At Ask Me Help Desk you can ask questions in any topic and have them
answered for free by our experts. To ask questions or participate in
answering them you must register for a free account. By registering you
will be able to:
Get free answers from experts in any of our 300+
topics.
[F]My friend and I had a debate about Heaven. She believed it was a physical place with a ground and a sky and human forms are walking around and doing things. I believe it is a state of being where my spirit is in the presence of God and having an understanding of all that I never understood before. There will never be pain or sorrow and there will be an eternity of love, light and warmth. The Bible speaks of streets of gold, etc. but that doesn't do a thing for me. I don't believe it is a "space". I'm interested in what other people think.[F][/font] [/font]
Our bodies will be remade in the likeness of His glorious body? Wouldn't we all look exactly alike then?
I don't think we will all look alike. Like I stated in an above post we can't fully comprehend what we or heaven will be like. But God does tells us some about it, and through those things we can say for sure that heaven is a physical place, and our bodies will be resurrected with our souls.
To Moonlitwaves, I commend you on your knowledge of the Bible. My problem is that there is always a catch. Laying the jewels at the feet of Jesus. Isn't that just symbolic for saying."Thank you God SO MUCH for what you have done to allow my soul to be in YOUR presence and be at peace through eternity"
Who we really are is not our big feet, our hair length, skin color, crooked or straight teeth. The real essence of us is our emotions that seem to emit from our hearts. When you are happy, sad, jealous, or greedy, where do you feel it? For me, it is in my heart. There is so much symbolism in the Bible that I have to boil it down to the bottom line, my soul. If my soul is at peace, what else is needed?
Are you saying that there are a gazillion dead bodies just waiting around in limbo, for Jesus to return or appear, and at that point the cremated take human form again, the dead physically come up out of the ground, the drowned at sea and eaten by sharks put themselves back together,the living come to an abrupt stop from balancing their checkbook or what ever they were doing and we all float, or zoom or fly to a location? Since millions or souls are already there, were they incomplete? Did they not reap the rewards of heaven? Or were they doing just fine without a body but they need it now?
It may sound like I am being sarcastic but that is not my intent at all. And I would NEVER want to disrespect God. I love Him,it is my belief that He loves me, and that HE is my creator and the creator of the entire universe. I am just trying to get REAL. I am asking the hard questions and I welcome the knowledge of others.
It bothers me when I see pictures of Jesus. The fact is, there were no cameras, no paintings or drawings of him, and some artist has just made up an image and we take it as fact. The word gullible comes to mind. I am an individual thinker and I don't easily jump on the bandwagon of the masses without question.
Then there is the caveman. A scientifically proven entity. The first man. Did Adam and Eve look like that? Where did the names Adam and Eve come from? Who did Cain and Able have children with? Of all the races on this earth, which one is in the image of God?
Before Jesus died for our sins, what became of the souls of people that died? I really want to know.
I do have to disagree with you on the body thing. Our physical bodies do not keep us from God. It is sin that keeps us from God.
You must not forget that Adam and Eve's body was good in every way before they sinned. Eden was thier paradise. Yet they had the physical bodies that we do. They were not in anyway separated from God or kept from Him. It was when they sinned that Spiritual death took place. Sin is the separation from God.
Isn't sin often giving in to physical wants and needs--giving in to our weaker animal instincts instead of being as pure as our souls are capable of?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonlitWaves
Besides that the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:35-44, 50-54 that our bodies will be made anew. Philippians 3:20 & 21 says that the Saviour, Jesus Christ will change our vile bodies and fashion them unto the likeness of His glorious body.
Why do you think this will look anything like the bodies we have now? Or bodies at all? Again God's word still has to be translated into a language we mere humans (not sarcastic) can understand) so how can we take it literally when there is so much we are absolutely incapable of understanding?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonlitWaves
And if you need further proof that our actual bodies will be met with our souls then look at Jesus for an example. He was the last person who would have use for His body, yet His body rose from the grave on the third day. He didn't have a physical body like ours until He was born to Mary. He gave up the Ghost when He physically died, if His body wasn't meant to be resurrected with His Spirit then it would have remained in the tomb. The rising of Jesus body on the third day is not to be ignored!!
All of this can be explained again as Jesus and God needing to present the situation in terms we would could comprehend. He said he would rise again so he did. What other form could he present to his disciples that they would understand or believe. Doesn't mean he kept that body just because it disappeared--all of our bodies disappear eventually when we return to dust. Jesus didn't keep that body it resembled our "vile" bodies. "Glorious" could mean so many things. So can body for that matter. We have to stop thinking like humans.
I think that he allowed himself to be crucified is proof that he did not need the physical body--that we are more than physical bodies that need to eat and be clothed and have shelter, etc.
To CMM Good points. I also think we need to stop thinking like humans. Our bodies are the vessels that carry carry us through THIS planet. When we speak of rising from the grave and sitting at the right hand of God, we are thinking as humans. God is a spirit (my opinion)
and most Christians speak in terms of literal objects.
Christianity is the only religion that does not spell out what the afterlife reward is. That leaves people to do a lot of fantasizing about what Heaven is.
Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is on earth. If people follow his teachings about how to deal with others and ourselves, we will be a long way toward peace and happiness TODAY. Heaven is now.
Some examples:
1. Don't return anger for anger.
2. Love your neighbor.
3. Don't worry.
4. Forgive, forgive, forgive.
You need to study the bible deeply to get the full understanding of it..often things mentioned such as gold and silver or fire etc are symbolic. Rev 14:1 tells us an exact number going to heaven and Psa 37:29 tells us who will remain on earth. Also in John 8:23 Jesus stated that he came from a realm that is separate from man and that we are not from his "world". So heaven is a literal place surrounding earth where our creator and spirit creatures dwell. Guess I just confused you more Lol!
[quote=CMM_Kaleido]Isn't sin often giving in to physical wants and needs--giving in to our weaker animal instincts instead of being as pure as our souls are capable of?
As human beings, we have 2 parts, the human part and the being part. You always hear, "the flesh is weak." " Don't give into the flesh." That is when the HUMAN side of us gives into temptation, and the BEING part of us knows better. Our conscience, if you will. Or, the part of us that operates on a higher more honest and authentic level than our sinful selfish, shallow, egoic self. I believe that after you die, the "being" lives on. And BTW, lives in bliss!
I believe it to be a bit of both and beyond human comprehension.
The Bible says that we will have glorified bodies so we will not be simply spirit.
The Bible also says that the earth will never pass away and Jesus will come to Mt Zion (?)
so I believe that it will be a union between heaven and earth and we will be able to go back and forth. The Jehovah witnesses believe heaven is on earth so I believe it is a bit of a combination between what Christianity teaches with the JW earth. But I do not believe WE have to restore the earth to paradise like they teach.
and as Choux said I believe heaven is an extension of how we treated others in life.
[quote=N0help4u]I believe it to be a bit of both and beyond human comprehension.
The Bible says that we will have glorified bodies so we will not be simply spirit.
The Bible also says that the earth will never pass away and Jesus will come to Mt Zion (?)
so I believe that it will be a union between heaven and earth and we will be able to go back and forth. The Jehovah witnesses believe heaven is on earth so I believe it is a bit of a combination between what Christianity teaches with the JW earth. But I do not believe WE have to restore the earth to paradise like they teach.
and as Choux said I believe heaven is an extension of how we treated others in life.
Heb 12:22-24 "You have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jeruselum, and myriads of angels, in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens, and God the Judge of all, and the spiritual lives of righteous who have been made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant."
This heavenly city is also known as New Jeruselum as brought out in Rev 21:2 which tells us that it came DOWN out of heaven. So it is obviously not an earthly place but in a sense it is directing attention to the earth. This is when Jesus (the husband mentioned in this same scipture) as King and his associates (the bride) will begin operating his righteous government over mankind who will be helping to restore the earth back to the way God had originally intended it to be.
Isaiah 45:18 - He the Maker of the earth, the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited.
Heaven is now. 
Linear Mode
