Uh.... every single one of the Apostles, and Jesus too, was a Jew.... not a Gentile.
And, who are the billions of descendants Abraham was promised?
By people, I meant as a group. At this point, only Christ has ascended to Heaven. Everyone that has ever died is still in the grave awaiting resurrection. There is no pagan hell and man does not have a pagan soul. He is either a living soul (Gen 2:7) or a dead soul (Eze 18:20). Animals, birds, fish are called creatures in Genesis = nephesh = same word used for soul.
The Present day Gentiles have a hope of Heavenly Places, where Christ ascended and now sitteth at the right hand of God.
Eph 1:20 (where Christ ascended to)
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 2:6 (where we will be resurrected to, to await Christ's appearance - same place)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
The nation Israel (the meek?) inherits the earth, the land, as was promised by God to Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and David, at various times. Those worthy faithful Jews, like Abraham, Moses, the 12, and million of others, will reside in the New Jerusalem, which isn't Heaven. It is heavenly in character, similar to the naming of the Kingdom of Heaven, which will be on the earth. It comes down out of Heaven and attaches to the New Earth, where there is no evidence of it ever being moved. No Jew, except Christ, ever had a hope of the highest Heaven (Heavenly Places, Far Above All, the Heaven of Heavens, the Uncreated Heaven), the place where Christ now is. The Greek of the term "Heavenly Places", the Super-Heavens, is only found in Ephesians, 5 times. I think the word, "Heavenly", alone, occurs 15 times in the NT, but always as the "character" of the city or whatever. Only Heavenly Places denotes an actual place.
I believe that the Heaven of God's abode is uncreated and will not be destroyed and renewed along with the created Heavens. The people in the New Jerusalem will have spiritual bodies, so I assume they will be able to move around in the created starry heavens, like the angels today. The people residing on earth will have earthly bodies, but with access to the tree of life and the pure water coming out of the New Jerusalem. Like today, the earthlings won't be able to exist in the starry heavens and those in the New Jerusalem and the starry heavens won't have the adaptive gear to enter the Heavenly Places.
However, starting at the top and looking down, we, in Heavenly Places will be able to exist in all 3 places, or spheres of blessing. I'm guessing right now that we will be pure Spirit, like God. Those in the New Jerusalem can exist in the starry heavens or on earth, but not in the highest Heaven.
The 3 Spheres, the Heaven of Heavens, the (New) Heavens, and the (New) Earth, will all be occupied by Saints.God covered all the bases. All three are mentioned in Deut 10:14, 1Ki 8:27, 2Chr 6:18, and Neh 9:6. In Gen 2:4 and others, it mentions that the Heavens and the earth were created. Nowhere can I find an indication that the Heaven of Heaven, where God is, was created.
I also tend to believe that these 3 spheres envelope each other. The term highest can also denote highest in power, deity, etc. The inner sphere, the earth, the center of the universe, is in the middle. It is immersed in the created heavens, and they are immersed in the sphere of the Heaven of Heavens. We could reach out and touch God, if we could sense Him. Same with the angels. Of course, God can reach out and touch us. Our resurrection into Heaven might just be a matter of stepping across the threshold
As of 3:41 PM, CDT, 8/22/18. these are what I believe. This could change abruptly.
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