Introduction
We begin by first stating the facts that this write up is not based on the propagation of one denomination over the other nor to exercise academic prowess but to propagate the true word of God as contained in the Holy Bible for the benefit of mankind.
We therefore appeal to every reader of this article, man or woman, young or old to read it with an open mind devoid of religious bias or barriers to examine the message based on the facts of the Holy Scriptures as directed by Apostle John in 1 John 4:1 thus, “Beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world”. One other fact we would also like to establish is the erroneous belief by some “Christians” that Old Testament is gone and has no relevance today. This is not true because as the birth of Christ was foretold by prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament so it happened in the New Testament. “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah. 7:14). And In Matthew 1:22 & 23 it states thus: “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying: Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us”.
In Matthew 24:15, Christ said, “When you shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel stand in the holy place, whosoever readeth, let him understand”. What is more, Christ said “Think not that I am come to destroy the laws or the prophets, I am not come to destroy the laws or the prophets, I am not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt 5:17). Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4, 1 Tim. 6:3-5).
What prompted this write up is an encounter with a “born again Christian” who asked if we would make heaven and we told him we are not working to make heaven but to inherit the earth fully established in God’s Kingdom. He looked at us strangely and asked, do you go to church? We said we do. He asked further, why do you go to Church if you do not want to go to heaven? We replied, that we go to Church because we want to make the earth made paradise, At this point, he looked at us as if we were stupid persons while we pitied his ignorance as he walked away. Another is a tract titled “Heaven or Hell” and another titled “Red Card” which states that there is a referee with a red card at the gate of Heaven where any person whose name was not found in the book of life is shown the red card to go to Hell. The question that comes to mind is, if at death there is an immediate judgment which makes good ones go straight to heaven and the bad ones to hellfire, where is the place of resurrection? See 1st Cor. 15:12, 20, 42 etc.
The objective and purpose of this paper therefore is to bring to the fore, that the doctrine of the dead going to heaven or hellfire is not a true doctrine. The proponents of this doctrine often quote John 14:1-3, citing the statement of Christ as the basis of their claim. Good enough, part of that quotation is the topic of this paper.
Before then, let us state that the methodology or the approach adopted to ensure effective handling of the topic for clarity and easy comprehension is purely narrative. Following from this introductory section is God’s order /division about Heaven and the Earth. Next is, who is the originator of the “going to heaven syndrome”? Did he succeed? What will happen to him, what is the position of the dead? What did Christ say we should pray for? Will the people be able to go to where Christ went to? And lastly what did Christ go to prepare?. These questions will be treated based on evidences from the Holy Bible.
God’s Order/Division about Heaven and Earth
It is an established fact and well believed by all; that there is Heaven and there is Earth. We believe also that they are created by God and the Earth was void, darkness was upon it and was filled with water as recorded in Gen. 1:1-2, Gen. 1: 3-25 also reveals the order or manner of how the heaven, earth, waters and all other things in them were carefully put in place. But I would want us to take note of Gen. 1:26, where God said, “Let us make man in our own image after our likeness and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Man’s dominion is over the things on the earth, in the sea and fowls of the air no extension of his rule or power to anything in heaven, see Gen 1:29,30.
Solomon, King of Israel, having this understanding stated thus; “Be not rash with your mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: For God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth. Therefore let thy words be few” (see Ecclesiastes 5:2). King David in Psalm 11:4 stated “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.” This is also confirmed by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 66:1 thus: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?”
The division and God’s plan about heaven and earth is further clarified by the psalmist in Psalm 115:15-16; Thus “Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”
From the foregoing, it is clear that God did not plan heaven to be the abode of man. If it is true, who then originated the heaven syndrome and why? This is the subject of the next section.
Originator of the Heaven Syndrome
This was originated by no other than Lucifer, the “star of the morning” himself who later became Satan the devil. It should be remembered that he, it was that caused death to befall man when he deceived Eve to eat the forbidden fruit as recorded in Gen. 3:3,4,19.
Lucifer an angel in heaven with much power, authority and wisdom became Satan the devil because of his rebellious act as his beauty, wisdom and authority took possession of him to set his heart as the heart of God (According to Eze 28:3-6,15) thus: “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” With his rebellious drive he prepared his coup-broadcast speech as recorded by the prophet Isaiah in Isa: 14 13-14 “1 will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most High.”
He did carryout his coup in heaven as recorded in the book of Rev. 12:7-9 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” While it was joy and rejoicing for the heavenly hosts, it was anguish for the inhabitants of the earth as stated in Rev. 12:12; “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath…” The expulsion of Satan is fulfillment of what God promised him as he planned his coup. In his prepared coup-speech he used the personal pronoun thus:
- I will ascend into heaven
- I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
- I will sit also upon the mount….
- I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
- I will be like the most High -see Isa. 14:13-14
Our God is a Jealous God according to Exod. 20:5 and His glory, He will not share with anyone. He saw this as an affront, speaking in the first person pronoun “I” told Satan thus:
- I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire
- I will cast thee to the ground
- I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee
- Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and
- I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee (see Ezekiel 28:15-18; Isa 14:15-20)
If you observed carefully, Satan so full of himself speaking in the first person pronoun used five “I’s” and God in the first person pronoun used five “I’s” to pronounce Punishment on Satan.
The first to the third of God’s pronouncement on Satan have fulfilled as recorded in Revelation 12:7-9, 12 while fourth to fifth are yet to be fulfilled as recorded in Rev. 19:19-21; “And I saw the beast (Satan), and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
My dear readers, having seen God’s actions and reaction against Lucifer turned Satan because of his ambition to ascend (go) to heaven, should we not be weary of this drive and teaching?
If this, is not enough for us to learn our lessons, then it is necessary to remind us of the story of the Tower of Babel (Tower of Confusion) when Nimrod after the great deluge, organised his people to build what they called “the gate of heaven” and what happened to them and their “gate of heaven project” as recorded in Gen. 11:4-9.
What Is The Position Of The Dead?
We often hear over the radio or television sets and read on the pages of newspapers, obituary announcements such as:
- Gone to heaven to meet the Lord
- Resting in the bosom of the Lord
- Resting in the bosom of Abraham, etc.
And in concluding such announcements you find “Rest in peace until that resurrection Morning when we shall meet to part no more.”
The question is, is the person resurrecting from heaven where he or she is already with the Lord or from the bosom of the Lord or Abraham? Another question is where is the Lord’s bosom? Are these announcements not misleading or do they not show ignorance?
As a Christian and one who believes that the authority any Christian has to resolve any doubt is the Bible, would want us to look in the Bible to establish the position of the dead. And the first point of call is the book of Genesis in Gen. 3:19 where the sentence of death was passed on man by God due to disobedience thus: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
It is an established fact that whenever anyone dies, he or she is buried in the ground. There, he or she becomes the dust that he or she was made from. The prophet Job having this understanding stated thus: “If I wait the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister… They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.” (Job 17:13-16) The Psalmist in the same vein said, “The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.” Job regarded the state of death as the state of being free from troubles where the prisoners and the warders, the kings and their servants are the same, where no one has the right, authority or power of controlling or commanding the other (see Job 3:17-19) But is death the end of man? Job asked and provided the answer in Job 14:12-15 thus: “…O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.”
When the appointed time shall come, what will happen and how it will happen was revealed to prophet Ezekiel in Ezek. 37:12-14 thus: “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves. O my people, and brought you up out of your graves. And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.” (Please read from verse 1 to 14).
Apostle Paul knowing this fact that the dead do not go to heaven but are in their grave until the appointed time had this to say about the patriarch David thus: “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day… For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool.” – Acts 2:29,34-35 but read 29-35.
Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ confirming the prophesies of the prophets about the dead, said “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (John 3:13) He further said: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of Eternal life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” – John 5:28,29,
From the foregoing it is obvious that the syndrome of going to heaven at death does not come from Christ but that of the originator of falsehood, “Satan the devil” having lost out on his first bid is now gathering his children with their hearts set for heaven but for destruction as recorded in Rev. 19:19,20 and Rev. 20:1-3. Having seen how and who originated the doctrine of “making heaven” which has engulfed the Christians of today and the position of the dead, it becomes very imperative that we go to what our Lord and Master, Jesus taught us for in order to retrace our steps.
What Did Christ Ask Us To Pray For?
Let us warn ourselves by taking to heart the warning of Apostle Paul thus: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin he revealed, the son of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God… shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thess. 2:3,4) My readers, to God be the glory that, that man of sin has been revealed to you and what is left is for you to take to Christ’s teaching.
Some of such teaching of Christ include:
- The meek shall inherit the earth – Ps. 37:11;
- Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matt. 5:5
- Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. – Luke 11:2
- Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. – Matt. 6:10
But rather than have faith on this and work towards being part of God’s Kingdom on earth, the pre-occupation of Christians today is how to go to heaven. Where do they draw this from? It is based on what Christ said in John 14:1-3 thus: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so. I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
- Does this statement suggest that Christ is receiving unto himself every dead person? The answer is No!
- A house and a mansion which is bigger? Certainly a mansion is bigger. The mansion represents or symbolizes territories over which the apostles the 144,000 will rule as kings and priests.
- Christ said I will come again and receive you to myself. And where he is there you may be also.
- Did he say I will receive you and go again?
The answer is No. However, we should take note of the word “prepare” because it will be referred to later. After this assurance of “I will come again, and receive you unto myself” he told them: “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.” (John 7:34) Again in John 8:21, he said, “I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.” And because we cannot go with him, he left a new commandment as recorded in John 13:33,34 thus: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” He was speaking of his ascension to heaven that the rest of us cannot come hence he went to prepare a place for us. Where is this place? The answer is provided in the book of Isaiah where it was revealed to him by God thus: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Is. 65:17) With the expulsion of Satan from heaven as recorded in Rev. 12:12, a new heaven was created. The new earth shown to Isaiah is what Christ went to prepare, into which he will receive his people when he comes again as revealed to Apostle John in the Island of Patmos thus: “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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, PREPARED as a bride adorned for her husband. 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 Rev. 21:1-3.
This is the kingdom of God which Christ asked us to pray for which the meek and the blessed will inherit. Where there will be no more night, no more death, no more crying, no more pain, neither shall there be any temple (no Christian denomination) for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus Christ) are the temple of it. (Rev. 21:22) This is the place Christ wants to prepare in John 14:3.
Summary and Conclusion
My dear readers (Christian or not) I have been able to touch on some vital issues and discuss them from the Bible point of view and have been able to establish the fact that heaven is not for all Christians except for the one hundred and forty four thousand as recorded in (Rev. 14:1-5) Also established is the fact that the dead, buried or not buried are gone no-where but in the dust until the appointed time when they shall hear the voice of the Lord and shall come out of their graves. So whatever denomination you belong, the issue at stake and addressed is the Heaven Syndrome or virus that is plaguing Christians today. It is the earth made paradise (the New Jerusalem) that true Christians will inherit. The earlier we embrace this truth, the better for us. For the Bible says: “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” What is more? “Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the City.” – Rev. 22:14.