Heaven and hell
Dec 25, 2013 3:07:51 GMT
Post by Colossians on Dec 25, 2013 3:07:51 GMT
This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.
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HEAVEN AND HELL
Most believe that heaven and hell are places.
They are not.
There is no corporeality in the afterlife: there is only spirit. No time, no matter.
2 Peter 3:8-10, and (by extension) Hebrews 12:26,27, tell us that all physicality will disappear at the return of Christ. Those who currently declare that He will reign on earth at some stage in the future, are necessarily wrong: His (one and only) return will result in the dissolution of all things corporeal.
The spirit realm will then be revealed in truth, and those who are truly in Christ will be forever “as the angels” (Mt 22:30), and even in saying that, the Lord was simplifying things enormously.
At Isaiah 66:1 we read:
"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?"
Is not this heaven that is God's throne, God Himself? For are not His throne and His authority, one and the same thing? For will not His authority consist of none other than worthiness?
Indeed:
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” Rev 5:6
Note: We have here taken full advantage of the ambiguity that exists in the word "heaven" (as to whether it be referencing the stars and planets or whether it be referencing God's spiritual domain), bridging from the physical referent in Isaiah 66:1 where grandiloquence is clearly the agenda, to the spiritual referent in, for example, the opening words of The Lord's Prayer. And we are confident that He who created the word with its two possible meanings, did so with such bridging in mind.
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Being in heaven then is simply being in the Lord:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" Eph 1:3.
"[God] hath [(now)] raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" Eph 2:6.
___
And so the physical realm will cease to be by way of the displacement of it by Him who is Himself (our very) heaven:
"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven 1 fled away; and there was found no place for them" Rev 20:11.
Such is indeed what 2 Peter 3:8-10 refers to.
1 "heaven" here is of course in reference to the stars and planets.
___
Contrasting, Hell is actually in the same ‘place’ as heaven; but it is the experience of being confronted with the presence of the Lord, without being in the Lord.
And so we read:
"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb" Rev 14:10.
In concluding …
Children learning a language most gravitate to nouns: book, bike, house: things. Adults are more comfortable with verbs: run, think, remember.
There are a lot of believers for whom it is time to ditch the ‘nouns’, and start to learn the ‘verbs’: who need to put away childish notions to the effect that Christ will reign on earth physically, that hell has a lot of fire in it, and that heaven contains streets of gold, people in white clothes, and horses.
For the believer, the presence of the Lord is heaven. To say that anything else is needed to 'top it off' as something worth waiting for, is to demean and insult the person of Jesus Christ.
For the non-believer, the presence of the Lord will be hell. To say that anything else is needed to make an unbeliever uncomfortable, is to demean the Holiness of God.
That is what the bible means when it speaks of heaven and hell.
Amen.
________________
HEAVEN AND HELL
Most believe that heaven and hell are places.
They are not.
There is no corporeality in the afterlife: there is only spirit. No time, no matter.
2 Peter 3:8-10, and (by extension) Hebrews 12:26,27, tell us that all physicality will disappear at the return of Christ. Those who currently declare that He will reign on earth at some stage in the future, are necessarily wrong: His (one and only) return will result in the dissolution of all things corporeal.
The spirit realm will then be revealed in truth, and those who are truly in Christ will be forever “as the angels” (Mt 22:30), and even in saying that, the Lord was simplifying things enormously.
At Isaiah 66:1 we read:
"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?"
Is not this heaven that is God's throne, God Himself? For are not His throne and His authority, one and the same thing? For will not His authority consist of none other than worthiness?
Indeed:
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” Rev 5:6
Note: We have here taken full advantage of the ambiguity that exists in the word "heaven" (as to whether it be referencing the stars and planets or whether it be referencing God's spiritual domain), bridging from the physical referent in Isaiah 66:1 where grandiloquence is clearly the agenda, to the spiritual referent in, for example, the opening words of The Lord's Prayer. And we are confident that He who created the word with its two possible meanings, did so with such bridging in mind.
___
Being in heaven then is simply being in the Lord:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" Eph 1:3.
"[God] hath [(now)] raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" Eph 2:6.
___
And so the physical realm will cease to be by way of the displacement of it by Him who is Himself (our very) heaven:
"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven 1 fled away; and there was found no place for them" Rev 20:11.
Such is indeed what 2 Peter 3:8-10 refers to.
1 "heaven" here is of course in reference to the stars and planets.
___
Contrasting, Hell is actually in the same ‘place’ as heaven; but it is the experience of being confronted with the presence of the Lord, without being in the Lord.
And so we read:
"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb" Rev 14:10.
In concluding …
Children learning a language most gravitate to nouns: book, bike, house: things. Adults are more comfortable with verbs: run, think, remember.
There are a lot of believers for whom it is time to ditch the ‘nouns’, and start to learn the ‘verbs’: who need to put away childish notions to the effect that Christ will reign on earth physically, that hell has a lot of fire in it, and that heaven contains streets of gold, people in white clothes, and horses.
For the believer, the presence of the Lord is heaven. To say that anything else is needed to 'top it off' as something worth waiting for, is to demean and insult the person of Jesus Christ.
For the non-believer, the presence of the Lord will be hell. To say that anything else is needed to make an unbeliever uncomfortable, is to demean the Holiness of God.
That is what the bible means when it speaks of heaven and hell.
Amen.