Eternal life in heaven?

[Deacon]

Twelve people, mostly in their teens or early twenties, were baptized this morning at church.
Pheeew was it hot outside!

A comment I heard a number of times, stated in various ways was:

“I believed in Jesus so I’ll have eternal life with God in heaven.”
Or
“I believed in Jesus, I didn’t want to go to hell, now I’ll have eternal life in heaven.”

Is life in heaven our hope?
What exactly is the Christian hope?

Rob

 

[canadyjd]

Is life in heaven our hope?
What exactly is the Christian hope?

Rob

Well, since there will only be two places to "be", the Christian hope of eternal life in heaven seems valid.

peace to youraying:

 

[Brother Bob]

Well, since there will only be two places to "be", the Christian hope of eternal life in heaven seems valid.

peace to youraying:

I'll go alone with that...........

BBob,

 

[Cutter]

Psalms 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints,
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel...

Our hope in heaven and eternal life with Christ is, what I believe to be, the primary hope of a Christian.

 

[Allan]

Twelve people, mostly in their teens or early twenties, were baptized this morning at church.
Pheeew was it hot outside!

A comment I heard a number of times, stated in various ways was:

“I believed in Jesus so I’ll have eternal life with God in heaven.”
Or
“I believed in Jesus, I didn’t want to go to hell, now I’ll have eternal life in heaven.”

Is life in heaven our hope?
What exactly is the Christian hope?

Rob

The fact we have eternal life is why we have place in heaven not that in heaven we have eternal life.

Jhn 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

 

[TCGreek]

Is life in heaven our hope?
What exactly is the Christian hope?

Rob

Two good questions, Rob.

Life in Heaven is not our hope.

Our Hope is the redemption of our bodies in a redeemed world (Rom 8:22-25; 2 Pet 3:11-13).

 

[JerryL]

My hope is to be with God, wherever he is. If that's heaven, that's where I want to be. I don't care about mansions and streets of gold, I'll stay in a tent in the back forty if need be.

 

[annsni]

I think I kind of see what Deacon is asking.

Are we saved because we believe in Jesus? No. Even the demons believe in Jesus so it's not belief that saves us.

We are saved because of our faith in the cross and the fact that the blood of Jesus covers our sins. We are saved because God saved us - not our works. I do believe that my faith is because of God opening my heart to His truth. I couldn't have done it on my own.

I've heard a LOT of people say that because they believe in Jesus, they're going to heaven. You know what? Even the Jehovah's Witnesses believe in Jesus and say they're going to heaven. So we know that it's not just "believing in Jesus" that gets us there.

 

[Jon-Marc]

Actually, those who are born again and know Jesus the Christ as their Saviour ALREADY have eternal life. We were given that when we were saved. All we do when we die is GO HOME!

 

[nunatak]

Col 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints.
Col 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.

IMO, eternal life is not what we hope for. Since we are saved by hope, our hope must be in Christ alone.

 

[Jarthur001]

Is life in heaven our hope?
What exactly is the Christian hope?

Rob

Is life in heaven our hope?

Only because Christ our Lord is there in Heaven. The hope we should have is not in the place of Heaven alone. God is the reward of our salvation folks, not the streets of gold. The glory will be in His Son, not in the gates.

Luke 1:47
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

Psalm 35:9
Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation.

Habakkuk 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

What exactly is the Christian hope?

In one word....Christ.

1 Timothy 1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

Our hope is not based on heaven, but in the salvation from our sins. Saved? Yes, but not from Hell. Saved from our sins that would place us in Hell. Ask a man if he wants to be saved from Hell and chances are he will say yes. Ask the same person if he wants to be saved from his sin, and chances are he will say no.

1Pe 1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Our hope is based on Christ resurrection.

 

[Deacon]

TC's reading the same book. :thumbs:

Heaven is not a final destiny.

I suggest that a good deal of our current view of death and the life beyond has come from none of these ['scripture, tradition, and reason, taken in their proper blend'] but rather from impulses in the culture that created, at best, semi-Christian informal traditions that now need to be reexamined in the clear light of scripture.

Surprised By Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright (27).

Rob

 

[MB]

Col 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints.
Col 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.

IMO, eternal life is not what we hope for. Since we are saved by hope, our hope must be in Christ alone.

You certainly have this right.
MB

 

[webdog]

TC's reading the same book. :thumbs:

Heaven is not a final destiny.


Rob

Not to nit pick, but Heaven is where God is, whether current location, or where it will be permanently one day... hopefully soon(here...the New Earth)

 

[JustChristian]

TC's reading the same book. :thumbs:

Heaven is not a final destiny.


Rob

Where are you saying a Christian's final destiny is? I know the Mormons believe that their final destiny will be as a god themselves ruling over another planet. Some non-Christians believe in reincarnation. I suppose the answer could be that "heaven is on earth?" I'm curious as to what this book says.

 

[Deacon]

I read N.T Wright expecting to find strangely morphed doctrine.
I found that I was the one that had morphed.
I was the one who did not think biblically.

Our hope is not a secret.

It certainly is not heretical

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret.
We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown.
For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 NLT

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears.
But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
1 John 3:2-3 NLT

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.
But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
Romans 8:19-21 NLT

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
Revelation 21:1-3 NLT

We hope for redemption.
We will be like Jesus, the firstborn of all creation.
We will live on a redeemed earth with God among us.

[This isn't a whole hearted endorsement of the book by N.T. Wright.
He has his moments.
But I would highly recommend reading it.]

Rob

 

[JustChristian]

This is an interesting perspective. Not that it is a book of theology but Wikopedia has this to say:

In Protestant Christianity

The intermediate state (between death and the resurrection) is unclear in Protestant Christian thought (see the article on soul sleep), but the following is generally concluded about the eternal life which Jesus promised those who believed in him:

The term Heaven (which differs from "The Kingdom of Heaven" see note below) is applied by the Biblical authors to the realm in which God currently resides. Eternal life, however, occurs in a renewed, unspoilt and perfect creation, which can be termed Heaven since God will choose to dwell there permanently with his people, as seen in Revelation 21:3. There will no longer be any separation between God and man. The believers themselves will exist in incorruptible, resurrected and new bodies; there will be no sickness, no death and no tears. Death is not a natural part of life, but was allowed to happen after Adam and Eve disobeyed God (see original sin) so that mankind would not live forever in a state of sin and thus a state of separation from God.[14]

Not only will the believers spend eternity with God, they will also spend it with each other. John's vision recorded in Revelation describes a New Jerusalem which comes from Heaven to the new earth, which is a seen to be a symbolic reference to the people of God living in community with one another. 'Heaven' will be the place where life will be lived to the full, in the way that the designer planned, each believer 'loving the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind' and 'loving their neighbour as themselves'(adapted from Matthew 22:37-38) —a place of great joy, without the negative aspects of earthly life.

(The Greek "hê basileia tou ouranou", usually translated as "the Kingdom of Heaven", is indeed more literally "the rule of the skies", with "the skies" a codeword for God.)