WILL WE GO TO HEAVEN WHEN WE DIE?

KINGDOM BUILDERS

“BUILDING THE KINGDOM THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD”

PIERCING THE VEIL

DO YOU GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE?

Do we go to heaven when we die?  As long as I can remember, I never heard anyone ask that question.  It was always assumed if you were born again, spoke in tongues, lived an exemplary life, remained holy, paid your tithes, attended church regularly, washed the saints feet, and walked upright daily, you would go to heaven.  MY GOODNESS!  Who can uphold such a high standard?  Therefore, who could go to heaven?  Not me!  I am quite certain I would miss the mark.  And, if you spoke the truth, you likely would also.  Then who can go to heaven?

The disciples asked the same question.  Lord, who then can be saved?  But, it actually is not the same question.  Here is that conversation in its original context. 

Mark 10:17-31 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had  great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Notice, the question was not, “How may I go to heaven?”  but the question was, “How may I inherit eternal life?”  It is a totally different concept.  In our minds, we see ourselves being taken off to a far off planet called heaven wherein dwelleth bliss, immeasurable peace, joy unspeakable, streets of gold, a beautiful mansion that Jesus has been preparing for us for over 2000 years, all of the dearly departed saints of which there is oheavens is his throne and the earth is his footstool.  This is God’s home, this is God’s dwelling place, this is the arena in which he works and is interested.  The rest of his creation, the sun, the moon, the stars, and other planets and there is a vast amount, is just lagniappe.  And it appears according to modern day scientists that the universe is expanding on a daily basis.  However, it doesn’t change God’s dealings with man on this planet.  This is where he created man; this is where he gave his law to man;  this is where he tested man;  this is where he died for man;  and this is where he resurrected and ascended for man to be justified.  This is his domain that he wants to take possession of that he originally gave to Adam.  His desire is to restore the Edenic experience prior to the fall.  The scriptures conclude that the heavens shall retain him until the restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of his Holy Prophets since the world began.  (Acts 3:21).  The word, “restitution” is Apokatastisis in the Greek and it means restoration of a true theocracy, and of the perfect state before the fall.  That perfect state is where Adam did not labor by the sweat of his brow, but rather simply tended the garden.  It was that place where his wife and future wives would not have pain in childbirth. And it was that wonderful place where Adam walked in the cool of the garden having perfect fellowship with God beholding him face to face and talking with him mouth to mouth.  There was no striving there, no sin, no sickness, no illness, no wickedness, and none of the lustful things men seem to enjoy today.  It was a place of perfect peace and tranquility. 

So, we go back to the question, “What shall I do to have eternal life?  The rich young ruler did not ask, “How may I go to heaven?”  Jews didn’t have a concept of planet heaven in outer space or a concept of hell in the center of the earth for that matter.  These concepts did not come along until the Catholic Church commissioned Michalangelo’s paintings. 

The Last Judgment,  is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo executed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. The souls of humans rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ surrounded by prominent saints including Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Peter, Lawrence, Bartholomew, Paul, Sebastian, John the Baptist, and others.  The work took four years to complete and was done between 1536 and 1541 (preparation of the altar wall began in 1535.) Michelangelo began working on it twenty five years after having finished the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

An older and more thoughtful Michelangelo originally accepted the commission for this important painting from Pope Clement VII. The original subject of the mural was the resurrection, but with the Pope's death, his successor, Pope Paul III, felt the Last Judgment was a more fitting subject for 1530s Rome and the judgmental impulses of the Counter-Reformation. While traditional medieval last judgments showed figures dressed according to their social positions, Michelangelo created a new standard. His groundbreaking concept of the event shows figures equalized in their nudity, stripped bare of rank. The artist portrayed the separation of the blessed and the damned by showing the saved ascending on the left and the damned descending on the right.   (Wikapedia).

Of course, these paintings were the foundation of the modern day depictions of heaven, hell, the rapture, the antichrist, demons, and final judgments of the righteous and unrighteous.  None of these concepts were based on truthful, spiritual biblical teachings.  The main goal was to put fear in an unsuspecting laity causing them to pay indulgences for their dear departed loved ones and themselves as a deterrent to everlasting hell and torment.  Unfortunately, these teachings have infiltrated through the protestant churches today as mainstream teaching.  Martin Luther may have gotten the “Justification by Faith” principal right when he nailed the 95 Thesis to the church house door, and it spawned the Protestant Reformation, but the rest of the tenets were mostly all pure catholic doctrine without biblical basis or foundation. 

What is the difference in obtaining Eternal Life and going to Heaven.  In the first place, going to Heaven is not scriptural.  No where in the word of God does it say after you get saved and then die, that you will go to Heaven.  And there certainly isn’t a planet called heaven as the vast majority of believers ascertain.  It is all a myth, a fairy tale, and a grossly misinterpreted use of scripture.  In fact, in the first chapter of Genesis, God gives the definition and location of Heaven.  And God called the firmament Heaven.  (Genesis 1:8).  The firmament is the expanse or visible arch of the sky here on planet earth.  Heaven is Shamayim in the Hebrew and it means to be lofty, the sky as aloft, alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move.  In the New Testament, heaven is Ouranous and it simply is the clouds above. Now, it doesn’t get any plainer than that, and how good folks have redefined heaven to mean some place in outer space is beyond the scope of this writer.  I’m pretty sure most folks want a place of heavenly bliss after they die and are resurrected to take the place of their life on hell here during their lifetime.  They think they deserve a rest whereby they can take their golden harps and play praise songs to God forever, cast their crowns before this feet, and attend to his every need, then fly away with their angel wings to their great mansion in the sky.  Can you not see that all this was a painter’s rendition of Heaven which emanated out of a carnal mind, and had nothing to do with spiritual reality?

The rich young ruler was correct in asking how he might attain to eternal life.  With one exception.  He could not attain or work for it.  God’s gift of eternal life is free.  The word Eternal means perpetual as in past, present, and future or everlasting like God before the world began.  To be perpetual has nothing to do with time, but is as God as the eons of life with no beginning and no end.  The life one gets is the rational and immortal soul which will never die.  Mary and Martha were disconcerted when Jesus came to them after their brother Lazurus had died.  Martha said, Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died.  Jesus said, Thy brother shall rise again.  Martha’s concept was that he would rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 

To which Jesus replied, I am the resurrection and the life.  He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believest thou this? (John 11:25).

This, my friend is eternal life.  You will not die, but if you do, you will rise again.  The seed of eternality is in you as a child of God.  When you are born of the Father, you immediately inherit his seed of eternality.  When Jesus raised Mary and Martha’s brother Lazurus from the dead, he proved that the seed of eternal life was in him.  Even after Jesus was crucified and subsequently after Jesus’ resurrection, many of the saints that were asleep in their graves arose and walked throught the streets of Jerusalem.  Eternal Life is a state of being, it is that God state of eternality, it is the Zoe life of God that not only is a regeneration of the spirit of man, but also of his soul, and finally of his body which is to take on incorruption.

Now this I say , brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all  sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed . For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 15:50-57). 

No where in scripture does Paul write that you will go to heaven or inherit heaven.  But, he did say flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God by Paul’s writings is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  (Romans 14:17).   Surely, we see that the Kingdom of God is not external pleasures enjoyed by the palette, the sight, or sensual pleasures that we can see, feel, touch, or taste.  Jesus said the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation and is not over there or over here meaning some location, but the Kingdom of God is within you.  And, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.  Some folks look to inherit a donation of land.  Not so.  You won’t get a piece of Israel or the eternal city, Jerusalem.  The Jews own that by a land grant.  And, it cannot be rescinded.  We certainly are not looking for material things for the things that we see are temporary, but the things we don’t see are eternal. 

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

To be changed is metamorphos meaning like a change made when a worm becomes a butterfly.  We go from being an old ugly worm only able to crawl on the ground  to a transformation only God knows how to make into a beautiful butterfly able to soar into the sky.  This is much like the old Adamic nature which we are where we are called worms by analogy into the glorious liberty and power of the Son of God.  We become like the butterfly, a new creature altogether in Christ.  Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insects, fishes, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is usually accompanied by a change of habitat or behavior.  It is the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages and a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.  (Wikapedia).

Paul writes that the dead shall rise.  The word dead has a natural and metaphorical connotation.  It is nekros in the Greek and it naturally means to be physically expired, but the metaphorical meaning is someone who does not have the life of God in him though he is alive. Suddenly, a change takes place.  And, that change can come in one of two ways.  One, we can literally die and be raised again or we can be changed while we live.  This is consistent with Jesus telling Martha she would never die, but if she did, she would be raised again.  Once we are changed, we take on incorruption which means perpetuity, and we take on immortality meaning we will be undying and everlasting.  Surely, this is one of the greatest of all miracles to be seen and witnessed by multitudes.  Jesus was our prototype where he was transfigured into a glorious figure on the Mount of Transfiguration, and after his resurrection when he appeared to the disciples in his glorified body.  The seed of life was in him just like it is you, and you shall never die, but live eternally in a glorified body.  To know one will live forever even as one in this mortal body should suddenly take the fear of death and the sting of the grave out of our hearts.  You, who are in Christ now, have entered into immortality and incorruptibility to live eternally like God because of Christ’s seed of life in you. 

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20).

Entering the Kingdom of Heaven is not going to a place light years form here somewhere in outer space as many have envisioned.  In fact, we are not going anywhere.  Heaven is the Shamayim in Hebrew which is the visible sky, the atmosphere, and the abode of God by definition.  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  (Genesis 1:1). And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. (Genesis 1:8).  The firmament is that vaulted expanse above the earth.  It can be seen and is more apparent from space ships with pictures they have taken.  In the New Testament the heaven or Ouranos in Greek is the visible portion of sky from the earth to the clouds.  This is God’s abode.  And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. (1 Kings 8:30). In this passage of scripture, this is the Shamayim or heaven he is talking about where God dwells or that area again from earth to the clouds.  God is here.  God has always been here.  God dwells here; God calls from heaven; a trumpet sounds from heaven; a voice from heaven was heard by Jesus and Paul, and many other scriptures telling exactly where heaven is. It would be ludicrous to think a voice came from outer space light years from here to carry on a contiguous conversation with anyone down here as sound travels only at 660 mph. In just one light year, which is 5.88 trillion miles, it would take a spoken word 8.7 billion years to travel from one place to another.  So you can see, a conversation would be virtually impossible. 

When the scriptures talk about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, it is not talking about a place like a planet heaven.  The word Kingdom is basileia in the Greek and it means royal power, kingship, dominion, and rule and is not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah's kingdom.  It is more specifically referred to as the reign of the Messiah.  Some have tried to define the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven as a real definitive place and both being physically attainable.  Kingdom being defined as God’s royal power is not a place, but representative of God’s rule, reign, and authority.  When scriptures reference the Kingdom of God, it is simply referencing whose Kingdom it is.  When referencing the Kingdom of Heaven, it is simply referencing the royal domain and authority of God which is everywhere.

We believe, To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  (2 Corinthians 4:8).  So where do we go?  As soon as you die, your spirit and soul exit your body, and you are home…in heaven…with God.  Not only that, you are in the presence of a whole heavenly host and surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.  Now, you can’t see that taking place unless you are in the spirit, but neither has anyone from the beginning of time ever seen some planet in outer space where they thought God lived.  Jesus said he saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven. (Luke 10:18).   Lightning does not occur in outer space.  He was talking about this atmosphere, this heaven. 

Not one reference in the scriptures depict or even allude that heaven is far away.  The definition of heaven in both the Hebrew and Greek translations of the Old and New Testaments clearly show heaven is here in this atmosphere.  The greater purpose would be served if one could see that Heaven is not just an area between earth and the clouds, but where Jesus and the disciples such as Paul and Peter show where heaven resides.  It is clear that heaven cannot be found by observation.  In other words, it is a mystical place that cannot be seen with the eyes.  Jesus was very clear when he said the Kingdom of God is within you.  By the same token, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.  One need look no further.

Unto whom it was revealed , that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.  (1 Peter 1:12).  Where did the Holy Ghost come from?  Luke writes in Acts, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from HEAVEN as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.  (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Ghost came from HEAVEN which was right here.  This is the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior from heaven.  This is the mystery that has been withheld from the ages but has now been revealed to God’s holy apostles and prophets, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.  There is no more waiting, no more tarrying, no more looking to heaven or skies above for the physical appearing of Jesus.  If you have the Holy Ghost, you have Christ.  If Christ be in you, you are the house he was busy building, you are the temple of the Holy Ghost, you are the ark he has chosen to live in, you are his tabernacle, and you are the New Jerusalem come down out of heaven from God.  When the Bible talks about the New Jerusalem, or the city of God, or Mount Zion, we are not talking about a physical four square city, it is talking about its inhabitants.  Without the inhabitants, the city would simply cease to exist.  The corporate body of Christ is the inhabitants of the city, and are called the New Jerusalem.  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.  (Revelation 3:12).  This scripture clearly shows who is the city of God and who is the New Jerusalem which is you.  Collectively, everyone in Christ now is that city and is the New Jerusalem. 

So what was the rich young ruler asking when he wanted to inherit the Kingdom of God.  He may have had a lot of importance placed on the material things which he did, particularly his money which he could see.  Most have some type of view in which they see heaven in some physical form.  We have not yet learned to be a spiritual and look beyond the veil of flesh.  We are still carnal and natural.  I have had a few visions and dreams from God, and each and every one had a spiritual message beyond my natural understanding.  It is impossible to understand the inheritance we have in Christ as a carnal Christian.  First of all, God is a Spirit and he can’t be seen.  Those that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.  Everything that God is now has become our inheritance in him.  Is he love?  Oh, he is love first and foremost.  Once you get born again, you experience the love of God from the one who loved you and died for you before the foundation of the world while you were yet a sinner or an enemy of God. 

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.  (Ephesians 1:17-21).

By definition an inheritance, is property received (or to be received) by inheritance what is given to one as a possession and is the eternal blessedness of the consummated kingdom of God which is to be expected, the share which an individual will have in that eternal blessedness.

So, what is our share in this eternal blessedness?  The knowledge is that Christ had to die and come back again and dwell inside of us to obtain this inheritance.  I think you could agree with me that everything that a man is can be found and understood by his spirit.  Out of the spirit emanates everything that a man is.  Therefore, everything that Christ was, we have now become because his spirit abides in us, we in him and he in us.  He was all the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, happiness, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.  He was all the gifts of the spirit, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous, prophetic, discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues.  He was all the administrative.  He was all the five fold ministry, Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher.  And he was things folks don’t think about.  He was High Priest, King, Prophet, and Judge.  He was the Son of God, and we have been adopted into his household and receive full benefits as a natural born son.  He was God in the flesh and he now abides in us, he is the head and we are the body.  Everything he is, we now are.  Every victory wrought and finished, we now enter into his rest as supreme conquerors.  He has dominion over the world, and we now have dominion in all the kingdoms of this world.  All of the promises given to natural Israel are now ours because we have been grafted in.  Nothing is lacking.  Once we receive the spiritual, we also now can claim the material for if we seek the kingdom of God, all these material things will be added to us.  There is no lack for those that understand what they have inherited. 

It is not going to heaven that we should seek.  It is already ours.  What we should seek is “ETERNAL LIFE”.  Should the rich young ruler have hung around a little longer, he would have seen that giving away his wealth that he could see, and claiming his inheritance which he really wanted that cannot be seen, he would have gained far more that he relinquished.  The disciples did.  They asked, who then can be saved?  Who can gain eternal life? 

Jesus quickly said, with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.   Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.  (Mark 10:28-30).

The heavens and earth under the old covenant have passed away.  The heavens and earth under the new covenant is in full force and guarantees eternal life.  Aren’t you glad?  GLORY!nly a remnant, a green lush valley with a beautiful river running through it bringing tranquility to the soul, and of course, there is Jesus sitting on a golden throne awaiting our arrival.  The only problem with this picture is it just ain’t so.  Oh, I know multitudes have had out of body experiences who were whisked away to this incredible emerald isle, but just exactly where did they go?  For sure, it was not in outer space at some station known as the third heaven in which abides the wonderful planet called heaven.  The word heaven in which Jesus speaks is the Ouranous heaven in the Greek language, and it is the area between the dirt on Earth to the clouds we can see with our eyes.  This changes the whole arena in which we speak of so confidently when we talk about going to heaven.  So, this begs the question, Where does God dwell?  Why, it is in heaven, the Ouranous or that area up to the clouds.  His domain or Kingdom is Planet Earth. The heavens and earth under the old covenant have passed away.  The heavens and earth under the new covenant is in full force and guarantees eternal life.  Aren’t you glad?  GLORY!

Kingdom Builders is dedicated to ministering the Word of God freely to anyone upon request.  It is my desire to build up the body of Christ to become powerful, functional, mature Sons of God to make a difference in the World and the affairs of men.  I trust God to put it upon the hearts of those who are ministered to here by this word to help support the publishing, postage and mailing of these wonderful revelations of our King and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am not in the marketing business nor do I have anything to sell.  Should you or your friends desire to receive these articles, please write to the address above, and they will be freely sent to you.  All donations are gratefully appreciated. 

Phillip S. Smith III

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