Where is Heaven and will we be there?

[Bill]

Hello all;

With all the different teachings today about end times and the subject of Heaven and mans being with God I thought we might take a look at this subject and see what and how everyone thinks on the subject and if there are any reasons that it will matter. Both the Old Testament and the New have prophecies concerning the end as we all know, here are a couple

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Isa 65:17  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.  18  But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

My Personal findings in my studies is that that the Word of God dose not seem to teach the aspect of man going to what is so commonly thought of as Heaven (acention to a Heavenly realm) but instead it will be God which comes down to dwell with man in and on the New Earth at the end of time as we know it now.  So now lets carry the thought a little farther in what can be expected at this point.
 

Isa 65:19  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20  There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21  And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23  They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. 24  And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25  The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

God tells us of the utopia in which He has promised to place mankind after Christ"s imminent return, one of no sorrow, no wars, no hunger, not even bickering between people. God will, just as He has promised, place us with Him in paradise. So with that in mind, is there anything we should fear? What first comes to my mind is verse 7 of Rev 21

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

What exactly is John referring to with ?he that overcometh?? One of these things I believe is Christians must be able to withstand is faulty doctrine. In my oppinion honestly, some of the teachings being taught of end times and the events to transpire during this time cause me to be truly concerned about the fact that these very teachings themselves may cause Christians to loose sight of sin and Satan. The teaching of ideology such as Rapture of the saints while I would love this to be the case I can not find taught in the Word of God. To believe this if it is indeed incorrect may well cause the Saints to stumble since according to these beliefs they will not be apart of the tribulations to come As I said earlier I simply am unable to make this consistant with biblical teachings, in fact Christ Himself tells us other wise in Mathew 24

Mat 24:3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: 8 all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs. 9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. 15 "So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; 17 let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; 18 and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. 19 And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 Then if any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Lo, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, 'Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, 'Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 28 Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; 31 and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Maybe I have indeed missed the teachings and if so I pray God opens my eyes and spirit to the correct understanding, but I fear there is trouble to come and we as Christians are going to be right in the middle of it and if we are we need  to be aware it is comming if not already here so just as Peter referred to in his epistle;

2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. 18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

we as Christians must search for the truth and the only place the true truth will be found in in God's Word. I fear many Christians are leaving themselves open to being misled by the teachings of sudo-Christians with humanistic teachings and I can only pray that I and the rest of my brothers and sisters out there will continue to follow some of the best advice I have ever heard when it comes to learning God's Word.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Anyway I hope I have made this make sense, I am writing it late and I need to go to bed but for some reason it is laying heavy on me tonight so here I am sitting here posting my thoughts, or at least I am attempting to. Brothers and sisters in Christ, my love goes out to all and I pray the Lord keeps you blessed and safe. Until later,

Love to all through Christ
Bill

[Greg]

  Great post Brother!

I would like to post a few thoughts on this subject but can't right now as it is late but will try to post later when I have a bit more time!