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Do we all just live irrelevant lives, to provide a suitable backdrop for a George Washington? If that was true, then most of us as individuals are totally unimportant and inconsequential.
I do not believe that!
As a believer in God, I am not willing to accept that He would allow the exquisite complexity of a living human to be created, without also allowing for the possibility of significant importance of each and every of the multitudes of such lives.
How would it be possible, though, for ALL of us to have real significance? There are an awful LOT of us! There's only a certain amount of fame to be spread around, if that's the standard. It is equally true that not all of us could become financially wealthy. Few people can become known for being powerful, because the powerful must have a multitude of people under them to be perceived as being powerful. This suggests that material wealth, fame or power must NOT be central to the true general Meaning of Life.
Many people certainly treat those goals as appropriate objects to pursue in the hopes of achieving fulfillment and happiness, which they seem to perceive as central features of their Meaning of Life. Have you ever carefully looked at the few people that have achieved one or more of these worldly achievements? Do they seem happy or fulfilled? Many of them certainly give the appearance of enjoying life while reporters are around. They have easy access of the best toys and exciting people and places. But, have you ever noticed what grim looks many of them sometimes have on their faces? It seems that the achievement of such goals is seldom enough for such people. Even with their great worldly success, they feel driven to achieve even more power, or more wealth, or more fame. Most of them seem to lead frustrated lives, pursuing even bigger goals, likely to never feel really fulfilled and successful or truly happy.
For these reasons, it seems certain that fame, power, financial wealth, or accumulation of material possessions, has anything to do with the true Meaning of Life. Pursuit of such goals may be desirable for other reasons. However, success or lack of success at such pursuits, likely has little deeper significance in the Meaning of Life.
We have eliminated all of the obvious and popular answers to our question. What remains? It seems that the only remaining areas have to do with living a good life, with spirituality, and with religion. We each have met individuals in each of these categories who seem to have a GENUINE inner peace and happiness! As the following discussion proceeds, these three categories will become almost indistinguishable. This is the general starting point for our further explorations.
The opportunity to assist God in His work and the opportunity to be a sort of Guardian Angel for those still on Earth, seem like WONDERFUL goals worth striving for. Whatever your personal idea of what Heaven must be like, that's got to be close! Best of all, all of these benefits are available to EVERYONE, rich and poor, famous and unknown, powerful and meek. And, from some things Jesus told us in the Bible (Matt. 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25), the poor, unknown and meek are probably more likely to receive God's smile in these matters!
As a Christian, I actually believe a variant of the above. Actually trying to be a "good" person has no benefit in Christianity in becoming Saved and having a path to Heaven. Salvation in Christianity is EXCLUSIVELY by the Grace of God in response to Faith on the part of the person. However, all Christians HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY to continue to learn and grow in their Faith, in a procedure called Sanctification. So, even though a person did not have to prove any Good Works to be accepted by God, that person will certainly accomplish many Good Works as a RESULT of becoming a Christian and by continually being Sanctified, as Saint James stressed in the Bible (as in James 1:23).
I think that it is interesting to note that traditional Christianity doesn't often discuss the environment in Heaven very much. Sometimes, a Minister might make reference to "streets of gold" because of a reference in Revelation (Rev. 21:21) that is certainly imagery. Such an ACTUAL environment would be incompatible with the Christian Lord because Christians are consistently taught NOT to overly covet riches and wealth. (A street of gold would NOT have any practical advantages either! It would be slippery and hard!)
Other than in Revelation, nearly all Biblical references to Heaven involve happiness, peace, bliss, etc, without much comment on how these experiences are created. We will explore this later. It represents a very important consideration.
In addition to these matters, our lives on Earth occasionally include experiences that are not easily explained. Neither science nor traditional religion can solidly explain an assortment of phenomena that have happened FAR too many times to just be ignored. But, because they each have no explanation for such things, those phenomena are generally ignored. Such subjects include such ESP experiences as precognition (knowing something was going to happen before it actually does), clairvoyance (knowing something happening or someone else's thoughts at a distance), and other para-normal experiences, such as ghosts and apparent knowledge of details of the life of a person long dead (often [incorrectly] referred to as reincarnation).
None of these exotic phenomena has been absolutely confirmed by scientific investigation, but the fact that SO many people have claimed such experiences suggests that the phenomena might be real. If so, the following discussion provides a VERY logical explanation on how such experiences might occur. It ALSO makes clear why such phenomena cannot ever be consistently demonstrated in a laboratory, to a high level of scientific proof. In addition, it will also become clear why such phenomena and also PRAYER, are not ALWAYS fulfilled.
There are an assortment of OTHER unusual human experiences that heretofore have also been inexplicable, but which might have potential explanations within the context of this premise.
We will continue the discussion of Heaven within the perspective of a Christian understanding. As just suggested, the conclusions we will arrive at should be very similar to the conclusions that would have been arrived at within any of the world's other major religions. Therefore, I believe these general comments apply to the Heaven of each of them.
Most of the Biblical references don't describe features of Heaven so much as the aspects of Heaven which are most spiritually important to people who aspire to getting there some day. For example, Psalms 16:11; 1 Peter 1:4; 5:10, 1 John 3:2 (and others) refer to the joy and pleasures forevermore available to residents there. Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Rev 2:7 refer to Heaven as "paradise." These Scriptures make no reference as to how that joy and those pleasures will come about, or even specifically what types of pleasures they might be. These numerous indirect (and sometimes vague) references can still be quite helpful to us in developing an idea on just what Heaven must be like.
We can get some understanding by finding patterns in the Biblical references to Heaven. Details as to the environment there are unnecessary, such as whether the streets really ARE paved with gold or if everything is encrusted with jewels. We will see that it is possible to get a good general idea of the environment without worrying about these sorts of superficial details.
Once a person dies, there would appear to be only two possibilities. The person's essence either vanishes at the physical death of the person, or it endures. If the first situation is true, then all of the world's organized religions are wrong, and the world is truly a cold, dark place! It cannot be proven that this situation is not true, but we will proceed based on the assumption that an enduring human Soul persists after physical death. If physical death also represents the termination of the existence of a person's Soul, then nothing else matters, and there is no Heaven and no Hell. There ARE people who believe that, but the vast majority of people believe in some sort of persistence of the human Soul beyond death.
Now, there again appear to be only two possibilities. Either that Soul/person is in an environment where a physical reality seems to exist or in an environment where NO physical sense of reality exists. In this latter case, only Spiritual (and possibly intellectual) essences exist. A number of Biblical references to Heaven clearly imply that sensations of actual physical experience exist there.
Philippians 3:20 describes how we should (here on Earth) live and conduct ourselves as citizens of Heaven. That seems to imply some sort of social interaction exists between residents in Heaven. John says in Revelation 7:9 that he saw people in Heaven, and in Revelation 19:6 that he heard their voices. Luke 22:30 tells us that residents are invited to eat and drink at God's table. Matthew 8:11 describes sitting with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. John 14:2 refers to the many mansions of Heaven and that a specific place would be prepared for each believer.
These references appear to indicate that Heaven is an environment where a sense of physical reality exists. These considerations then bring up a next area to consider. What is the relationship between a person's existence as a mortal and that same person's later existence as a Soul in Heaven?
Keeping in mind that the place is called "Heaven", doesn't it figure that each resident's environment there would be tailor-made (actually God-made) for inspiring happiness and bliss in that specific person? With God's limitless capabilities, He could easily do this. John 14:2 refers to the many mansions of Heaven and that a specific place would be prepared for each believer. Doesn't this seem clear in describing that God has arranged a personal Heaven for each resident? In addition, doesn't this seem to imply something resembling a physical manifestation of an actual place?
Nearly everyone agrees that residents of Heaven do not have the sort of physical bodies we have on Earth. But the references cited above and many others suggest an existence that certainly offers the sensations resembling our Earthly existence. The Philippians reference above seems to imply some sort of social interaction between residents. John says in Revelation 7:9 that he saw people, and in Revelation 19:6 that he heard their voices. Luke 22:30 tells us that residents are invited to eat and drink at God's table. Matthew 8:11 describes sitting with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Obviously, there are a lot of uncertainties here. Without the sensation of some sort of physical bodies, why would one need to eat and drink at God's table? Perhaps for social reasons, and almost certainly, for reasons far beyond our capability for understanding. The Bible even alludes to this sort of apparent logical implication which are beyond our intellect in Luke 20:28-38, and assures us that there will actually BE no such complications or confusion in our minds, once we fully understand God's plan. 1 John 3:2 explains that we humans (as humans) will not know the details of existence in Heaven. (That rather denies some of the hope for value in this present article!)
Now, THIS sounds like Heaven!
Dining at God's table. Meeting and socializing with long departed friends and relatives. Interacting with innumerable strangers, all of who treat you with utmost respect, consideration and love.Wow!
I suspect that He had even greater reason for wanting us to learn these proper behaviors and thoughts. God wanted to prepare us to be become part of the community of Heaven, to become citizens there! Hebrews 11:14,16 even describes that He prepared for them a "city" in Heaven.
Think of this another way. A brief analogy: The Queen of England is about to host a party. She's considering putting YOU on the guest list! Doesn't it seem likely that she would have someone check out your background to try to determine your likely behavior? And if that research suggested that you might come up to her, belch, and say "Hey, Queenie, how's tricks?" or to swear in her presence, that she would either have you sent to an "emergency finishing school" or otherwise just scratch you off the guest list? Many behaviors are just not tolerated in the presence of the Queen of England. Compare this example regarding an important but insignificant (human) monarch to the situation of being in the presence of God and Jesus. What kind of behavior, language and thoughts would be appropriate there? And considering that they already KNOW what's in your heart, do you think they would invite unrefined, selfish, crude, boorish, vile, unethical, or immoral people to join their Perpetual Celebration? It seems pretty unlikely!
This analogy helps emphasize an additional reason why the presence of the Holy Spirit is so important to us on Earth. The Spirit is here to train us to treat each other properly as humans, sure. But, far more importantly, the Spirit is also here to help train, educate and "finish" each of us so we learn the behaviors appropriate for someday being in the presence of God Himself. Not to learn to act in a certain way because of potential threats or rewards, but to do so because the Spirit has helped us to learn to act that way "naturally," even in the continuous presence (on Earth) of our inborn sinful nature.
This argument helps explain why the follow-up portion of the Salvation process, Sanctification (or training by the Holy Spirit), is as important as the first part of Salvation, Justification, where each Christian requests Jesus to be his or her personal Savior. A Christian is expected to continue sanctifying, or refining his/her Christian actions, behaviors and beliefs throughout life, such that, when physical death arrives, a solid Christian existence is in place.
Residents of Heaven sometimes see friends and relatives from their Earthly existence, and experience great joy in such visits. No bad things ever happen to anyone. Everyone spends much of their time worshipping God, but also has time available to experience other pleasures of existence, such as peace, pleasure, bliss and happiness in all activities.
Just what might all of these residents of Heaven do in their remaining time? Enjoying everything, for sure. But there seems like there must be more as well. I don't know if the concept of boredom could have any meaning in Heaven. However, think about when you went on a vacation to the most wonderful spot on Earth. The first hours were beyond words. The first week, it was exquisite. But, what if you stayed there for a month, or a year, or 50 years? Would that incredible intensity of experience still remain? I think not. There are some people who live in tropical climates on Earth who long to see an occasional snowfall!
Now consider spending the next hundred thousand years with Jesus Himself. And your existence would not be in doing anything other than Adoring Him. Do you see a possibility of a similar circumstance? I know you wouldn't actually get bored with Jesus, but the Heavenly aspects of your interactions with Him would seem likely wear off.
God knows this, because He knows what is in everyone's hearts. There is no doubt in my mind that He would provide for this situation. How would he do that? I believe that our Loving God would provide each of the residents of Heaven interesting and fulfilling things to do. I believe this gets to the core of the meaning of Heaven. Yes, the perfect environment would be great. But, as a mortal person, you must know the joy of doing something nice for a child or a stranger or anyone else! It is sometimes an exquisite feeling! A couple years ago, while I was pumping gas at a gas station, I noticed an elderly woman pumping gas at a car nearby, who was unusually elegant in the way she was dressed. I made a brief compliment to her. I still remember the giant smile she had for the following minutes! Just watching her reaction absolutely made my day!
Imagine being able to do such nice things for others on a regular basis! And having such nice things done for you as well! As a result, you would certainly never be bored, and you would always be brimming over with happiness! I believe that this sort of regular activity is central to the concept of Heaven. Not so much the presence of gold and jewels, but of PEOPLE who were "gold and jewels!" Each resident in Heaven would likely have a daily routine that involved activities that he/she enjoyed on Earth, and in addition, these wonderful feelings of interacting with worthy other residents.
Let's say that while you are a mortal, you enjoy making and painting ceramics and pottery. I am certain that the "mansion" that John 14:2 says will be prepared for you will have a potter's wheel and a kiln! As you complete your pieces, you will then just give them away to people you know will appreciate them and appreciate your generosity! This general idea would apply to every single resident in Heaven, because each mortal person has some special talents, skills or characteristics that are "special." In Heaven, that person's Soul would be able to share that special feature with many others! It seems to me that such an existence would be the very definition of Heaven by anyone's standards!
Then, there's the possibility of even more! Being nice and generous and compassionate and thoughtful to the other residents of Heaven would be great in itself. But how about if God asked for your assistance? All of Heaven's residents would certainly jump at the chance of fulfilling the slightest request of God or Jesus! This seems to me to be an even enhanced concept of what Heaven is like. Not only is it an environment of peace, happiness, bliss and joy, with beauty everywhere, but each resident would (occasionally?) have the opportunity of personally helping Jesus or God Himself!
Since Heaven contains a "host" of residents, there are plenty of residents available to do God's calling. This would seem to be an excellent pool of resources for God to use to assist in doing His work. I submit that we could reasonably consider calling those Heavenly residents who assist in the Lord's work, Angels. Hebrews 12:22 refers to an innumerable company of angels in Heaven and Luke 20:36 implies that all residents of Heaven are Angels.
Let's reflect on this for a moment. God designed His Universe. God is extremely intelligent. He designed the Universe such that there were eventually likely to be many residents in Heaven. Doesn't it seem likely that He would have some purpose in that? That He wouldn't just set Heaven's residents "out-to-pasture" in an unfulfilling existence? That He understands the joy we can experience when we do something good for someone else? That He planned Heaven to be a, well, Heavenly, place to exist, for all of its residents? Somewhere that happiness would exist everywhere, even as a result of labors performed? Rather than arranging all of Heaven's residents to be inactive "consumers" of the situation, He provided that all could feel the fulfillment of being productive assistants in His work!
It is probably necessary here to address the question on whether all residents of Heaven are automatically Angels. The Bible has numerous references to Angels, but there is always great vagueness regarding their characteristics. As mentioned above, Hebrews 12:22 mentions an innumerable company of Angels. There are implied references that they come from Heaven, but there is no Scripture that indicates any possible relationship between the Angels in Heaven and the souls of departed mortals that are also there. I am conjecturing that at least SOME of those souls are chosen by God or Jesus to assist in doing Their work. This is an important point that will be expanded later.
Continuing on this logical strand, what would such a huge number of angels be needed for? Or, from a different perspective, how would God have provided enough to do to occupy and fulfill all of them, so that they could each experience the breadth of the joys of Heaven? I suggest that maybe only a few, maybe most or maybe all of the residents of Heaven are called on by the Lord to have some function as Angels.
If you think about how messed up our Earthly world is, there's clearly a lot of work that needs to be done down here, to counter-act the efforts of Original Sin and the devil and his legions. Maybe these many Angels assist somehow in the individual guidance and training of the many millions of mortal Christians and seekers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? After all, as we discussed earlier, God probably arranged for the persistence of memory from Earthly life. (We must remember that He certainly has good reason for all He does). Maybe this is so that each Angel still personally remembers the numerous struggles experienced while still a mortal. That way, an Angel might feel extra compassion and connection while helping the Holy Spirit teach and aid some specific mortal in like circumstances. This extra closeness could assist in the effectiveness of the lessons of the Holy Spirit.
Angelic activity might also extend to having millions of ears listening for the quiet prayer of a young child somewhere. Or toward somehow helping achieve remission from some deadly illness, in response to a prayer. Or in helping allow the remarkable things we all occasionally experience that we attribute to remarkable strokes of luck. It may not be luck, after all. Your good fortune might be the result of the action of some Angel that happened to be looking over you.
It is appropriate to mention the concept of Guardian Angel. The Bible never refers to such a presence. The experiences of many individuals in many societies have engendered this concept. A large number of people truly believe in the existence of a so-called Guardian Angel. This present premise offers a possible explanation for such a phenomenon, within the context of accepted Christian belief. Recent Angelic arrivals in Heaven probably even personally know a few individuals still on Earth who could benefit from an additional focus by the Holy Spirit. This category includes ALL of us! It might be that this is the origination of the (generally Biblically unsupported) concept of Guardian Angel that many cultures believe. The bond between grieving families and friends and their dear departed ones might be closer than we think!
God certainly has some specific jobs for new Angels to do, but they might also have some other time where they could choose to watch over favorite (still living) nephews, nieces, and other relatives and friends. If this is true, there might be some reason to find special comfort while grieving for a lost relative or friend. They may actually still be with you, in a manner of speaking. Accepting this perspective might help people get over the intense loss felt after the death of a loved one.
The implications of the previous parts of this presentation suggest that it would be prudent that we all put forth more effort into this pursuit. Rather than considering religion to be a once-a-week, brief activity, we should realize that it should be central to our existence and clearly carry our faith with us every minute of every day. In this way, we hopefully develop a strong, consistent Christian nature. That in itself seems like a worthy goal to strive for. But, in addition to that, IF we have learned proper Christian thought and behavior appropriately enough, we will have the chance to regularly apply those thoughts and behaviors for the benefit of the other residents of Heaven. In addition, the Lord might someday (in Heaven) call upon us to assist in doing His work! What an incredible opportunity to aspire to! Clearly worth working toward!
This is great in itself, but consider the even broader implications of all this for a moment. EVERY single one of us puny little mortals can DO this! We can spend our lives in developing and refining our Christianity, in order to develop and practice desirable Christian behavior patterns. (This does NOT mean that we all have to become Monks. A normal life with a Christian consciousness can be just as appropriate as a Monk's life) As a reasonably likely result of this consistent effort, we would be, not only in Heaven (as generally understood), but having an eternal existence aiding the Lord in His works!
Doesn't this pretty much define "the Meaning of Life" in the best possible sense for each of us? Isn't it crystal clear that there is astounding value in learning and demonstrating the lessons the Bible teaches us? That the distinction between good and evil is much more clear and obvious than it often seems in modern, hectic life? That we are responsible for learning to identify and respond appropriately to each? Don't the Ten Commandments seem more valuable and more clearly applicable in modern life now?
Frustrated people sometimes ask themselves "Why am I here? Why was I born? What POSSIBLE value do I have? Do I have ANY importance whatever?" If they have a darker perspective, they are convinced they have NO intrinsic importance and no value and no reason to have lived. The implications of the foregoing presentation are clear. YES! Every single one of us has the capability of being VERY IMPORTANT. Every one of us can choose to aspire to be an assistant to God, whether our Earthly existence was as a corporate executive or as a struggling single mother in the ghetto. What an exciting idea! YOU can feel hope and value in your life, no matter what circumstances might hold you down right now! By learning proper behavior and thoughts, ANY person can realistically become a dearly valued assistant to God Himself. FOREVER!! I hope you realize that such a position is FAR more significant than a mortal position as being, for example, the Chairman of Microsoft.
From some of the reasoning of the previous sections, it might turn out to be actually additionally valuable for Heaven's residents to have dealt with considerable adversity while still human. If a resident was chosen as an Angel to help or watch over some struggling mortal, there would be great value if the Angel could personally relate to and understand the distress of the mortal being helped. A Heavenly resident whose mortal life was that of wealth and plenty, where experiences were generally of having rather than needing, may not need to be called on as often to watch over mortals, since the appropriate "people skills" might be less developed. 1 Peter 3:4, Matthew 5:5, and Psalms 37:11 may be referring to this situation where God finds potentially greater value in those with meekness. He may actually find more benefit and usefulness in those who were the meek and the poor and the downtrodden. Interesting, isn't it!
With the benefit from this new perspective, it might even become a little easier for us to deal with the adversity that sometimes affects all of our lives. When bad things happen to us, they may not (only) be the devil attempting to have his way. They may not be God "punishing" us, as some people believe. They may not be "tests" to challenge our Faith. Instead, such situations may be learning opportunities for us. God knows how much we need to learn, and He also knows that sometimes we're pretty slow learners.
If you think back, you may realize that some of the greatest insights you have achieved about yourself or the world around you have come during or after some great adversity. A lost job, a failed personal relationship, a serious accident, or a financial setback, can sometimes cause productive introspection. In good times, we tend to not do such analyzing and we just "go with the flow." Maybe such incidents are necessary in our lives as learning opportunities.
These benefits would come to you, without you having to invest a lot of your time or money or effort. After a while of acting this new way, it will soon feel so natural that there will be no effort involved at all. You will find that you have a much-improved outlook on life, on others around you, and on yourself. All the time, you will be preparing yourself to be most valuable an assistant to God that you can be!
In the modern world, too many Christians try to use the Bible to justify their actions in a specific situation (in a rigid legalistic manner), rather than as a guidebook for every aspect of their existence. This common approach sometime tends to encourage "selective Christianity" where an individual optionally chooses to sometimes follow Christian ways and to sometimes ignore them. This is very bad although it is not at all obvious as a problem. It represents rather corrupt behavior. The presentations here are meant to remind us that God always knows what is in our heart and is aware of every single thing we do and say. YOUR judgment on what is a "little" sin or a "big" sin may be quite different from reality. Usually, you actually KNOW the difference but try to pretend it doesn't count. Often, it may turn out that your motivation for doing something might be as important as what you do. A lie to a small child regarding the Easter Bunny is quite different from a lie to a business associate regarding a product flaw, even though the bigger one might be somehow "justified" as appearing similar.
As you hear the weekly messages from Ministry in any of the Lord's Churches, keep these perspectives in mind. Occasionally, you may find additional insights will occur to you regarding the implications and consequences of living and applying the Pastor's words. And gradually, a softer (more Christian) approach will grow in your dealings with others, whether parents, children, friends, co-workers, competitors or strangers.
This could easily become a self-perpetuating activity. WONDERFUL! The more successfully you are able to follow a Christian life-style, the happier and the more fulfilled you are likely to feel, as a Christian, of course, but additionally with the realizations of the extra ULTIMATE benefits that may arise from it. Life now having more meaning and being more enjoyable (as a result of your efforts at pursuing Christianity, and as a result of a gentler, kinder outlook attitude toward the difficulties in life and those people that cause them), it becomes easier and easier to actively live the life of a Christian.
As a result, you will gradually realize that you feel better and better about yourself. The Holy Spirit's effect on you is growing! The Spirit has always been there, but you are now more receptive to It's Messages (Christianity calls this "illumination"). Consistently treating others in a Christian manner certainly helps you know that you're on the right track, even if the recipient doesn't acknowledge or appreciate your effort. Knowing that you are becoming more and more Christian is nice, too. Additionally, you will feel a little more comfortable because you have a better idea of the "Meaning of Life" and just where YOU fit in!
And, finally, knowing that the Lord will likely reward His finest students by requesting their regular help as future Angels in Heaven, adds to the incentive to make the attempt! Given the Lord's tolerance with our failings, it is clear that He doesn't expect all of us to get "A's" in everything, but just to continuously make the EFFORT to try!
This last insight can be quite valuable. Christians all KNOW that the Lord expects us to regularly mess up. Unfortunately, some Congregation members seem to conclude from this that His standards are low, and that not much of an effort at Christianity is required. This new insight makes it clear that this tolerance is NOT a carte blanche to lower our standards. Instead, we should take it as additional incentive to INCREASE our efforts and our standards and to pursue our individual Christianity even more fervently. Even if we realize that we do not personally have the spiritual discipline of a Saint Augustine, we can feel assured that the Lord's expectations for each of us are unique. He will welcome ALL Christians into Heaven. He just wants us to each be "The best that we can be!" Without comparing your Christianity with that of anyone else or with any standardized scale, but on a scale of your own.
If you are capable of more full Christian behavior, and then choose not to make the effort, He would not be pleased. If, instead, your life situation is presently disadvantaged, such that survival or other important worldly considerations mandate your life choices, He will take that into consideration in the evaluation of your efforts at Christianity. In such case, He would expect you to later demonstrate to Him that you are serious in your beliefs. His recognition that we are often very shortsighted in pursuing worldly goals is wonderful. Such Tolerance and Patience should NOT allow or encourage us to consistently pursue such worldly goals at the expense of our Christianity. He expects us to eventually come to our senses and get back on track. Once that is the case, our Loving Lord will not carry any ill will for our previous shortcomings.
The physical environment in Hell may be of minimal importance. Rather, the learned behaviors and attitudes of a corrupt mortal existence would forever haunt the residents there. For example, a businessperson who consistently cheated customers and others, just to achieve a monetary gain, would wind up in a place where money had no importance whatever. Yet, that person's Soul would only remember the developed skill of cheating people to get "ahead". This would be incredibly frustrating for this person in Hell. He would and could never succeed at "profiting" from his deceit and duplicity. He would spend his eternity in continuing to forever trying to cheat other residents of Hell, while never once succeeding. In addition, since all of the other residents of Hell would have similar learned behavior patterns, he would also continually feel that he was in a position of being cheated himself. For someone who valued money so highly as a mortal, the frustration of NEVER succeeding at cheating anyone in Hell and the paranoia of always having to worry about others there trying to cheat him, would seem to define unique Hell existences for each resident there.
Whether it was hot or cold, or physically comfortable or barren, would be of minimal importance. The continuous and permanent psychological turmoil of only knowing and being capable of bad behaviors would be the real Hell.
Those parents might not fully know just WHY they are supposed to teach such things. Everyone does it, so it must be right. I'm sure that many realize that many of those lessons will be important in their children's later lives. After all, they were children once, and they now realize why THEIR parents insisted on teaching them certain things. Making sure the kids are socially compatible with the world they will eventually have to live in. It all has to do with being good parents, right?
Well, yes. But, there's even more. As presented in this essay, there are consequences of learning to live a righteous life that extend beyond the grave. Parents who are very strict about their rules, and who teach the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments, are preparing their children to not only be good adults. They are initiating the training they will need to be some day chosen as assistants to God and to Jesus. At that point, the joy and bliss experienced will be beyond imagination! Being continuously in the company of kind and thoughtful neighbors. Watching over individuals of mankind. Assisting God Himself. Giving of oneself. How could it ever get any better than that? What do they call the place again? Heaven? HEAVEN, for sure!
We refer again to Matthew 6:20, which recommends that we lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven. We earlier pointed out how these treasures could not be material possessions. Is it obvious now just what these treasures might be? They are clearly the fully developed Christian characteristics that Jesus explained to us. Those wonderful treasures are actually the Christian traits that we are all supposed to be practicing and developing.
These are almost universal attitudes. Unfortunately, they are slight distortions of what the Bible actually tells us. Yes, no one will be rich or poor, and there will be no social classes, as such. But the Bible clearly tells us that there is NOT absolute uniformity in Heaven.
I think Acts 20:32 is particularly informative. " ... give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." He didn't say saved (justified), he said sanctified. This gives great insight into the environment in Heaven. ALL who accept Jesus as their Personal Savior are guaranteed entry into Heaven. However, ONLY those who are sanctified (the follow-up process of practicing and refining and improving Christian behavior) participate in this additional inheritance treasure. Given the context of this essay, this implies that only Christians with well-developed Christianity will be granted the inheritance of being allowed to help Jesus do His works.
None of Heaven's residents would ever feel jealousy for another, no matter what possessions or environment they had, because that person ALSO was in an environment that represents Heaven for him/her.
Given our original sinful nature and our numerous mortal shortcomings, we can each greatly benefit from the behavior enhancement available (by learning better Christianity) to each of us through the personal presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So, PAY ATTENTION and don't ignore It's guidance. Learn to think and behave in more and more Christian ways, as you allow the Spirit to better and better guide your life!
As Christians on Earth, we are encouraged to be loving, patient, tolerant, considerate, and to apply many other Christian teachings. Jesus demonstrated the Perfect way of living in this way. We flawed mortals struggle with such efforts. Our built-in Original Sin makes us tend to want to be selfish, arrogant, and intolerant of others. An important point we're making here is that developing a pattern of such thinking and behavior is what is important in developing and building one's Christianity. Such patterns will (hopefully) eventually become natural, where Christian behavior and thoughts just occur (most of the time! We still have our sinful nature!) This is different from a ruthless businessperson that donates a million dollars to charity as a Christian gesture but then goes back to non-Christian methods to prosper in business. But that's a different matter.
The answer to this must necessarily be speculation. Are there not enough Angels to be aware of your situation? The evidence stated above suggests that is not the case. There would seem to be large numbers of Angels in Heaven. Some of them even are personally aware of you and your life. Are those Angels too busy with more important work to pay attention to your situation? Almost certainly not. The Bible tells us that the tiniest Prayer of the smallest child is heard. OK. That implies that some Angel ALWAYS is aware of your personal adversities. Why, then, are Prayers sometimes not answered?
I look at it this way. Let's say EVERY Prayer ever made was answered. How long do you think it would be before we became spiritually lazy and spoiled and rotten and put NO effort into being a good person? I think that for this reason, only a limited number of Prayers are answered. Just how many or how it is determined just WHICH ones are to be answered, I have no clue. God works in mysterious ways, FAR beyond my capability to understand.
A few years ago, when OJ Simpson slaughtered his ex-wife Nicole, we all grieved and the loss of a young and relatively innocent life. However, did you ever realize the huge amount of publicity regarding wife-beating that occurred as a result? That subject would not have gotten so well known if it hadn't have been for her death. Afterwards, many women have had the confidence to come forward about abuse they personally experienced. Without Nicole's death, they probably wouldn't have. Is this the actual reason why God allowed her to be killed? How does her death compare to the many women whose lives are better as a result? These are tough questions that none of us can answer. I only mention it as a potential case where God might have seen greater value for society in her death than in answering Prayers she certainly made that night. I'm pointing out that we don't necessarily understand why some Prayers are answered and others are not, but that God knows what He is doing at all times.
Christ calls it his "Father's house" (John 14:2).
It is called "paradise" (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7).
The heavenly Jerusalem" (Gal. 4: 26; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 3:12).
The "kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 25:1; James 2:5)
The "eternal kingdom" (2 Pet. 1:11)
The "eternal inheritance" (1 Pet. 1: 4; Heb. 9:15)
The "better country" (Heb. 11:14, 16)
The blessed are said to "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and to be "in Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22; Matt. 8:11); to "reign with Christ" (2 Tim. 2:12); and to enjoy "rest" (Heb. 4:10, 11)
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of "life everlasting," "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17), an exemption from all sufferings for ever, a deliverance from all evils (2 Cor. 5:1, 2) and from the society of the wicked (2 Tim. 4:18), bliss without termination, the "fulness of joy" for ever (Luke 20:36; 2 Cor. 4:16, 18; 1 Pet. 1:4; 5:10; 1 John 3:2)
The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a "place", a place "prepared" for them (John 14:2)
Quotations from the Bible used in this essay are from the KJAV Bible.
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C Johnson, Pastor
A Christ Walk Church