The Afterlife

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baller91

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Christian views of the afterlife generally involve heaven and hell. These realms are thought to be eternal. Catholicism includes with these the transitory realm of purgatory whose denizens, dying in a state of sin but nonetheless assured of salvation, reside for a period of time to undergo purification before entering into heaven. There is, however, some debate on this point within Eastern Christianity.[citation needed]Traditional Christian theology teaches there will be a General Resurrection, with the soul continuing consciousness after death until the resurrection of the physical body and the Last Judgement. [12] A minority believe that only the righteous will be resurrected, and that the unrighteous will be annihilated (see Annihilationism), while a further minority believe in universal salvation.
 

Love123

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The Rich Man and LazarusLuke 16: 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
 

Love123

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Paradise is now closed.......................that was the Paradise on the other side of the cross...........Jesus made all things new...................that meant after the cross...........he went to Hades.......................the Paradise side and set Captivity Captive..........Those souls that previously covered their sins by the blood of bulls and goats. Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. It covered.................we needed a Lamb of God.............Taking the thief on the cross with him.......................for Jesus said to him.Today you shall be with me in Paradise...................He did not say.......Your soul shall be under soil for a good many thousand of years and thenWe can talk...................no.................... Jesus said TODAY...IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOU TAKE YOUR LAST BREATH!..........INSTANTLY!.......YOU WILL BE IN PARADISE...PRAISE JESUS.......... Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. SEE JESUS SAID *TODAY*.............. NOW WE CAN SEE JESUS TRUTH HERE IS HIS WORD THE WORD? YES............HE SHOWS YOU.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOT IN A MILLION YEARS.........................TODAY!JESUS IS THE ONLY ONE THAT COULD DIE AND BE THE VERY FIRST RESURRECTION........................AND HE WAS............NO ONE EVER DIED BEFORE HIM AND WENT TO THE THIRD HEAVEN.............................THEY WENT TO THE BELLY OF THE EARTH..........HADES...........................THE PARADISE SIDE... ADJACENT THE PITS OF FLAMES OF TORTURE.... JESUS PAVED THE WAY........NOT ONLY FIRST......BUT THE ONLY ONE CAPABLE OF.. RESURRECTED HE OPENED THE DOORS OF THE THIRD HEAVEN.AS ONLY HE COULD AND; HE LEAD CAPTIVITY CAPTIVEALL MAY ENTER INTO THROUGH SALVATION.Now PARADISE IS IN THE THIRD HEAVEN..............WHERE JESUS RULES AND REINS................ 2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: ABSENT FROM THE BODY IS TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD........2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.NO SOUL SLEEP..............NOT SCRIPTURAL......GOD BLESSLOVE123
 

Helen

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I found Love123's view very interesting :)

I don't think I see everything quite like that! I do see that being "in Him" will be Paradise in itself...
I even can agree that Paradise may well be in the third heaven.
I do not see the third heaven as being the "Heaven of Heavens" or the place of the Throne of God.
No one has entered there expect the Glorified Lord.
The Day of resurrection is not yet here, The declaration of " Time No Longer" has not yet been called.
I agree that souls are not "asleep"....but I do not believe that my mother or Father have " gone to Heaven"....Paradise yes.... too many people have died and gone 'somewhere beautiful' band come back to tell the story, for there not to be Paradise. Most recognized family and friends "as they once were" ...which somehow I don't think will be the case when "all things are made new. "
Obviously none of us can really know...probably many of us have had dreams, visions, or insight from the Lord...but all those things are held lightly , until God Himself unveils all the Glory of the Other Realm and His total Victory.
 

Job

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1 Corinthians 2
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
 

bbyrd009

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So we're back to "Paul craved death in order to be with Jesus."
too many people have died and gone 'somewhere beautiful' band come back to tell the story, for there not to be Paradise.
ok not to dissuade you, but you know the "Heaven Is For Real" kid recanted, right.
 

bbyrd009

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until God Himself unveils all the Glory of the Other Realm
"other realm?" This "other realm" is within you right now, ByGrace. You might consider such passages as "No one knows where they go when they die," "All go to the same place," and i mean yikes you even pray "on earth as it is in heaven" right.
 
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Helen

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"other realm?" This "other realm" is within you right now, ByGrace. You might consider such passages as "No one knows where they go when they die," "All go to the same place," and i mean yikes you even pray "on earth as it is in heaven" right.

Hi there
Agree " The kingdom is within us" ...He is the kingdom.
But let's face it " if this is it" then it's not much of a victorious ending of the Story which started in Genesis!! I believe God has something better and more exciting planned for the " great wrap up" Yes, the kingdom is with...but as yet we have not entered into His Glory! The Day is at hand!
When He said " Behold I come quickly " .....I must admit, I thought it would be a lot quicker than this!!! ;)
I was always a believer in "a day as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day" 2 Peter 3.
So starting from Genesis...and counting seven " days" as 7000 years to the seventh day/ rest......it should have been all wrapped up by now!! So...that may have 'preached well' back in the day....but here we sit...it has not happened. :rolleyes:
So, I guess the only thing we can do is to pray " Thy Kingdom come..."
 

ScottA

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Hi there
Agree " The kingdom is within us" ...He is the kingdom.
But let's face it " if this is it" then it's not much of a victorious ending of the Story which started in Genesis!! I believe God has something better and more exciting planned for the " great wrap up" Yes, the kingdom is with...but as yet we have not entered into His Glory! The Day is at hand!
When He said " Behold I come quickly " .....I must admit, I thought it would be a lot quicker than this!!! ;)
I was always a believer in "a day as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day" 2 Peter 3.
So starting from Genesis...and counting seven " days" as 7000 years to the seventh day/ rest......it should have been all wrapped up by now!! So...that may have 'preached well' back in the day....but here we sit...it has not happened. :rolleyes:
So, I guess the only thing we can do is to pray " Thy Kingdom come..."
This is another issue of timeline confusion. Time is an illusion, a creation, the telling of a story that is [already] written. It is finished.

The "end" comes at death - "each in his own order." As for entering into His glory, we enter (if we enter) at that time in our part of the story: history is His story. "Today is the day of salvation." Time has nothing to do with it. If we come unto Him, we come, whether it is the first hour, or the last. If we do not come, we do not.
 

ScottA

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"Afterlife" is a misconception. It assumes that there is life "before." This is wrong. When we are born into this world, we are born into death, that sentence given to all born of women since Adam. To have life, we must be born [again] of the spirit (of God).
 

lforrest

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This is another issue of timeline confusion. Time is an illusion, a creation, the telling of a story that is [already] written. It is finished.

The "end" comes at death - "each in his own order." As for entering into His glory, we enter (if we enter) at that time in our part of the story: history is His story. "Today is the day of salvation." Time has nothing to do with it. If we come unto Him, we come, whether it is the first hour, or the last. If we do not come, we do not.

Yet there is still a before and after. Before the cross, and after the cross.
 
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ScottA

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Yet there is still a before and after. Before the cross, and after the cross.
Indeed. However, that is to be understood "as it is written." Whose time was timeless, "slain from the foundation of the world."
 

Helen

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to ScottA.
True..re "afterlife"...but I think maybe you are being a wee bit nit-picky and a playing on words... Being what we call "born again" is not the fullness of the life yet to come!! So I make that a before, and an after!!

We are alive in a lower state within this flesh that we drag around with us daily....our 'life' is within us as the kingdom is within us....but is hampered by this flesh. Yet all that we experience in this lower level of life is only a mere shadow of the true.

Colossians 2 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come"

We all live in this Shadow of the things that are yet to be revealed.
For the sake of intelligent communicate ...a doctor pronounce us 'alive' at our natural birth. They don't say- " Oh congratulations, another dead baby in Adam." So we call people 'alive' and we all know what we mean.

In that respect...there IS a hereafter ..." To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life."
2 Cor 3. "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."
From one level of life unto another...'to me' that is for sure, a " before and after"!!
Even 'the great unwashed' have a level of life as do the animals

Also you said in an earlier post "time is an illusion".
In my book, God started Time..( for us, He is outside of time) the clock began ticking ...and God, and God alone declares "Time no longer" (in Revelation.) To me that makes Time 'a something', not just an illusion.
Time is a test, and time, for us mortals is a gift of Grace. ( I don't see that as an illusion)

No while we are chatting about things to come..we I am. I believe the test of Time is for us to find out where our treasure is.
For I strongly believe that "what we choose in this here and now" is the level of glory we will find ourself in later.
So I believe that our salvation is sure , in and through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.
But our position concerning our works, be they - "gold , silver and precious stones , or wood , hay and stubble" Has yet to be determined. That's why I say Time is grace in our favour for us. It is our daily "choosing time". Paul said " I press toward..." That speaks to me of 'another time', and a glorious time.

Bless you ... ...H


 

lforrest

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Indeed. However, that is to be understood "as it is written." Whose time was timeless, "slain from the foundation of the world."

I wonder if time is an invention to allow creatures to change. Without time we would simply be. If time ended all the unsaved would be dead and the saved would be alive. There would be no possibility to change those facts.
 

ScottA

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to ScottA.
True..re "afterlife"...but I think maybe you are being a wee bit nit-picky and a playing on words... Being what we call "born again" is not the fullness of the life yet to come!! So I make that a before, and an after!!

We are alive in a lower state within this flesh that we drag around with us daily....our 'life' is within us as the kingdom is within us....but is hampered by this flesh. Yet all that we experience in this lower level of life is only a mere shadow of the true.

Colossians 2 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come"
We all live in this Shadow of the things that are yet to be revealed.
For the sake of intelligent communicate ...a doctor pronounce us 'alive' at our natural birth. They don't say- " Oh congratulations, another dead baby in Adam." So we call people 'alive' and we all know what we mean.

In that respect...there IS a hereafter ..." To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life."
2 Cor 3. "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."
From one level of life unto another...'to me' that is for sure, a " before and after"!!
Even 'the great unwashed' have a level of life as do the animals

Also you said in an earlier post "time is an illusion".
In my book, God started Time..( for us, He is outside of time) the clock began ticking ...and God, and God alone declares "Time no longer" (in Revelation.) To me that makes Time 'a something', not just an illusion.
Time is a test, and time, for us mortals is a gift of Grace. ( I don't see that as an illusion)

No while we are chatting about things to come..we I am. I believe the test of Time is for us to find out where our treasure is.
For I strongly believe that "what we choose in this here and now" is the level of glory we will find ourself in later.
So I believe that our salvation is sure , in and through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.
But our position concerning our works, be they - "gold , silver and precious stones , or wood , hay and stubble" Has yet to be determined. That's why I say Time is grace in our favour for us. It is our daily "choosing time". Paul said " I press toward..." That speaks to me of 'another time', and a glorious time.

Bless you ... ...H

Blessings to you as well.

But let me ask you: Which is easier, to be your age, or to lay out each day, week, month, or year? For our sake God has indeed laid them out - but if we say so, it is a lie (and "every man a liar"). For, in truth, God, speaking of Himself, says, "I am." Therefore, if we are "in Christ" and Christ is One with the Father (having gone to the Father already), we are not correct to say the day is yet to come - but "I am" for the day has come already.

Thus, if we say that we walk in the shadow of death (in this body), we must first disregard that "it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us", and that "we are a new creation" having been "raised up with Christ." So, then, if one says "the day is coming" he is correct, for he thinks of himself as remaining and walking in darkness. And if one says he "walks in the spirit" and "it is finished", this too is correct. But we are not commanded to walk in darkness or in the flesh, but in the light, in the Spirit.

Christ has made us free.

PS, it was Einstein who said [scientifically] that time was an illusion.
 

lforrest

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When did Satan fall from heaven, and when did Satan approach God to test Job?

Wouldn't Satan have fallen from the time of Adam? Yet he was able to re-enter heaven to speak with God?

Or is the new heaven the one without Satan?
 

ScottA

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I wonder if time is an invention to allow creatures to change. Without time we would simply be. If time ended all the unsaved would be dead and the saved would be alive. There would be no possibility to change those facts.
Not to allow creatures "to change", but to tell of what was established from the foundation of the world. But, yes, time remains for the unsaved, but the saved are timeless already.
 

Helen

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ScottA

Thanks for yours...
The thing is as I see it...we have "positional truth"... = In Christ have are complete and have all things.
But we also have the walk of experience... As I see it...as we walk day by day with our Lord, we are bringing the two closer together ( if we are yielded and Abide In Him)
In other words...our feet have yet to catch up with spiritual condition in Christ.
I actually have a family member I was writing to the other day...they spout all the wonderful scriptures of where they are in Christ..all true...the bible says so...but I said " All well and good, but your works betray you, your feet ( walk) is not up to your spiritual position, you brow beat your wife and kids..you are bully , you may have the "spiritual position"...but your sure do not have the HEART of God.
Love one another... is still going to be our litmus test...how we live is still up for grabs...we choose.
just saying...we must stay balanced and check to make sure our feet ( walk) and heart are getting close together.

Just my two cents..