Will There Be Sex in Heaven?

Will humans be able to procreate in heaven? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, and you can email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Kevin in Wheatland, Missouri.

Kevin, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yeah, I have a problem with forgiving myself on things. I've trusted Jesus as a Savior since I was a child, and I just, you know, I don't know how to explain it, but like when people do other things against me, I don't have any problems forgiving them, because I can always think of, you know, more wrongs that I've done in my life compared to what they've done. But every day, it just seems to keep coming to me that I have so much trouble forgiving myself, even though I ask the Lord to forgive me. Is that just Satan working against me, or what?

Hey, Kevin. Well, forgiveness, such an important, important topic for us to be able to talk about. I read a statistic not too long ago, I think it was put out by the Barna group that said, I think it was, you know, three out of four Christians have someone in their life that they say that they simply can't forgive. And the problem with that is forgiveness is at the heart of the gospel. And if we recognize that we've been forgiven, well, then we ought to be a people who freely forgive those who have sinned against us. And so I'm really glad to hear Kevin that that God has blessed you and that you're able to when people sin against you, you're able to extend forgiveness to them.

I think that that that is so important. I think that's actually indicative of the fact that you do have an understanding of the grace of God in your life. At the end of the day, I don't you don't decide who is forgiven. I don't decide if I'm forgiven. It's God who forgives. And so I think what you need to do, brother, is rest in what God has said about you.

And if you're struggling with this idea of forgiving yourself, as many people do, Kevin, I think you have to go straight to the word of God. And what does the word of God say? It says that all those who confess their sins are indeed forgiven.

Think about what the apostle John said in his first epistle. He says, verse nine of chapter one, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

It doesn't sound to me like that's what you're saying, Kevin. My little children, I'm writing these things to you, he begins in chapter two, so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And so what you need to rest in, brother, is what God has said about you. You've confessed your sins, you've taken them to the Lord, you are forgiven. You rest in that reality, the reality of the gospel that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for your sins. And it's from that place, as you've already said, that we're able to extend forgiveness to the people around us. And so, brother, I pray that the Lord would just open your eyes to be able to rest in that reality, to cling to what God has said about you, whether or not you feel like you're forgiven.

God bless you. Kevin, thanks so much for your call. We appreciate you being a regular listener here on CORE Christianity. We'd love to hear your question. If you want to call Pastor Adrian and talk about the Bible or your questions about the Christian life, here's the phone number to call. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also leave us a voicemail anytime, 24 hours a day, and we try to check our voicemails daily.

Here's one we received from one of our listeners named Deanna. Hello. Do you think that the people on the earth who get raptured are going to be put on the new earth, and do you think that they'll be responsible for repopulating the new earth?

Because how would the new earth get populated? Okay, thank you. Bye.

Hi, Deanna. Thank you for that question. We're talking about the new heavens and the new earth. We have a beautiful picture of that hope that we have at the end of the book of Revelation. Peter talks about this in 2 Peter, the old world being done away with the world of sin and death, and the new world of righteousness that we're going to inhabit, that we're going to be there as believers at the resurrection, new bodies in this glorified world.

It sounds like your question is, are we going to be having children there? Two passages of scripture come to mind. The first one is the discussion that Jesus has with the religious group known as the Sadducees in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew chapter 22, they're asking him about the resurrection. Now, one thing about the Sadducees is they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and so they were trying to stump Jesus and to make a point and basically prove that there was no resurrection.

Jesus responded to them. He says in verse 29 of Matthew 22, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. The point that Jesus is making and he goes on to make further here is that there is a resurrection of the dead, but a side point I think that's also being made is we're not going to be given in marriage in heaven. No, I don't believe that we're going to be populating the new creation, if you will, in the same way that we're having children today. Another passage of scripture that comes to mind is early in the book of Genesis when the people of God are called to be fruitful and multiply. The goal there is to lead to ultimately the glorious new creation, the people of God covering the earth, the glory of the Lord covering the earth. That's what Adam and Eve were called to in filling the earth with offspring. What we get in the new creation is the fulfillment of that.

It's mission accomplished, if you will. It's even better than Eden, but we've reached the goal. The saints, the redeemed, are there at the new creation together with the angels and the triune God.

We're not going to be adding to that. There aren't going to be new children that are being born there in the new heavens and the new earth. We're going to be together and we're going to be worshipping the triune God with all creation in this glorified creation. That's what we have to look forward to and hopefully those two passages help to illuminate this for you a little bit further.

Thank you for your question. More importantly, Adriel, will there be dogs and cats in the new creation? Yeah, all dogs go to heaven, Bill. I think there's a Bible verse that says that.

Actually, I'm just joking. I don't know, Bill. We hear people all the time. They really wonder if their sweet little pet is going to be there with them. I know you're concerned for Sparky.

If you don't know, Bill has a beautiful dog named Sparky and I think, Bill, he'll be there. I sure hope so. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have a wonderful Bible study. It's one that Adriel has written himself. Actually, it's a devotional and we'd love to offer you today. It's called Seeing Jesus. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Yeah. It really is a quick read. It's a 50-page little booklet, Seeing Jesus. That's the goal of this resource is to help set your eyes on Jesus through the Scriptures to bring you into a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and what he did for you.

To help us on our mission, request a copy of this booklet. Go to corechristianity.com forward slash seeingjesus or call us at 833-843-2673. Get a hold of this resource, Seeing Jesus.

We'd love to make that available to you for your gift of any amount. Again, it's called Seeing Jesus. Just go to corechristianity.com forward slash seeingjesus. Let's go to Kevin calling in from Rhode Island. Kevin, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi. Good afternoon.

It's raining out hot here. I have a question. Is it senseless to preach the gospel of people if they're already predestined for destruction or they're predestined for life? Like if God already knows, it's predetermined?

I don't know. A lot of people will respond to the gospel and it makes you feel like, well, you know, it's a serious matter. But Jesus is supposed to come as a thief in the night and only few get saved.

So I don't think it's going to be a big, spectacular event where there's great disappearance of millions of people if it's proposed. A very important question, Kevin. And the reality is that word predestined is a biblical word. It's the Greek word proerizo. And it's used, I think, something like five times in the New Testament. Paul uses it specifically in places like the Book of Romans, also in the Book of Ephesians. And so this is a biblical concept, this idea that God chooses, that God predestines. Let me just read you what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians chapter one, verse four. Even as He, that is God, chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

In love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. I bring that verse up first just to highlight the fact that we're talking about a biblical idea here. And we have to wrestle with the text of Scripture. This idea of predestination is there in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul talks about it. But it raises these practical questions, the question that you have. Well, if it is true that God knows all things, and we believe that that's true, He's omniscient, and if it is true that God has predestined some for eternal life, then what's the point? What's the point of preaching the gospel, of sharing Jesus with our neighbors, of praying for people? Well, the answer is it's because it's through these ordinary means, through the proclamation of the gospel, that God gathers His people to Himself. God uses your prayers, your evangelizing, to accomplish His sovereign purposes in the world today. And in fact, this should be an encouragement to prayer, because we believe that God is so powerful, so sovereign, that He's even able to soften the hardest heart. Now, just think about your life right now, and the people that you know, maybe someone you know who doesn't know Jesus, and you think to yourself, oh boy, they would never become a Christian. They're a regular Saul of Tarsus.

They hate Christians. Well, God can work and may very well work in that person's life. You ought to pray, because God is able to break our stony hearts and to give us a picture, if you will, of Jesus through His word. And so we really ought to be encouraged to pray. And I think, actually, that this is something that the apostle Paul himself believed 100%. In one of his most extensive discussions on the doctrine of election or predestination, in Romans chapter 9, he talks about his heart breaking for those who rejected Jesus Christ, who did not embrace the gospel. He says, I'm speaking the truth in love in Christ, Romans 9, verse 1.

I'm not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are the Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is God overall, blessed forever.

Amen. He's grieving because so many of his kinsmen, his countrymen, rejected Jesus. And he prays for them. He mourns this, and yet he's also able to talk about God's sovereign purposes. And so as he prays, he can be confident that God is going to do a great work.

And that's what he's going to go on to describe in chapters 10 and 11. And so my encouragement to you, brother, is in light of this truth, in light of these doctrines, you ought to pray because the God to whom you pray to is able to change the hearts of men and women. God bless you. Thanks so much for your question, Kevin.

We appreciate that. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, our phone lines will be open for the next 10 minutes or so. So now is the time to call. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Tom in St. Louis, Missouri. Tom, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? First, I hope I'm not wrong, but a lot of organizations, like Christian organizations, start to abuse the Bible by saying that there's a mistranslation and they're promoting this CBD, which to me is like, it's totally wrong. And it's wondering if they should be, you know, we should be asking God for healing from the Father, not from some drug, you know, or at least, you know, it doesn't miss its way out, you know. Tom, just because I have not heard of this, but is this, so you're saying there are Christian organizations that are trying to sell CBD as a way of getting divine healing or just... They're just saying it's a healing, you know, that was mistranslated, that's available to all men, and they're kind of like promoting it, other than really promoting the Father, you know, for healing. And, you know, a lot of other companies are starting to follow suit with it, and to me, you know, it's wrong, you know. Yeah, boy, you know, we've come to the day where Christian organizations are selling CBD oil, I guess.

Well, brother, I also think that this is wrong. I mean, what is, what ought Christian organizations to do? What ought the church, first and foremost, to do? Well, we've been given a mission by Jesus himself to go into all the world and make disciples, and Christian organizations should contribute to that, that is, parachurch ministry should contribute to that, to the building up of the local church through encouraging people with sound Bible teaching, with sound doctrine.

It's not about making money, and so organizations that are sort of peddling things in order to make money is sort of, it sounds to me like a sort of snake oil salesman kind of a thing. I think of what the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 2. He says in verse 15, We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. Our focus is Jesus Christ and him crucified. We're not peddling God's word and these other things in order to make some money here, in order to exalt ourselves. No, we preach the risen Christ who was crucified for the forgiveness of our sins. And so insofar as churches and also Christian ministries lose sight of that gospel centrality, there's a big problem. And it sounds to me like you've picked up on that, Tom. And so I'm sorry to hear this, that this is taking place. And I mean, it doesn't surprise me because there's just all sorts of crazy stuff out there. All the more reason for us to fix our eyes on Jesus and on the scriptures. Well, that's a new one for me.

I have not heard of that, but it's pretty bizarre if that's going on, if there are Christian ministries pushing CBD. Gracious. Yeah. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We take just about any question, whatever topic, we'd love to answer it. And Adriel's prepared, so let's give us a call right now at 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Marianne in St. Louis, Missouri. Marianne, what's your question for Adriel? Okay.

Here's my question. My husband and I are at the point where it is, you know, we could be retiring, but we don't know, you know, what is God's will? Should we retire or should we not?

And part of the, I think part of our issue is, you know, we have different opinions on what to do when we retire. So we're just trying to find the Lord's will in this. I mean, because whatever God, whatever is God's will, then we're easy to go with what is God's will for us. Marianne, I love this question, and I love that you and your husband above all else want to serve the Lord and want to make sure that with the decision that you make, you're making a decision that's going to be honoring to the Lord.

And so God blessed you in that, and may the Lord give you and your husband wisdom. You know, we're thinking here about decision-making and the will of God. Now, there are some things in scripture that are very black and white, you know, what God has revealed in his law. We know that there are some things that aren't God's will for us to sin, for us to do evil, that kind of a thing. And there are other things where, you know, when it comes to making a decision, we have to take a step back and say, okay, Lord, guide me.

You know, what are the options here? What does a life of retirement look like? I think that sounds to me like one of the big questions for the two of you. And I would say this is a conversation that you guys have to have, but meditate on how it is that you're going to continue to serve the Lord and the body of Christ in your retirement. Maybe, you know, retirement is a great opportunity for the two of you to be engaged more in the life of the body of Christ. And I think that that's a wonderful thing. I think that that's a beautiful thing. And I think that the church today desperately needs the wisdom of people who have retired and people who have walked a long time with Jesus. And so the Lord, boy, just such a treasure in you and in your husband. And I would say with whatever decision you make, commit to continuing to serve Jesus through the local church and encouraging other believers with the gifts that you have.

So I'm not saying, you know, you don't retire or you should retire, that kind of a thing. I think this is a decision that is going to require wisdom. But as you think about it, ask yourselves the question, what is this going to look like for our walk with the Lord and for our relationships with people within the body of Christ? And where is it that we see the Lord working in our lives?

And where, maybe with the gifts that he's given to us, can we be a blessing to the people around us maybe in retirement? And as you have those kinds of conversations and pray, I think that the Lord will continue to guide you and to bless you. And so may God bless you, Mary Ann.

Thank you for giving us a call. That's great. Mary Ann, thank you so much for listening and for your commitment to serving the Lord in whatever life stage that you're in. That is just truly wonderful. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Here's an email question that came in from one of our listeners named Jane. She says, what's the difference between the eternal generation of the Son in the Bible and the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit? What do the words generation and procession actually mean? We are talking, this is deep Trinitarian theology, but it's also very basic Trinitarian theology, so we're talking about the personal properties of the members of the Trinity. The Father is unbegotten. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, meaning he wasn't begotten in time. He's always been the Son of the Father, and the Father has always been the Father to the Son. And the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. And this language comes from the Bible.

I mean, there's a great deal of mystery associated with it as well. And if you read the Church Fathers and they talk about this, they say, yeah, this is a great mystery here, but we're using the language of God's word. So it talks about the Spirit proceeding from the Father in places like John chapter 14. Also, this language of Jesus being the only begotten of the Father appears in John's writings, in the Gospel of John, and also in 1 John.

It's the Greek word monogenes. And so when Christians talk about the Spirit proceeding from the Father or the Son being eternally begotten from the Father, what we're highlighting there is the way in which we distinguish the members of the Trinity, the persons of the Trinity, those distinct personal properties that they have. So it's really, really important stuff, and I think that's where I'll leave it. God bless. Thank you for that question.

Thank you. Let's go to Shamira, who's calling in from Nebraska. Shamira, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello. Hi, Shamira.

Hi. So my question is, I just heard you guys were talking about CBD oil, and I wondered why would it not be useful for Christians to use, because it is a natural oil, it's good for a lot of things, sometimes I would give it to my clients, my patients would help with so much. So from a Christian standpoint, why would this be a bad thing?

Hey, Shamira, thank you for this follow-up. Let me provide some clarification. My problem was, I wasn't thinking in particular about the oil in and of itself, my issue was Christian ministries that are focused on selling things in order to make a profit like that. That doesn't seem to me like that's what the goal of a Christian ministry should be. Our goal as a Christian ministry, my goal as a pastor, a local pastor, is to preach the gospel, is to train people up in God's Word. And so I feel like one of the issues when you hear about these kinds of things, these ministries that are focusing on selling this, that, or the other, some healing potion, or even CBD oil, I'm not saying it's good or bad in and of itself, I'm saying those ministries have lost focus of the main thing.

And so that's the problem. Now, the question of medicinal benefits, that's a separate thing, and I think that's where a doctor and others could be able to speak to that more specifically. So I wasn't saying it's bad in and of itself or it's wrong for a Christian to use it in terms of something medicinal. I was saying Christian ministries should not be focused on selling things like that.

They should be focused on preaching the gospel, which is what we want to do here every single day. And thanks for listening. May God bless you. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.