This story is libel to mess with your theology a bit. Today we are going to look at just one verse. But it could test your belief system. John 3:13. Specifically, the first six words of that verse. Written in red, these are the words of Jesus.
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." - John 3:13
We hear compassionate words uttered at funerals about being in heaven. We see them written in Tweets and Facebook posts. Words like . . .
"Well, they're in heaven now," or "Heaven gained another angel today," or "They're looking down on us from heaven now." These words, to be quite blunt about it, are merely someone's hopes, based on their misinterpretation of scripture.
"Heaven gained another angel." Nope. We do NOT turn into angels after we die. Angels are separate beings created by God.
"They're in heaven now." Are you sure? Can you back that up scripturally? Nope. Only Jesus decides who gets into heaven and who gets tossed into the lake of fire. And He doesn't do that until the Great White Throne Judgement AFTER the tribulation and AFTER the millenial kingdom.
One could argue, "What about the thief on the cross? Jesus told him, 'Today you will be with me in paradise.'"
That's true. Paradise, yes. Heaven, no.
It's good to be compassionate and to comfort those who have lost someone. But we shouldn't comfort them with words and concepts that aren't true.
There are lots of "empty chairs" in heaven right now. The "dining room" is being prepared for the wedding feast of the Lamb. You don't want to miss it!
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