Curse Lifted

“¹⁷To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,”

‘Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.’”

— Genesis 3:17 (ESV)

Here we see, in the beginning that the curse was due to the sin committed. At this, Adam and we all were cursed to “toil” in the pursuit of food and shelter and protection that was provided by God to His greatest creation. But the curse was more than just on man, the earth was cursed as well. The earth was no longer the free provider of abundance as it was in the garden.

The curse could have been avoided had man just avoided the corruption and sin. Before this sin and corruption, everything was available at the fingertips of Adam and Eve. They were not in need of anything and everywhere they looked, they were surrounded by the abundance of God’s provision. This is the way God intended.

Yes, there are still some remnants of and pictures of the beauty that God created in the beginning. There is still beautiful paintings and man made structures, there is cure for disease and other things that are good. God did not completely wipe out all the good, but a few things are not the norm as we know them today. The curse is still very real and larger than we can even imagine.

But, there is an out. There is a defeat of the curse. Jesus came to this world to take on sin and death on my behalf. To remove the curse from me. To provide me the out. He died that I may live. He took all of my sin and died because of it, effectively removing that part of the curse.

Then there is the curse of the earth. God cursed the ground, yet it will be restored and renewed as the New Heaven and New Earth come down after the defeat of the evil one.

“³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.” – Revelation 22:3 (ESV)

When the evil one is defeated, Eden will be restored. Abundance will be again. We will no longer “toil” for food, shelter, or protection. All will be back as God created and even better.

What are your thoughts of the curse? Do you believe that you are impacted? How do your thoughts change knowing that the curse has been and will be lifted thanks to Jesus?

All Things Renewed and Restored

“²⁸Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’” – Matthew 19:28 (NIV)

“²¹Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” – Acts 3:21 (NIV)

As we can see in the above verses the plan all along is to bring all things back to their original. All thing will be renewed and restored. All thing will go back to the way the were intended to be.

Before the fall of man at the hand of sin, God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. As noted by Randy Alcorn in my MasterWork study, “earth was Heaven’s backyard”. God spent time on earth as one would in the backyard of your home. As now, thanks to the fall, there is a great chasm between Heaven and earth. The current earth is not so much as a backyard of Heaven, but more of a swampy wasteland at the edge of the property.

Yes, Jesus came and spent time on earth. He was the bridge between the two. He came to prepare for the uniting to occur. The curtain in the tabernacle has been torn so that we can commune directly with God, thanks to Jesus. And Jesus will also tear down that which separates Heaven and earth at His coming again. The two, Heaven and Earth, will be reunited under God as one for all who believe in Him to live forever.

“⁹he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” – Ephesians 1:9-10 (NIV)

All things will be brought back together. Nothing to be left out. All will be renewed and restored. All things will now be one, where “those who know Jesus will will have the privilege of living there” (Randy Alcorn).

How do you see things today? Are you seeing them as being right and in sync? What if they are out of sync and will be renewed and restored to even better than they were before at the coming of Christ?

Heaven and Earth Are Passing

I realized something this morning in my Bible Study. It is not us that is passing through this world, it is this world that is passing. I know, how can that be when it is us that are going to die. Yes, we are going to die, and when we do, we will go to Heaven as it is today. But remember, Heaven today is not the New Heaven or the New Earth. The New Heaven and New Earth are coming down after the final battle is won and Christ has come again.

“¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” – Revelation 21:1 (ESV)

Here, John tells of what he saw in Heaven. What was Heaven and Earth would be no more and the New Heaven and New Earth were revealed. So while we will be passing from this world. This world is passing and we will experience the New Heaven and New Earth when they come down. This world that we know now will be no more.

I have to remember that all that God created is good, His word says so in Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, & 31. Yet we, man, messed it all up with our sin. Thankfully, it was in God’s plan for the renewal of man and all that He had created. Man renewed by the Spirit through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus. And then the Earth was renewed once the evil one is defeated.

“¹⁷For behold, I create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind.”

— Isaiah 65:17 (ESV)

So, God will not just remove all the sin from the world and things will go on as they have without the evil in the world. God will be starting over once evil has been defeated. Heaven and Earth as they are today will be replaced with the New Heaven and New Earth for us to live in for eternity with Him. Everything God created is good or very good and He will be returning it all to be as good and very good as originally made.

What is your thoughts on what is passing? Is it you who is passing on to the next? What is you were to remember that all God created was good and very good and that He will create it again as New for us to experience as He intended?

What Else When We Die?

As I keep reading and studying, I am reminded that when we die, we are not just “there”. We are not lifeless and without form. So it stands to reason that we are not lacking consciousness either.

“⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ ¹¹Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” – Revelation 6:9-11 (ESV)

Randy Alcorn pointed out the above passage in the MasterWork study I am working in. Here we find that those who were martyred for their faith, are waiting for the return of Christ. In their waiting, they are speaking with Him, recognizing His sovereignty, questioning Him to understand, and comforted in their waiting. All of these indicate that when we die and meet Christ in the intermediate Heaven, we are still who we are and that we conscious, and continuing to learn and work to understand.

When you look at the verses above and I mean really look at them, you not only see the consciousness and learning, but you also see the anticipation and to some degree, sorrow in the waiting for it all to be over. But how can that be if there is no more sorrow in Heaven. Well, that removal of sorrow is in the New Heaven and not the intermediate or present Heaven we go to in death. The New Heaven, New Earth is the place of eternal glory for all. We may not experience and personal suffering any longer in the intermediate Heaven, but we will still experience sorrow for those who have yet to join us and are still being persecuted on Earth.

So, here is what I know about Heaven when I die and what I am looking forward to. I will pass from the suffering in this world. I will no longer be under attack by the evil one. I will be with my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. I will be there worshiping and waiting on His return and reunited with my body. I will have a form of some kind and be distinguishable from others. I will be conscious to learn and understand. I will still experience sorrow for those who are still suffering. I will be anticipating the time when we will all be together again in Glory of eternal Heaven and the New Earth when it comes down after the battle has been won.

How are you seeing yourself in Heaven after you pass from this world? Are you just a lifeless being? How about this, you have a body, a mind, a soul, and are still learning and waiting for the suffering of others to end and the return of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ?

In Spirit When We Die?

When we die, we go to be with Christ in spirit as our bodies stay behind to be resurrected when Christ comes again. Our spirit leaves this world and joins Jesus in the intermediate Heaven, but what about when we arrive there. Do we get some sort of body while there? Do we have a form? What does scripture say?

“²⁴And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’” – Luke 16:24 (ESV)

“⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, ‘Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’ ⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.’” – Revelation 10:8-9 (ESV)

Here are two passages where a physical form of some kind is mentioned in scripture, the first by Jesus himself, and the second by John when he visited Heaven. So, yes, it would seem to be that we have some sort of body when we arrive in Heaven. But, we have to remember that the body we have would be temporary as we will receive our resurrected body when Christ come again.

But what about the thoughts that all of this language is just figurative to paint a picture for the human to grasp and we have no real body at all? Well, that deserves to be mentioned as it is a debated thought. In fact, Randy Alcorn asks for my opinion in the MasterWork study: “do you think Jesus would have included these references if those in the present Heaven are disembodied spirits?” To which my answer is no. Although they may be references to give the mental image, Jesus is truth and why would he tell of something that would not be true.

Remember, all of this is related to when we die and not when Jesus comes again. This intermediate body would be just that, intermediate and temporary as we will unite with our resurrected body at the time of Christ’s return.

So, when we die, our spirit leaves this world and unites with Jesus in the intermediate Heaven. There we will take on a bodily form for the temporary until Christ comes again. At that time, we will reunite with our resurrected bodies in Heaven as it comes down.

What is your thought or view of bodies when you die? Are you of the thought that we are just spirits waiting? What if we were to receive a temporary body to dwell with Jesus until His return?

When We Die

When our lives come to an end here in this world, what happens? Well, we go to be with Christ. But we go to be with Him in spirit until the second coming. Our bodies stay behind and we make our way to the intermediate Heaven or Hell, based on our faith in Christ.

We will be there with Christ awaiting the second coming to accompany Him in battle and then once the battle is won, Heaven will come down and we will be rewarded with our room in the New Heaven.

Well, at death we find ourselves in either Heaven or Hell, is that the end of it from a judgment point of view. Not exactly. This is only the first judgment and is solely reliant on our faith in Christ as our savior and Lord. Our acceptance that He died so that we did not have to determines whether we will get Heaven or Hell in this first judgment.

There is a final judgment, although the timing of it is constantly debated. This final judgment is where we are held to account for the works done in this world. No, our works do not determine our salvation, that is done through our faith and got us to Heaven or Hell in the first judgment. But, we are held to account for the works we performed once we arrive.

These works determine our reward. I like to think of it this way. I have already received the acknowledgment from the teacher that I completed the work. Now I get to go back to the desk of the teacher to collect the gold stars for the quality of the work performed. The neatness of the work gets one star. The help I provided my peers gets another star. The cheering on of the others in class gets another star.

The same holds true for those in Hell. The final judgment accounts for all the ways that we failed in this world. The way we snickered when watching the elderly struggle crossing the street. The actions we took to end someone’s life. The hatred we displayed at people of faith. All will be judged and counted out.

So, when we die in this world a few things happen. Our spirit will leave our body. We will be separated by our faith to the intermediate Heaven or Hell. We will worship and prepare for battle. We are reunited with our bodies at the second coming of Christ. We are ushered into the New Heaven or Hell once the battle is complete. We will receive final judgment as to our works and those will count for the rewards received.

What is your view of what happens when you die? Are you of the opinion that everything is just, well over at that point? How would your approach to this life change, knowing that there is more to it than just the ending of life in this world?

Heaven Comes Down

“²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” – Revelation 21:2 (ESV)

You read that right, Heaven comes down from God, we do not go up to Heaven.

Heaven is where God dwells. And that is where He is now. God is in Heaven, preparing a place for us when the time comes. And, when that time comes, God will bring the New Heaven to us and dwell with us here.

“³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’” – Revelation 21:3 (ESV)

Think back to the garden. God created man and walked with him in the garden. He did not bring them up to Heaven with Him to experience the glory that is in Heaven. He came down to man.

Yes, when we pass from this world, prior to the second coming of Christ, we go up to today’s Heaven and wait. But when the battle is won, the New Heaven will come down to us where God will dwell with us on His throne. “The reality of Heaven on earth—God dwelling with mankind in the world He made for us—will in fact be realized.” – Randy Alcorn

What is your view of where Heaven is? Are you of the view that we will go “up” to Heaven? What if you look to scripture to see that God and Heaven will come down to you when the battle is won for Him to dwell with us here?

Heaven Today

I was taken aback a bit this morning in my study of Heaven. I am 54 years old and I guess I have not studied Heaven as I should. I have accepted that as a Christian Heaven is my final destination. I have accepted that it will be glorious and wonderful. But I have not really dug into that there is a Heaven today and a Heaven tomorrow.

In my study in MasterLife with Randy Alcorn’s writing, I am taken to dig into the “present Heaven” as he describes. That place where Christians go when they die, until the second coming of Christ. Yes, you read that right, we go to a sort of waiting room until the time when Christ comes again and we join the battle.

“¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” – Revelation 21:1 (ESV)

John describes the “New Heaven”. The New Heaven comes later, after the coming of Christ, not in today. The New Heaven will come after the battle has been won. Notice the first word of the verse above, “then”. This indicates that that events come before. Now, yes in Revelation, John is describing things in an order that he sees them, yet, that order is important. The New Heaven is described after the battle is won and after he has seen the and describes the throne of judgment. So, the New Heaven comes after and is not for the now or today.

Now, I know, as did for me, that this brings up a lot of questions around the what exactly is the Heaven Today. Well, I, at this point am not able to give the full answer to that, only to say that we won’t be there long. Yes, some passed from this world years, decades, or centuries ago. So, when I say we won’t be there long, it is hard to understand. But we also have to remember that God’s Time is vastly different than our concept of time.

In the real life account book/movie “Heaven is for Real”, Colton Burpo was very near death in this world for a short time and saw Heaven. Now what he saw is not the purpose of my reference, but the time is where I am looking as it did help me to better understand God’s Time a bit. What Colton describes is interactions and events that took well more than the short time accounted for in this world. Yet, he met and interacted with many and those would have certainly taken more time. The time we experience in this world is nothing compared to time in the world of our LORD.

“¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (ESV)

Paul uses the same word as John to describe what happens next, “then”. He writes that after the bodies of the dead have gone up, those left will meet them to join the battle. That “then” is virtually instantaneous, but just after. So Paul is telling us that those who have passed from this world are waiting to be reunited with their bodies and then with those of us still in this world. Then we will join the battle in the defeat of Satan and will then enter into the New Heaven as John describes in Revelation.

There is so much more to know and understand, but I know this, those who have died in this world are waiting to join up again with those of us still here when Christ comes again. We will all fight, and win over Satan, and leave today’s Heaven and enter the New Heaven.

What is your thought on Heaven today? Were you of the thought that when passing from this world, we move right into the glory that is the New Heaven? What if you were to think of Heaven today as the before the battle and defeat of Satan and afterward, we enter the New Heaven?

Heaven By Default?

The question from the title is, is Heaven the place where people are set to go when the time comes and only “bad” people work themselves into Hell? My answer is, NO! It is actually the other way. We are defaulted to Hell.

“²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” — Romans 3:23 (ESV)

Looking at the above verse, the key phrase to back up the defaulted destination is Hell would be the underlined, “all have sinned”. Not, some have sinned or a few have sinned, but “all have sinned”. This was due to events that occurred in the beginning with Adam and Eve and their encounter with Satan and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had given man and woman only one restriction in the garden and Satan went right after it and enticed the first sin against God. From that point on, all that were and come after them are sinners.

In short, thanks to our ancestors, we are what we are, sinners in the eyes of God. That does not mean He does not love and want more for us though. And to get that more, just like with everything, there is a cost. The interesting thing is that the cost was paid by Jesus for us.

“⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8 (ESV)

So, we are all sinners and our default destination is Hell. We needed a way out and God provided that in Jesus and His death in our place. The immediate thought is that well, I am good then, Jesus paid the debt and now my destination has been changed. Well, not exactly. Yes the way to get to Heaven has been provided, but we still have to travel that road to get to the destination. And that road is small.

“¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:14 (ESV)

One might think well, I will just get on that narrow road and get to Heaven. Yes, that is the idea, but see that it is narrow and only a few find the road. There is only one way onto the road that leads to Heaven and that is through Jesus.

“⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6 (ESV)

So, NO, Heaven is not the default destination for us all. We are defaulted to Hell and all of the anguish, punishment, and darkness that is there. But, we have a way to get to Heaven and that is through the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He died so I did not have to. He endured the anguish, punishment, and darkness so that could avoid it. He provided the only way for me, a sinner, to change my final destination to Heaven.

What is your thought about your destination? So you believe that you are headed to Heaven by default? What if you were to realize that the default for all us sinners is Hell and that to get to Heaven we have to take the narrow road provided by Jesus Christ?

How Big a Deal is Heaven, Can We Know?

Heaven, the destination of Christians. But can we really imagine Heaven?

Baseball was a passion of mine as I was growing up. I had dreams of playing ball in college and then professionally (either of which did not work out). I was given the analogy that Heaven was the place where all dreams come true and to imagine it to be where there were baseball fields as far as the eye could see and a game was always on. Of course, at the time this was an amazing visual, and helped me to understand the beauty of Heaven, but that was all it was, just a visual for the young mind.

Where do we go to find a more accurate description for the adult mind, Scripture. God’s Word tells us what to expect when we arrive. Randy Alcorn points out a few verses to get us started: Hebrews 11:16, Revelation 19:9, 21:2, and 22:1-2. These are of course just a few to get us started and “see” what Heaven will be like and according to these, Heaven will be cities and kingdoms and gardens and countrysides, and celebrations.

I remember going to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was somewhat underwhelmed as to what I saw. I am not sure what I expected, but it was not what I experienced, and the same can be said for our trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame. I knew it was a collection of memorabilia from the past, related to the sport, but for me, it just did not hit the spot. I need help to understand that which I cannot see. I should have done more research on my destinations of the Halls of Fame, and maybe the experience would have been more in line with my expectation.

God’s Word gives that help. In Scripture, we are shown what Heaven to be like and we should take the time to study and visualize what others have seen when they got a glimpse. John, Isaiah, and Ezekiel were there and wrote about what they saw and experienced.

Not all who have seen Heaven describe what they saw, Paul for instance says,

“³And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.” – 2 Corinthians 12:3-4 (ESV)

He had been there, and even as it was “paradise”, he was not permitted to tell of what he saw. But the others were permitted and boy did they tell us.

So the question is, can we know just how big a deal Heaven is? YES we can!!! In order to know, we have to do our research in God’s Word. Look to all the accounts of what was seen. Look to all the different translations. Find what works for you to put it all together. Know that heaven may not be baseball fields as far as the eye can see, but it is an amazing place for us to spend eternity.

What is your vision of Heaven? Are you able to imagine what it will be like? What if you did not have to imagine, but took the eye witness accounts found in scripture to put you there as they were?