Here are two contrasting cultural beliefs for you to consider:
- Sex is the best thing on the planet
- Heaven is full of the best things we can imagine
So if both of these things are true, why does the Bible tell us there won’t be any sex in heaven?
No Sex in Heaven?
In Matthew 22:30, Jesus says, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”
I’ve expounded elsewhere how God designed sex to happen within marriage only, so we can naturally deduce here, as the original listeners would have automatically, that if there is no marriage in heaven, there is also no sex.
No sex in heaven? Many might ask what the other options are at this point!
One of the reasons this news shocks us is because we view sex and heaven selfishly. Culturally, sex has become a selfish act of consumption. And our view of heaven is typically a place of self-centered utopia. We picture beaches and paradise and all the pleasure for ourselves that we can dream of, often not with much thought about God being around at all. This me-centered paradise is a great match for lots of sex for all of eternity. In fact, several of the main world religions promise this (maybe a clue that those religions were made up by a man? But I digress…)
But thank goodness that’s not what heaven, or sex, is meant to be according to the Bible.
Sex is a one-flesh relationship that bonds a man and a woman together in every way possible. It’s why this one-flesh relationship can only function healthily within marriage. The one-flesh bond includes full acceptance and commitment to all a person is, not simply their body parts (Gen. 2:24, Matt. 19:4-6, 1 Cor. 6:15-16). You are one flesh, at all times, in all ways, which can’t be undone.
This sounds pretty amazing, and deep, and night-and-day different from what our culture calls “sex” today. But there’s more. This sex and this one flesh don’t exist for their own end. They aren’t the destination, they are simply another sign post. A sign post pointing to where?
What Sex Really Points To
After giving a treatise on marriage and sex, Ephesians 5 concludes with the following:
“’For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:31-32).
Heyo! The whole time Paul was talking about husbands and wives and marriage and sex in Ephesians 5, it says here he was actually talking about Jesus and us! Marriage and sex are metaphors for the relationship we have with Jesus.
What is a metaphor? It is a sign post. It points to the real thing. It’s something tangible we can look at in order to understand something else. It’s a symbol we can learn from in order to understand and experience the real thing.
The real thing is the one-flesh relationship Jesus desires to have with each of us. It’s the relationship he has with those who call themselves Christians. It’s a relationship of intimate love and acceptance and support and trust, where Jesus is the groom and we are the bride. Earthly marriage and sex are symbols that can help point us toward the real thing.
This is why there is no sex in heaven. You don’t need sign posts when you’ve arrived at the destination!
It’d be like driving to Disney World and parking the car at the green highway sign with the white text of “DISNEY WORLD” and the white arrow pointing to the off ramp. Imagine parking your car there, taking a selfie with the family, and then driving home, telling everyone you’d been to Disney World!
The destination is always better than the sign post.
Heaven Is Not a Perpetual Fast
Some might disagree! But the reason for the disagreement is because we’ve been worshiping the sign post for far too long and we simply don’t have the full experience of the real thing yet. In talking of the perspective that heaven would be a “perpetual fast” from sex in the minds of some, C.S. Lewis had this to say:
“…or else of a perpetual fast. As regards the fast, I think our present outlook might be like that of a small boy who, on being told that the sexual act was the highest bodily pleasure, should immediately ask whether you ate chocolates at the same time. On receiving the answer no, he might regard absence of chocolates as the chief characteristic of sexuality. In vain would you tell him that the reason why lovers in their carnal raptures don’t bother about chocolates is that they have something better to think of. The boy knows chocolate: he does not know the positive thing that excludes it.
We are in the same position. We know the sexual life; we do not know, except in glimpses, the other thing which, in Heaven, will leave no room for it.”
-C.S. Lewis, as quoted in a 1947 Time Magazine article
A boy can’t understand if you try to tell him sex is the highest bodily pleasure, because he is convinced chocolate is and isn’t ready to understand sex. We can’t understand that pure intimacy with God in his direct presence is what makes heaven, Heaven, not that it’s some me-centered place where we eat Bons Bons on the beach, while watching Netflix, and of course, having sex. Nor can we fully grasp that intimacy with God is better than sex, both now and for all eternity. But the truth remains, which we are exhorted to believe and live by.
This is fantastic news. We worship sex on earth, but it’s also our place of deepest longing and brokenness. A single person feels unloved because they don’t have a sexual partner. A married person goes to pornography, an affair, or fantasy, because the sexual partner they do have isn’t satisfying them.
The Answer to Our Longing for Sex
The answer to our longing for sex is not sex! It’s intimacy with Jesus. We get to experience this intimacy on earth. This unconditional love where God adopts us as his sons and daughters and is well-pleased with us and we are fully accepted into his arms because of what Jesus did on the cross for us. But imagine this experience in a fully direct, physical way. Wow! That is heaven.
This gives us reason to not worship sex and it also reminds us we don’t need sex. Whether we experience the sign post or not is somewhat irrelevant. What is relevant is that we take God at his word that the destination will be much better, attuning all of our navigational tools toward that destination, not any metaphor, imitation, or sign post along the way.
Rai, I’ve heard some people say
“There are no guarantees when it comes to the Afterlife” but does the Bible agree with that statement…? What do you think..?I think that for us
Christians , everyone who is in
Heaven and the New Earth should have everything that they want, need and desire. At least that, At least in Heaven and in the New Earth, everyone should have whatever they want, need and desire, especially if for
Whatever various reasons they are unable to have what they desire and need in this Earthly life,
Rai, Have a great weekend, do you have a reply to my comment of
September 14th, 2021 at 6:48pm ?
Some PEOPLE say.
Who do YOU trust more?
GOD or man?
Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. (Jeremiah 31:26)
Sweet dreams
amidst turbulent times:
I guess we’re headed to something better, despite the situation the world is going through right now.
It’s 4:36 AM here and The Lord just woke Me up from a delicious dream.
In that dream, we went through a whole lot of trials and challenges from a dark starless night, only to end up in a village lit up with bright lights, heavenly songs and happy villagers.
The air is crisp and fresh, the streets and highways clean of debris, and every face lit up with beautiful smiles and joy that I have never before seen. In that dream I was like a little child playing kick the can with an empty bottle of Yakult. 😄 Till I was joined by a sweet young lady who walked with Me as we went through an elevated slope to a beautiful arch with two elegantly carved pillars, which has, in that dream, newly made.
I showed that to her, pointing at it and she stood speechless with joy as if to say “wow, that’s amazing.”
Then we kept walking along to that elevated hill, hand in hand, till we ended up in each other’s arms and … well, each other’s lips.
Then I woke up, 4:27.
I guess that dream was sent to Me for a reason. Just like Jeremiah, who was given a sweet dream, despite the fact that they were headed towards captivity, as slaves in Babylon, The Lord of all, whom we call Father and Friend sends His people dreams and visions in the night to comfort and encourage them, never to give up or lose hope, in critical times.
These sweet dreams inspire them to look NOT on the present situation they’re in, but to better things, towards a more brighter tomorrow that awaits them in the end, after the rains of tears are over.
I guess that’s the heart and spirit of Rosh ha Shanah. New life. New world. New adventures.
New Beginnings.
Rai, what do you think of the comment made by
Claud on September 5th, 2021 at 7:34pm , I think many Sexually Frustrated, Lonely Christians understand how he feels
Rai, I’m curious what is your reply
to the comment by Claud on
September 5th, 2021 at 7:34pm,
I think many Christians can
understand how he feels, the pain he feels.
Jee,
GOD understands the pain and frustration he feels BETTER than anyone else could understand and will give His servants MORE than what they ask or imagine.
Noah, I am going to make this comment on record here.
I and still do, hope that there is sex/romantic relationships in Heaven for me. And I have been through people mocking or admonishing me for wanting that on top of having been single my entire life. If you take away our desire to have that or our ability to engage in it, that is manipulation of free will and our created image.
I just wish you could understand though. Just because we say Heaven is so greater, that shouldn’t remove our desire for something that God created as being good. God’s image has failed to live up to his plans till now because of Satan, and then in Heaven he has to create a different plan for us. Sorry, but I am abhorred at the idea that God has to change his plan somehow because Satan and his legions interfered. And even if other people think sex is horrible or have been betrayed by a bad experience of it, its cruel that people who had none of this experience but desired to have it will miss out here, but also miss out on it for eternity when they are gone. Its the same as telling a person and rejoicing in “hallelujah” that a very close friend of a person has died and won’t come back, but “at least you still have past memories or can find a new friend”. And how is this not the same thing as death in a way? And if I continue to dislike it that way, I will suffer even more in Hell for eternity?
My faith has shrunken to being smaller than a tiny mustard seed, because in part it seems like so many teachers or other people into Christianity who say they have the most empathy don’t really seem to have empathy for those struggling this subject.
Claud, your post of
September 5, 2021 at 7:34 pm was very well said,
Countless Christians for many various reasons are unable to have decent Sex Lives in this Current Earthly life, and they are bombarded with Sexual Images everywhere in our Society, in the Media, TV, Movies, Advertising, etc. Sometimes they live in Puritanical Sexually Repressed nations like America that Outlaw Prostitution, Sex Work for Consenting Adults, so they cannot even legally pay for Sex, they are Forced to go without Sex, and they get very jealous, envious of people who have Intimate Relationships, and they get jealous hearing about Other people’s Sex Lives and Love Lives.
This is all the More Reason,
Sexual Intercourse and Lovemaking Needs to Exist in Heaven and the New Earth..For us Christians in Heaven and the New Earth everyone should have great Sex Lives, Love Lives , No Exceptions, No One should be left out, Sex in Heaven and the New Earth for Everyone, regardless if they ever got Married or Not in this Earthly Life, it’s about Sex, but also about Love, Companionship, Relationships, etc . It’s Not good for anyone to be alone
Never Again should anyone be lonely or Miserable,
Have you ever read the book
Heaven: by Randy Alcorn, it’s a Superb book , that details the differences between The Current Heaven and the New Earth,
The one flaw in
Randy Alcorn’s book is his
Faulty Weak Arguments against Sexual Intercourse and Lovemaking existing in Heaven and the New Earth, but otherwise his book is superb.
Rai , hold on I submitted a very good post to you, on these comments, it hasn’t been added yet, hope it is added soon. I put a lot of effort into it. This pandemic has shown us all the importance of Intimate Relationships, but of Close Face to Face Friendships, and Companionship, Not just Friendship over Social Media.
Many Christian Men Struggle with Pornograpy & Masturbation, is Masturbation really a Sin, how Exactly do we define what is and isn’t Pornograpy , and is it really harmful at least to some people…? What does the Evidence and Scientific Research Show … ?
Well Jeff since you asked the question, I will tell you the answer, NOT based on human science NOR on modern assumptions of right OR wrong, which could be different from The Bible’s standards of right or wrong BUT what The Lord REALLY says on The Bible.
First, Masturbation AND/OR seminal emission, I repeat, SEMINAL emission which is NOT urine, is NOT wrong OR a sin, based on Scripture.
On Leviticus 15:16-18 (WEBM) “‘If any man has an emission of SEMEN, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
Every garment, and every skin, whereon the semen is, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.
If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.
On that passage, GOD did NOT mentioned in particular HOW semen (or slang: cum) came from, either through Masturbation OR Bed-wetting.
But He just said that those who have emission of semen shall be UNCLEAN and should BATHE themselves.
Just as a WOMAN IN MENSTRUATION is considered unclean on the following texts.
Leviticus 15:19-21 (WEBM) “‘If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days: and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
“‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean.
Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
THEREFORE, GOD does NOT consider masturbation a SIN. Because He did NOT say those who had emission of semen should be STONED to death, which punishment is only for sinners OR those who violate the laws like idolatry, ADULTERY etc.
On Leviticus 20:10 GOD lays this verdict to ADULTERERS
Leviticus 20:10 (WEBM) “‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
NO MENTION WAS MADE TO THOSE WHO MASTURBATE. So therefore masturbation is NOT a sin and we should be CAREFUL not to go BEYOND what is WRITTEN (1 Corinthians 4:6) by calling sin THAT which GOD does NOT call sin.
HOWEVER!
Adultery IS A Sin since it is a VIOLATION of the 7th commandant on Exodus 20:14
Where it says Thou shalt NOT commit adultery and NOT Thou shalt NOT masturbate OR watch porn.
IF GOD prohibits people to watch porn then Hed be the greatest Violator of His OWN commandment because GOD made Adam and Eve NAKED and described Oholibas adultery on Ezekiel 23 in a sexually Graphic way, which the MODERN SOCIETY defines as Pornograhic and or Pornographic literature.
READ Ezekiel 23:3,20
I’ll quote verse 20 in the EVD (English Version for the Deaf)
She remembered her lover with the penis like a donkey and a flood of semen like a horse.
You can check it out on this link
https://live.bible.is/bible/ENGEVD/EZK/23/20
That’s close to how it’s spoken in the ORIGINAL.
Quite Vulgar, isn’t it?
BUT WHO ARE MORTALS TO SAY THEY KNOW BETTER THAN THEIR CREATOR WHEN IT COMES TO MORALITY?
Woe to the mortal who thinks he is more pure than his Maker!
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? (Isaiah 45:9)
Can anyone teach knowledge to GOD, since he judges even the highest? (Job 21:22)
Can a mortal be MORE righteous than GOD? Can even a strong man be more PURE than his Maker? (Job 4:17)
So with that said, watching nudity DEPENDING on the motive, just as seeing NAKED pictures of Adam and Eve and reading certain passages of Scripture like The SONGS (in BOTH Spiritual AND Physical fashion) is NOT pornography.
ANYONE who thinks so, priest, pastor OR scholar blasphemes and speaks presumptously against his own Creator.
HOWEVER!
As we said, Adultery is A SIN and since its A SIN in GOD’s Eyes, so must it be to ours.
There are 3 forms of ADULTERY.
1st the physical act of being UNFAITHFUL to one’s spouse, mentioned on Exodus 20.
The 2nd is the Adultery in the heart IF a man looks with lustful INTENT —(that means he plans to ravish a girl NOT just a look of admiration, like Absalom’s brother who raped his own sister Tamar on 2 Samuel 13)—at a woman. (Matthew 5:28)
And thirdly, the Spiritual Adultery by MAKING FRIENDS THE WORLD (James 4:4 & 2 Peter 2:14) and also, the SIN of the servants of GOD who committed ADULTERY with Jezebel by eating food sacrificed to IDOLS. (Revelation 2:20-22)
THAT, My friend ALONG with FORNICATION is a SIN in GOD’s Eyes …
“For Fornicators (sexually immoral) AND Adulterers GOD will JUDGE” (Hebrews 13:4) but definitely NOT those who masturbate OR have emission of semen which, LIKE women’s menstruation IS common to men.
Let us NOT go BEYOND what is written. (1 Corinthians 4:6)
Rai, also what do you think of the website http://www.near-death.com by
Kevin Williams, in one of his books he said that
“Heaven is whatever a person’s imagination wants it to be” what do you think, ? Is that a Biblical View
Hi Jeff ,
I checked your link and it seems as if human science (knowledge) is beginning to open up to the understanding that there really is something BIGGER than the life we know in this life. It seems as if those were derived from various testimonials of the Afterlife, and although we can’t discredit some of the experiences of those who have gone beyond death’s door, I can say that not all their beliefs are Biblical. I also know of a similar book where testimonies of some who have had NDE’s (Near Death Experiences) are compiled and its called Visions of GOD from the near death experience by Ken R Vincent.
You can look it up on the net if you like.
Whether these testimonials are true or not, we don’t know so let’s leave the judgment to GOD who knows better than us and has GREATER things in store for those who love Him.
Paul on 1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us:
as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which GOD hath prepared for them that love Him.
On the third Heaven, that is Paradise, there are some words that are unlawful for man to say, and that’s what we learned from Paul on 2 Corinthians 12:4, probably because of its indescribable beauty, that cannot be defined by our human vocabulary. We don’t know. There are some secrets that only The Father knows and has kept under His own jurisdiction. (Acts 1:7)
Let us be content to believe only those that He has revealed to us.
If Heaven is “whatever a person’s imagination wants it to be” ONLY GOD knows, because while we’re here on this temporal plane, our knowledge as well as our understanding of the infinite, are limited.
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
However, GOD in His word through the mouth of His prophets and apostles have given us previews of what Heaven and The World to Come would be like, which I believe, I have already laid down on My previous posts, like the prophecies taken from Isaiah, Matthew, Revelation etc.
And let it be known, that Heaven is NOT the final destination of a Christian BECAUSE there would still be A Resurrection to follow. The First for the saints and the Second for the non-believers, WHICH only shows that the pleasures in The World to Come is NOT just spiritual (Heavenly) BUT also material (Earthly) because we shall be reunited with our bodies, albeit NEW RESURRECTED BODIES made up of Spirit, Soul AND Body.
When The Lord Jesus has been raised from the dead, He can defy the laws of physics since He can pass through a wall right? That’s SPIRITUAL power. HOWEVER, He also made it plain that He has ALSO material body since He has FLESH and BONE and He has proven it by eating the FISH that was given to Him to prove to His Disciples that they’re NOT seeing a ghost.
All laid down on Luke 24:34-43
Just read AND understand.
And IF we shall be LIKE HIM when He returns, according to John on 1 John 3:2, then it stands to reason that we shall also be able to materialize and dematerialize like walking through closed and EAT food, REALfood, just like He did when He appeared to His disciples.
Paul wrote—
as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:49)
On Romans 8:29, he writes the same thing:
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the IMAGE OF HIS SON, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
In A Nutshell, hes saying that our glorified bodies again BODIES, shall be patterned according to the IMAGE of His Son.
Which gives us the impression that we shall be superhumans, more like gods BUT NOT EQUAL to The Father who is above ALL. Because men are also called gods NO, not by Satan, BUT by David and the Son of Man on Psalms 82:6 & John 10:34.
The only difference is that, even if men are NOW called gods or superior ones, they will DIE as the following verse on Psalms 82 states:
But all of you shall DIE like men, and fall like one of the princes. (vs.7)
This is one of the HALF-truths revealed by the Serpent in Eden, when he tempted the first couple to disobey GOD by promising them that they would be gods knowing good and evil.
Hes right in saying that, for AFTER they partook of the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened and they KNEW they were naked. (Genesis 3:5,7)
BUT the other half of what he said wasn’t true because they eventually DIED.
Were just making a side note and a review, (lest others may think that were spreading “cultic” teachings.)
A teaching is only cultic OR erroneous if it has no foundation in Scripture, like the many unscriptural traditions of men, Valentines, Easter and Christmas, with their idolatrous practices BUT definitely not, when its derived, from The Bible.
The fact that we’ve delved a little into this is because The Bible clearly states that resurrected Believers will be like Christ, and on the other like Angels (NOTE that it did NOT say, they will BE Christ OR they will BE Angels), NO. But only having their spiritual and glorified qualities.
Its the SAME as saying a robot OR an Extraterrestrial looks like a human being
with human features, eyes, nose, ears, feet etc. BUT that doesn’t mean it IS human.
Just a SIMILITUDE.
So with Believers once they are GLORIFIED with Christ, they will be like Christ in His Glorified state, and they will be like GOD Himself, again LIKE GOD, because GOD is immortal AND they will have EVERLASTING Life BUT definitely NOT equal to His Position and His Majesty.
Even Christ, although GOD, is NOT equal to the Father.
As Paul clarified on 1 Corinthians 15:27-28 (UKJV) For he (The Father) has put all things under his (The Son’s) feet. But when he says all things are put under him (Jesus), it is manifest that HE (The Father) IS EXEMPTED, which did put all things under him (Jesus).
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put ALL things under him (Jesus The Son), that GOD (The Father YHWH/Jehovah) may be all in all.
Before we proceed, let it be known that Im a Messianic and NOT A Jehovah’s Witness, ALTHOUGH sometimes, JW know what the Bible REALLY teach, than nominal Christians.
So BACK to the Subject of Glorified Bodies.
The Scripture says we shall be like Christ, and since Christ is GOD (although NOT equal to His Father, just like your son although FULLY human, is NOT equal in authority to you as his dad), — we also shall be LIKE GOD, (in immortality) as we become like His Son and like The Angels of Heaven. (Matthew 22:30)
Again LIKE, and not EXACTLY them.
And since we are to INHERIT ALL THINGS (Revelation 21:7) that includes the NEW Heavens AND the NEW Earth (Revelation 21:1) besides the NEW Jerusalem, OUR pleasures will be BOTH spiritual (heavenly) AND physical/material (earthly) in a TOTALLY NEW REALITY AND ENVIRONMENT or REALM, call it what you will.
This debunks the erroneous belief that glorified bodies dont eat OR drink, (just like the erroneous belief that the forbidden friit was sex taught by our Catholic parents), else IF there’s no need for us to eat AND drink, then what’s the PURPOSE of the TREE OF LIFE BEARING 12 MANNER OF FRUITS monthly on Revelation 22:2?
Are we gonna just stare at it all day like pictures on canvass without touching AND tasting it?
OF COURSE NOT!
What about the Rivers of the Water of Life on Revelation 22:2?
IF there’s NO need to drink since we wont be thirsty, then why create a river AND more so, why INVITE people to drink IF the waters are NOT to be taken literally? (Revelation 22:17)
I tell you the truth, THIS is the Water of LIFE which The Son of GOD promised the Samaritan woman on the WELL (John 4:14).
Jesus was talking about a FUTURE EVENT that all the Redeemed will partake once they are resurrected in their glorified state .
IN GOD’S KINGDOM there is ABUNDANCE and LIFE IS TRULY ABUNDANT and where there is abundance under The Shepherd’s guidance, there is NO lack. (Psalms 23:1)
This is why Revelation 7:16-17 predicts:
They shall hunger NO more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and GOD shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
BECAUSE in the NEW Heavens AND the NEW Earth, YOU ARE WELL PROVIDED FOR BY A FATHER WHO LOVES YOU MORE THAN ANY OTHER earthly father.
This is the difference between GOD’s loyal servants and the accursed.
On Isaiah 65:13-14 GOD says:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, My servants shall EAT, but all of you shall be hungry: behold, My servants shall DRINK, but all of you shall be thirsty: behold, My servants shall REJOICE, but all of you shall be ashamed:
Behold, My servants shall SING FOR JOY of heart, but all of you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit.
This is one of the things that inspired The Lord Jesus to cast woes on those who have plenty and blessings to those who have sorrow and scarcity on Luke 6:20-26 BECAUSE HE foresaw the glory that awaits the righteous AND the misery that awaits the wicked.
Isaiah the prophet also saw the same destiny that awaits them both, when he wrote:
Say all of you to the righteous, that it shall be WELL WITH HIM: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ILL WITH HIM: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. (Isaiah 3:10-11)
And this will eventually take place WHEN the Lord Jesus returns from Heaven “to give to every man ACCORDING to his work.” (Revelation 22:12)
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
BUT glory, honour, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
For there is no respect of persons with GOD.
(Romans 2:7-11)
And we certainly know that everything will go well with the saints, in the NEW Heavens AND the NEW Earth because GOD will NOT withhold ANYTHING good from those who walk in uprightness. (Psalms 84:11)
Yes.
GOD gives us RICHLY ALL THINGS to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17)
And when He says ALL, that means ALL. Yes.
He who overcomes will inherit ALL. (Revelation 21:7)
AMEN.
Rai, Do you have a response to my post of August 12th, 2021, at
5:02 pm , Since Not everyone can be Successful or Happy in this brief current Earthly life. I am reminded of the Bible verse Matthew 20:16 , where Jesus says
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” NIV
Even viewing that verse in it’s Context, some have used that verse to show that some people who aren’t very successful or Happy in this brief current Earthly life, will indeed be happy and Successful in Heaven and in the World to Come,
At least that, at least that ,
Some people may not be the last in this current life, they might be next to last , but they are still not very successful or happy,
None of that Misery should exist in Heaven and in the World to Come, I often wonder if in Heaven and the World to Come if God will make it so Christians will be able to Fly like Superman, that would be so cool.
I’d also like to have a Huge House all to myself with an exact duplicate of all my Earthly Posessions , but I would like my Huge House to have a Guest Area for my Family and Friends to Visit Me, and to make many New friends in Heaven. For example, to be close friends with famous celebrities who have passed away, such as Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, John Candy, John Ritter, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Bernie Mac, Markie Post, etc
etc, meet these great celebrities face to face, shake their hands, hang out with them, and be close friends with them. Do you think that God will allow people to
“Time Travel” to the past and the future like in Science Fiction Movies, ? Have you ever read the book
Heaven: by Randy Alcorn, he thinks Time Travel is a possibility
Rai, are you there, are you OK , what do you think of my posts of
August 12th & August 16th, 2021
I absolutely agree with your posts, Jeff. In fact, the Apostles and the Christians before didn’t have everything in this life and were, like the patriarchs, hoping for a better World to Come in the next. That is why Paul wrote:
If IN THIS LIFE ONLY we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. (1 Corinthians 15:19)
Because “IN THIS LIFE” most of what they experienced were numerous troubles, and persecutions. Truth is, it’s NOT just about the LITTLE things we complain about in THIS time that they do not have, like sex, a big house, a college degree, etc BECAUSE they experienced more difficult ordeals than that. Brother Paul on 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 wrote:
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
See that?
What are our little losses compared to THEIRS? People today for their small disappointments like losing a lover, or a business would commit suicide, like the child who cant play fortnight because of the lockdowns ALL THOSE LITTLE THINGS!
WHEREAS the Apostles who experienced GREATER hardships DIDN’T fall to despair.
What was THEIR secret?
The secret of their courage to endure life’s tests is because they know that after this life they will get MORE than what they bargained for.
And they took that HOPE SERIOUSLY.
That’s why they were able to say:
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
2 Corinthians 5:1-3 (UKJV) For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
Beloved, now are we the sons of GOD, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him AS HE (JESUS) IS.
And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as HE is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
SEE that?
Imagine a student burning the midnight oil, giving his best effort in his studies with the VISION that he will one day receive the reward of his sacrifices once he graduate.
OR
An athlete who trains hard, denying himself the pleasures of life in order to WIN the competition.
Surely, you know the POINT of all this right?
All our efforts will be WORTH it and our small sacrifices will pay off.
Paul wrote:
And every man who takes part in the sports has self-control in all things. Now they do it to get a crown which is of this world, but we for an ETERNAL crown. (1 Corinthians 9:25)
This is The Crown that The Lord Jesus promised to those who will remain faithful unto death.
The Crown of LIFE (Revelation 2:10)
And LIFE that is ETERNAL and LIVED TO THE FULL.
What else can be more REWARDING?
Our trials, tests, tribulations, loses, disappointments, frustrations and little insecurities will fall into insignificance BEFORE the glory AND the rewards that we shall INHERIT! Just DON’T focus on what you DON’T have now BUT the LIFE YOU WILL HAVE ONCE OUR LORD RETURNS! Use some imagination! VISUALIZE! Think of whatever is GOOD, and LOVELY (Beautiful) and PURE (Philippians 4:8) LIVE as though you were in THAT WORLD and NONE of the present hardships will move you.
THIS is what American AND Modern Day Christianity doesn’t have. Their eyes are SO focused on the present AS THOUGH THIS IS THE LIFE GOD promised, that they LOSE SIGHT of The INCREDIBLE WONDERS of The WORLD to COME!
That’s why when the storms come in and beat upon their house, their “temples” built on sand, they grow weary OR insecure and give in to despair.
They FORGET that this present world is NOT their home and they are NOT called to enjoy life here to the fullest BUT only in the World to Come where EVERLASTING LIFE can be lived to the FULLEST without ANY trials or problems.
ONLY in that World (although scoffed by many today as “imaginary”) can WE TRULY EXPERIENCE what it’s like to LIVE FULLY! A WORLD where we shall be RICHLY BLESSED by The LORD (יהוה) without experiencing ANY sorrow. As it is written:
The blessing of the LORD, it makes rich, and HE ADDS NO SORROW with it. (Proverbs 10:22)
LIFE in this world and reality as we know it COMPARED to The WORLD TO COME is but a dream, with the life of the wicked, who, like a phantom of the night, fades away (Psalms 73:20).
Do people take their dreams in this world seriously? NO! So neither should Believers like us take the losses and problems we have in this world TOO seriously. Because we’re just “dreaming.” The ONLY time well be fully AWAKE is when we’re with The Lord. That is why we shouldn’t take life in this world TOO seriously.
IN ONE WORD, don’t be attached.
As The blessed Apostle would say:
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remains, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world PASSES away. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)
I don’t care IF constant imagining or thinking of The World to Come would cause you to “lose touch with the present reality!” IF it helps overcome your depression and disappointment, BETTER than taking drugs, prescribed OR otherwise, WHY not?
Because we don’t just live in dreams BUT we trust that whatever Our Lord promises WILL COME TRUE! Including The World to COME and The NEW JERUSALEM He has prepared for Me and YOU!
In The Bible’s words:
“So let no one take pride in men. For ALL THINGS ARE YOURS;
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or THINGS PRESENT, or THINGS TO COME; ALL are yours; And you are Christ’s; and Christ is GOD’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, all of you shall receive A CROWN OF GLORY that fades not away. (1 Peter 5:4)
For the LORD GOD is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: NO GOOD THING will HE withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, BLESSED is the man that TRUSTS in YOU. (Psalms 84:11-12)
Blessing Rai
The YouTube video…. Eternal Companionship is FOREVER!!! Heavenly Places!! Portal of God. All I can say is WOW!!! I love how it is pointed out that before the fall God created woman because man was not meant to be alone. We will not be given in marriage but return to how it was in the beginning.
In my processing of my boyfriend’s death I have thought that God brought us together for a reason and that I was chosen to be the last woman in his life and that he was chosen to be the last man in my life. I have no desire to be with another man. Soon after that thought came to mind, joy and peace came over my heart. I believe that we get little messages from heaven from time to time. A beautiful butterfly escorted me to my car while I was feeling such joy and peace.
Recently a classmate from long ago messaged me saying that I was on her mind and that she wished my boyfriend and I could have been married. She knows I would have taken good care of him. Another classmate has told me that he felt blessed by knowing his dear friend died knowing he is/was truly loved for being himself and not for material gains.
It is my hope and my prayer that my boyfriend and I will be eternal companions. God knows the desire of my heart, He is the one that put it in my heart.
So much has happened to me in just a few months. I hold on to Romans 8:18. Glory awaits and no more pain or tears.
Rai, thank you once again for your insight and sharing of scripture.
Grace and Peace
Rai , the thing is that it appears that Not everyone was meant to be very successful or happy in this brief current Earthly life. I’ve read stories of people who have always had this deeply uncomfortable unshakable gut feeling knowing that they were just never meant to be very Successful or happy in this life, no matter how hard they tried, and that there is very little that they can do about it.. That they were just never meant to be Very Successful or Happy in Life, Relationships, Work, etc . and often they feel jealous and envious of people who are Successful and Happy . For Example not all people are blessed with good looks or confidence or a great personality, Not everyone has natural good looks or a great personality, confidence, good Social Skills, etc. and it is impossible for them to just
“Think Positive” or “Have a Positive Attitude”
Now, if these people who have these uncomfortable unshakable gut feelings that they were just never meant to be very Successful or happy in this life, if they can’t be Successful or happy in this life, that’s Extremely Sad and Depressing.
However, when they ultimately pass away and go to Heaven, these less Fortunate people who are Miserable, I’m thinking that at least in Heaven, at least in Heaven and the World to Come, Everyone should be Happy and Successful, no one should be left out and Miserable for all Eternity, not even one person. That
Everyone who is in Heaven must be Happy and Successful, and have what they want, need and desire especially if for whatever reasons they cannot be Successful in this current Earthly life .
Some people are sadly unable to change and improve themselves, no matter how hard they try. It’s like only God himself can Supernaturally and Divinely Change & Transform some people.. and only in Heaven can God accomplish that..
What do you think ? Everyone who is in Heaven should be Happy and Successful, especially if they are unable to be Happy and Successful in this life.
Sometimes these less Fortunate people I mentioned lack faith at times, it’s more like
Wishful Thinking, a
“I’ll believe it, when I see it” attitude.
A pastor even mentioned once to me and other Christians
Skepticism and Doubt
Vs. Faith and Hope
Nick, have you ever heard of the late Christian Apologist
Ravi Zacharias , he died on May 19, 2020 at the age of 74
Look it up on Wikipedia, Ravi Zacharias was accused of serious
Sexual Misconduct, I don’t know if the accusations against him are true or Not , one person commented on it online saying that
Ravi Zacharias probably had the attitude that “Since there is No Sex in Heaven, I might as well get as much Sex while I’m still alive” Another person called Ravi Zacharias a “Hypocrite”
Others have debated if he was truly saved or Not,
Ravi Zacharias probably had the attitude that “Since there is No Sex in Heaven, I might as well get as much Sex while I’m still alive”
Jeff.
Refer to My previous posts where I have written that those who believe there’s no sex in Heaven could resort to wrongdoing.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out. You can be your own psychologist if you are observant and pragmatic.
People become desperate and are liable to commit wrongdoing if they are convinced that SOME things, NOT just sex, are limited to THIS life only.
Imagine if The Lord Jesus didn’t assured His followers that they would have “mansions in Heaven” on John 14:2, they may do all in their power to acquire riches on Earth and build magnificent palaces down here IF there aren’t any mansions up there, right?
You get the point.
Same thing with sex and EVERY OTHER FORM OF HARMLESS pleasure and enjoyment.
Once a person much less a TRUE Christian believes there’s MORE to this life AFTER he or she dies, he would lose attachment and not be too overly obsessed over things (NOT just sex and watching Ghostbusters ok?) that do not last WHY?
Because he knows Daddy would give him a BIGGER TEDDY BEAR for the small teddy bears he hasn’t gotten here.
Do you understand what I mean?
Blessed are you, if you do.
That’s why personally, I don’t have dreams of living in a big mansion down here, BECAUSE GOD SHOWED Me in a dream what I’ll be having there, and you know how BIG the SMALLEST house in Heaven is?
As BIG AS A SHOPPING MALL.
Im NOT exaggerating.
Now if that doesn’t blow your mind away, I don’t know what will.
Besides, Hes also shown Me My future partner, more beautiful and angelic in appearance than any beauty queens down here.
Besides that she’s immortal, she never gets old and never dies.
So we need NOT be Muslims to have 72 virgins.
The TRUE GOD can give us MORE than that.
In The BIBLE’S words MORE than we ask OR think. (Ephesians 3:20)
Come, Lord Jesus
Sad to hear about Ravi Zacharias btw.
I think the reports are right
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/us/ravi-zacharias-sexual-abuse.amp.html
To our dear admin please approve this NOT the first one. Thank you.
(With corrections)
Jeff, all I can say, in a heartbeat is that, IF GOD intended His children to have EVERYTHING they’ve wished for in THIS World, He wouldn’t have created Heaven AND Paradise where all tears are wiped away from all eyes.
Earth is more like a training ground or a school of the soul, if you will, a battleground where spiritual battles are fought. Even for the rich and the powerful, life in this world is not a bed of roses.
As Alfred Tennyson wrote:
“Life is not as idle ore, But iron dug from central gloom, And heated hot with burning fears, And dipt in baths of hissing tears, And batter’d with the shocks of doom, To shape and use.”
The same is equally true with our Lord, who said:
“In the world all of you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Confirmed by the Apostles later after He Ascended to Heaven, by saying:
“… that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of GOD.” (Acts 14:22)
You see, that’s what the Narrow Way means, the Road we chose to travel on when we decided to follow Christ. (Matthew 7:14)
The Road to Life, to. Everlasting life isn’t an easy path nonetheless it gives a rewarding outcome.
Yes.
Those who sow in tears will reap a harvest of joy. (Psalms 26:5)
That is knowing life TO THE FULLEST, not just by having the things we want in life, BUT in experiencing BOTH joy and sorrow, defeat and triumph, happiness and pain UNTIL all these cycle of life ends WHEN He returns to RESTORE ALL THINGS as it was, or even far more beautiful, than the Beginning.
Our brother Paul discovered the secret of life and its fulness, when he wrote:
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any AND EVERY SITUATION, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12)
In this life man was created to taste mixture of both bitter and sweet, happiness and defeat, for it is only through these experiences —(just as The Son of Man learned obedience by the things He has suffered Heb. 5:8)— that A Soul in Development, CAN Learn.
So if happiness come, lets welcome it, if adversities come, lets learn to conquer it, for one compliments the other in A Soul’s Journey to The Father.
This is why Solomon wrote—
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity CONSIDER: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. (Ecclesiastes 7:14)
Adversities are in fact, GOD’s blessing in disguise, as well as the unfortunate events that happen, in our life because through them we have LEARNED what its like to HOPE, for if we have every wish fulfilled in this life, IF Earth is more like Heaven where everything is PERFECT, what is there to HOPE for?
Nothing.
Because we already have achieved EVERTHING.
But if we dont, THEN that hunger and that deepest longing for A BETTER WORLD to Come REMAINS alive, in our hearts.
Yes.
For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
But if we hope for that which we don’t see, WE WAIT FOR IT WITH PATIENCE. (Romans 8:24-25)
This HOPE is what keeps us moving on, fighting on the good fight, until we finish the race AND won the crown of Life.
That is precisely the reason why The Son of Man comforted those who have none today, as well as those who weep and cry because of the HOPE that they will have a life lived to the FULL, in A World without hunger, or pain, misery and strife, … in A NEW Heavens AND A NEW Earth full of life, and a happiness that is not just for a moment BUT for eternity.
In effect, He’s telling people who weep and mourn,
Dont worry, you wont cry forever. A Better life is waiting for you.
You won’t be persecuted, harassed, tortured for My Name forever.
You wont be poor forever.
You won’t be alone forever.
Your sorrow and sadness are not here to stay …
“You will be WITH ME IN Paradise.”
And let that comfort He gave the dying thief, who may have stolen things because of LACK, be the SAME COMFORT that we, should covet, WE who have, one way or the other dont have the things OTHER people have in life — (spouse, marriage, happiness, beauty, wealth perfect health, etc.,—) SO that we should not be insecure OR depressed, KNOWING that well have a MORE beautiful, bountiful, and wonderful life AFTER this one ends.
For when everything ends for worldly MEN, that would the START of A NEW BEGINNING, for GOD’s Children.
Nick, so you think Isaiah 65, hints at Sex & Lovemaking existing in Heaven and The New Earth ? The Randy Alcorn book is superb, but he doesn’t believe Sexual Intercourse & Lovemaking exist in Heaven and the New Earth,
Hey Jeff I do. It would seem foreign if it were not so, I am leaning on Isaiah 65 for this.
Nick, so about your post of
July 26, 2021 at 10:45am , if you could clarify, you are saying that you do indeed believe Saved Christians in Heaven and in the World to Come do indeed enjoy Sex & Lovemaking ?
In this Current Earthly life, countless disabled and healthy Christians alike are unable to get Sex, Love & Companionship, they suffer from crippling, debilitating, loneliness, Social Isolation & Rejection. None of that Misery and Hell should Exist in Heaven and the World to Come. To make things worse, much worse sometimes these Christians who are unable to get Sex, live in Sexually Repressive Puritanical nations like America where they cannot even pay for Sex with other Consenting Adults without fear of being Arrested and Criminal Prosecution & Persecution
America outlaws Prostitution for consenting adults, which is a horrible form of discrimination against people who have trouble getting Sex naturally.
I’m Not a Mormon, LDS
Latter Day Saints Christian,
Mormonism teaches Sexual Intercourse exists in Heaven. I’m a Mainstream Evangelical Protestant Christian, I think Sexual Intercourse & Lovemaking does indeed exist in Heaven and in the World to Come, the New Earth, let me clarify, I do Not believe that Heaven and the World to Come will be a Non-Stop orgy of Sex for Christians. I’m Not saying that, I do however believe that Sex & Lovemaking will exist in Heaven and in the New Earth, that Sex will exist forever along with everything else we Christians enjoy in this Earthly life Now. Such as Eating Food, Drink, Music, Sports, Movies, TV shows, Sleep, Cute Animals, Our Beloved Pets, etc. Heaven will be about many, many things, see the book
Heaven: by Randy Alcorn, a superb book, but Mr. Alcorn is wrong when he claims Sexual Intercourse doesn’t exist in Heaven and in the New Earth. That’s one thing I disagree with in his book, overall, the book
Heaven: by Randy Alcorn is Superb.
Good Morning Jeff, I refer back to where Rai points out in scripture specifically Isaiah 65. In which we will build houses, plant vineyards, and where we will no longer labor in in vain. This give good indication that this will continue and it appears that the Good Lord intends to restore the world as Rai points out several times where we will no longer have any sin. I’ve started to read the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn.