I have also read the texts below that assert that the hope of mankind ever since Adam sinned has been to overcome the wages of sin and the scriptures tell us that the wage is death. Jesus conquering death made it a reality that Adam's descendants could be raised from the grave and from the curse of sin and death.
Let me again reiterate:
From what I read in the scriptures, Heaven was mentioned as a reward very sparingly and in fact not until Jesus in the NT brought it up in reference to the Kingdom. It seems like the heavenly promise was made by Jesus to a select group as opposed to all believers of all time. The hope of the righteous that Jesus made possible according to how I currently understand scripture is not Heaven, but rather LIFE.
(Jn 10:10b).... I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
(Jn 5:39-40).. "You search the Scriptures, because you suppose that in them you will find the Life of the Ages; and it is those scriptures that yield testimony concerning me; and yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have Life.
(Jn 6:68)..."Master," replied Simon Peter, "to whom shall we go? Your teachings tell us of the Life of the Ages.
(Jn 11:25)..."I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus; "he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live;
(Rom 6:21-23)...What fruit had ye then in those things of which ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result. For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(1 Jn 2:24-25) .... As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages.
Let me again reiterate:
From what I read in the scriptures, Heaven was mentioned as a reward very sparingly and in fact not until Jesus in the NT brought it up in reference to the Kingdom. It seems like the heavenly promise was made by Jesus to a select group as opposed to all believers of all time. The hope of the righteous that Jesus made possible according to how I currently understand scripture is not Heaven, but rather LIFE.
(Jn 10:10b).... I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
(Jn 5:39-40).. "You search the Scriptures, because you suppose that in them you will find the Life of the Ages; and it is those scriptures that yield testimony concerning me; and yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have Life.
(Jn 6:68)..."Master," replied Simon Peter, "to whom shall we go? Your teachings tell us of the Life of the Ages.
(Jn 11:25)..."I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus; "he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live;
(Rom 6:21-23)...What fruit had ye then in those things of which ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result. For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(1 Jn 2:24-25) .... As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages.