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Prior to the Second Coming, is there a heaven for the dead? Ecclesiastes 9:5 states: For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.
Matthew 22:29-33 Jesus says: "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
All scriptures I've read trying to find an answer to this point only to the Kingdom of Heaven, which seems to indicate the earth after the Second Coming. From what I'm reading, people cease to exist when they die, until they're resurrected by Christ, to be rewarded or punished. Is this right, or is there a scriptural basis for life after death prior to resurrection?
Heaven is where the souls of puppies go.
Prior to the Second Coming, is there a heaven for the dead? Ecclesiastes 9:5 states: For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.
Matthew 22:29-33 Jesus says: "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
All scriptures I've read trying to find an answer to this point only to the Kingdom of Heaven, which seems to indicate the earth after the Second Coming. From what I'm reading, people cease to exist when they die, until they're resurrected by Christ, to be rewarded or punished. Is this right, or is there a scriptural basis for life after death prior to resurrection?
I figure it's more of a state of mind, than a location.
Christ was to bring the Kingdom of heaven within the lifetime of some of his followers:
Matthew 16:28
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
They all died expecting it, it never came.
Heaven is a higher plane of existence where we will be far more than we now are, as well as being in direct contact with God. We will no longer be limited to merely human perspectives; we will be more than human in ways we cannot currently even imagine.
But what's the basis for this assertion?
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Most of five decades of bible study and ruminations on the subject. I'll grant you there is a certain percentage of extrapolation and assumption in my viewpoint, but its my viewpoint and I'll have it if I wanna. :mrgreen:
Seriously though, there are many different bits in the bible that suggest we will be made "a little higher than the angels", that we will see more clearly than we've ever seen in mortal life and understand more deeply, and so on... collectively I have decided to interpret this as a higher and more advanced mode of existence than our mere physical existence in the now. A lot of the text about heaven in various places by eyewitnesses includes a lot of symbolism and metaphor, as if they were looking upon things that were simply beyond their mortal comprehension and tried to relate them to earthly things with "like unto" and "as if it were".
1 Corinthians 10:10-12
But what I want to know is if we're higher than the angels prior to the second coming, the verses you quote say "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. "
Surely that refers to the coming of Christ.
At present we are different than the angels, but not higher. But yes, it is widely considered that the phrase in question refers to after the second coming, or after we have entered into eternity with God.
See, this is what I want to know, I've always assumed that the belief was that people reveled in heaven until the second coming, however, all scripture I read seems to say there's no afterlife until the second coming. So that's what I want clarified, more than anything.
I figure it's more of a state of mind, than a location.
I agree. I remember coming to the conclusion once with a group of Christians on this subject, that Heaven can start while we're still here on earth.
I think maybe it starts with the process of letting go.
I think you're on to something there my friend!
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