HEAVEN.....?

[SACREDWARRIOR]

So I have been thinking lately about where we go at the resurrection / rapture.or for that matter when we die. .....many theory's exist...

I have begun to think possibly inter-dimensional...a different plane of reality hidden at this time from our senses unless the beings (angels / demons) choose to be seen.

[Rev 6:14-17 NKJV] 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

THOUGHTS?

THE BATTLE RAGES TIL THE LION ROARS!!!

[AdHoc]

On 6/18/2024 at 1:34 PM, SACREDWARRIOR said:

So I have been thinking lately about where we go at the resurrection / rapture.or for that matter when we die. .....many theory's exist...

I have begun to think possibly inter-dimensional...a different plane of reality hidden at this time from our senses unless the beings (angels / demons) choose to be seen.

[Rev 6:14-17 NKJV] 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

THOUGHTS?

THE BATTLE RAGES TIL THE LION ROARS!!!

Your questions are easily answered. But to understand them, a short revision of human death is in order. Man is made of three parts, a body which is "formed" from clay, a spirit which is breathed into him a by God and which contains his vitality, and man is a soul which is "created" since it did not exist before (Gen.2:7, 1st Thess.5:23, Jas 2:26). At death, the spirit of man returns to God (Eccl.3:21, 12:7), the body of man returns to the elements of clay, and the soul of man, which is the man, goes to a place under the earth called Hades in the Greek or Sheol in Hebrew. In Acts 2:26-34 you can see that david, 50 days after Christ's resurrection and 10 days after His rapture, is in Hades ad his body in its grave in Jerusalem.

The resurrection is when God shouts and a trumpet of gathering sounds. The man, who was torn apart, is united again, spirit, soul and body. Since all government comes from heaven, Christ will return from heaven with an army of kings to subdue, conquer, and rule the Nations. With Him, promises Enoch, as recorded by Jude, our Lord Jesus will bring the Church with Him. The question thus arises; "How do men under the earth (the dead) and men on the earth (the Living) get to come with the Lord when He descends (1st Thess.4:14)? The answer is that the dead RISE FIRST (note that word in verse 16) and stand on the surface of the earth in their new bodies (2nd Cor.5:1-5). Then TOGETHER (note that word in verse 17) with the living, they are caught up by angels (Matt.13:39) to meet the Lord Jesus in the clouds.

The dead will suffer no disadvantage by being in Hades, and the living will have no advantage. The dead will have their new bodies and the living will be changed in the blink of an eye. In the clouds we can expect to face Christ's judgment (Rom.14:10, 2nd Cor.5:10). Then, Christ returns to earth with His army of saints and His army of angels. The battle of Armageddon is fought and Christ sets up a new government which never ends. The first one thousand years are set aside by God to reward the diligent Christian and chastise the slothful Christian. Israel is restored in a separate action (Ezek.37, Act.15:14-16). Jesus will live in Jerusalem. David will be His second-in-command (Jer.30:9). The diligent Christians will rule the cities of the Nations (Lk.19:17-19). The slothful Christians will undergo chastisement - all on earth.

[Dennis1209]

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) [emphasis mine]

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

I am not dogmatic about my exegesis on this topic. I understand AdHoc’s theology, and there are several views to consider. My view differs, and I do not disregard or protest other views. We all interpret scripture differently, and I have learned not to be dogmatic.

As was mentioned, we are tri-part beings, consisting of body, soul, and spirit. Making an analogy of a tire, the rubber that wears down is the body, the innertube is our inner self, and the air pressurizes, allowing animation and mobility. To further distinguish our three components:

Tire (body): The rubber that meets the road contains the innertube and pressurized air, our tent, vessel, container, physical being, physical attributes, and many components that function as one that allows for coordination, five senses, precision, and bodily actions.

Innertube (Soul): What makes us different from one another, as two snowflakes are never identical. Our soul contains our free will and choice, likes and dislikes, creativity, unique personalities, calculation, reasoning, gifts and capabilities, and individual identities.

Pressurized air (Gr. Pneûma): God-breathed the animation that allows us to function and discern our connection, which is capable of two-way communication with the Lord, part of being an image of God.

Upon physical death, our bodies immediately begin the decaying process back to dust. The Bible does not distinguish between the saved and lost human spirits; all spirits return to the Lord immediately, which He gave upon physical death. What about our souls?

I believe our souls depart from our bodies at the same instant our spirits do. Where they go is a matter of conjecture and exegesis, some expositors contend souls go to Hades to await the resurrection, and some think souls immediately go to be with the Lord; I prefer the latter. I believe Paul implies that Christian souls immediately go to be with the Lord upon death in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.

The souls of the martyrs under the Altar in the tribulation went immediately to where God resides at death. They are given white robes to wear, which indicates they have some form of physical body, to be able to wear clothing.

For brevity and too long to detail, Jesus went down to Hades and preached to the spirits, proclaiming His victory over death and Hell; they have been defeated.

After Jesus’s resurrection (the Firstfruits):

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. (Matthew 27:52-53)

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)

Was this a resurrection, or did these many saints have to die twice and return to Hades, the paradise side of Abraham’s bosom, awaiting the subsequent resurrection of the saints?

I genuinely believe Abraham’s bosom side was cleaned out after Jesus’s resurrection and taken to Heaven. We do not know how many, but I think the many that slept walked (went) to Jerusalem were proof and token of what had occurred—a resurrection of the righteous dead. After that, the righteous would not be in a holding place because Christ’s payment for our sins had been accomplished and paid for.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)

How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:4) [emphasis mine]

Paradise, an excerpt from Vines:  paradeisos (παράδεισος, 3857) is an Oriental word, first used by the historian Xenophon, denoting “the parks of Persian kings and nobles.” It is of Persian origin (Old Pers. pairidaeza, akin to Gk. peri, “around,” and teichos, “a wall”) whence it passed into Greek. See the Sept., e.g., in Neh. 2:8; Eccl. 2:5; Song of Sol. 4:13. The Sept. translators used it of the garden of Eden, Gen. 2:8, and in other respects, e.g., Num. 24:6; Isa. 1:30; Jer. 29:5; Ezek. 31:8–9.

In Luke 23:43, the promise of the Lord to the repentant robber was fulfilled the same day; Christ, at His death, having committed His spirit to the Father, went in spirit immediately into Heaven itself, the dwelling place of God (the Lord’s mention of the place as “paradise” must have been a great comfort to the malefactor; to the oriental mind it expressed the sum total of blessedness). Thither the apostle Paul was caught up, 2 Cor. 12:4, spoken of as “the third heaven” (v. 3 does not introduce a different vision), beyond the heavens of the natural creation (see Heb. 4:14, rv, with reference to the Ascension). The same region is mentioned in Rev. 2:7, where the “tree of life,” the figurative antitype of that in Eden, held out to the overcomer, is spoken of as being in “the Paradise of God” (rv), marg., “garden,” as in Gen. 2:8.¶^[1]

It is my conviction after Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and after His resurrection, the righteous and justified no longer go to Hades at death. They now go directly to the presence of the Lord in the 3^rd Heaven where Jesus now dwells (2 Cor. 5:6-8).  

 

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^[1] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 457–458.