rev. 20:3-7 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Daniel speaks of this time as a time when Christ will come and put an end to man’s misrule and set up a Kingdom that will rein forever. Dan. 7:27Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
Rulership will “be given to the saints of the Most High,” and they shall “live and reign with Christ for a thousand years.”
The Lord will reign from Jerusalem Isa. 24:23 Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously. Also in Isa. 8:18 Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the LORD of hosts,
Who dwells in MountZion. (i.e. Jerusalem)
In prophecies about the Kingdom Isaiah says the word and the law will go out from Jerusalem. Isa. 2:2-3 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain (i.e. Kingdom)of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains,(i.e. kingdoms of this world) And shall be exalted above the hills;(i.e. smaller kingdoms) And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, “ Come, and let us go up to the mountain(Kingdom) of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
This Kingdom will go on to restore this earth. Isa. 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Note also; Isa. 35:1The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
There are dozens of scriptures about the time when Christ will come and set up His Kingdom on this earth.
At that time the people will, once again, begin to obey God and keep his Feasts and learn what they are really about. Note; Zech. 14:16-19 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
In Titus 3:7 and many, many other places we learn that part of our reward is eternal life. “That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
We will be heirs, or part owners in the Kingdom of God. Ja. 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? What does an heir do? An heir inherits things. Once one inherits something they own it.
Heb. 2:10-11 says; “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Read that again. Sons, brothers? WOW! Now in Eph. 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
1Jo. 3:2 Says that we will be like Jesus. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Remember that Jesus is the first born of many brethren. Ro. 8:29
Receiving Eternal life, becoming brothers of Christ, being joint heirs to the Kingdom and receiving authority to rule with Jesus, in His Kingdom at His return? These are not small rewards. Are there more that we don’t know about? I have no doubt, but at this time this is more than I can wrap my head around. I will be more than happy to serve Christ, in His Kingdom, here on this earth for 1,000 years and on into the future where ever and how ever He says.
