Where Do We Go When We Die? - Overview

Blessings to Israel presents Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Now in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. Welcome to Discerning the Times.

My name is Brian Thomas. It is a blessing to be with you once again this week. And today we're going to kick off a series on the topic of where do we spend eternity. We're going to share some things that I think you will find is quite different than what you probably heard in church growing up in your lifetime. But before we get to that, I need to remind you that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. If you've never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I encourage you to do so today. Otherwise, if you leave this out of life without having received Him, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire separated from God. So will you please give your heart to Jesus Christ on today?

All right, folks. So again, I am looking forward to this discussion. We're going to kick off today with a high level overview of where do we spend eternity. And I want to begin by looking at the Christian, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have received Him, those who are born again, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Where do we spend eternity? Because again, there are things that I heard and learned in church growing up that we would die and we go off to heaven and that is where we are forever.

But as I grew in the Lord and I studied the scriptures and I read the Bible, I learned more and more and I found that, well, that is not true and we're going to unpack it in great detail. So again, we're going to do a high level overview on this week and then in the weeks to come, we will get into greater detail concerning where do we spend eternity. So I want you to turn your Bibles, if you will, to the book of Revelation chapter number 21. And we're going to begin with verse one. We're going to look at the things that are to come. What is it that we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, what do we have to look forward to? Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There should be no more death nor sorrow nor crying.

There should be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Praise God. Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, right? For these words are true and faithful.

And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire, which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now I want you to go down to verse number 22. But I saw no temple in it for the Lord God almighty and the lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it. The lamb is its light and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light in the kings of the earth, bring the glory and honor into it.

Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the lamb's book of life. Now go over to the next chapter, Revelation chapter number 22, beginning with verse one. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb.

In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him. They shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of sun for the Lord. God gives them light and they shall reign for ever and ever.

What a powerful passage folks. This is what we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have to look forward to. This is where we will spend eternity in what these verses have outlined to us in the new Jerusalem. And guess where it will be.

It will not be up there somewhere in heaven, but it will be right down here on earth. The Bible says there will be a new heavens and a new earth. And then the Bible says the new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. And so when the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, then heaven and earth shall become as one. That is why when people say, well, when we die, we go to live in heaven forever.

That is really not an exactly true statement. It is true in the sense that, well, heaven becomes one with earth, but we will spend eternity on the earth. When God brings his throne to the earth on a new earth, when the Bible says he will create a new heavens and a new earth, that is where we spend eternity. So when people say today that someone who is a believer in Christ, that he or she has died and they've gone to their final resting place, that's not a true statement. No one today is in their final resting place. That goes for the Christian, for the believer in Jesus Christ or for the non-believer.

No one yet is in their final resting place. And again, we'll go into greater detail in the weeks to come concerning why that is. So that is where we are going to spend eternity.

But as a high level overview, I want to share, well, how do we get there though? Because there is some time, there are several things that must take place before we get to this eternal destination, this new heaven, this new earth and this new Jerusalem. And let me also, before I go forward, just explain when the Bible talks about a new heaven and a new earth, when the scripture speaks of heaven, we have to make sure we make a distinction as to which heaven it's talking about. And what I mean by that is the first heaven is the earth's atmosphere. That is where our clouds are. That is where it rains.

That's where our airplanes fly. That is considered the first heaven in scripture. The second heaven is things that are beyond our atmosphere, meaning outer space, where we see the moon, the stars, the planets, the galaxies, those things are considered the second heaven. And then beyond that is the third heaven. That is where God's throne is.

And that is again in a different realm than where we end today. But the Bible tells us that when the new heaven and the new earth is created, meaning what God is going to do, he's going to burn away the earth's atmosphere. He's going to burn away and renovate the earth and he's going to burn away outer space.

Because remember the Bible says that the kingdom of darkness, it rules principalities of the air. And so God is going to rid the earth and all of the earth's atmosphere and all of outer space of sin. And that is what the Bible refers to when it says a new heaven and a new earth, God's throne is going to descend to this new earth. And that is where we will spend eternity in the presence of our almighty God. But again, there are things that have to happen. Many things must take place before we reach that point. So to back up a little bit, again, when we hear people today, someone dies, people say, well, they they're gone to their final resting place. Sometimes people say, well, so and so have have gotten their wings. God needed another angel. Folks, none of that is true.

They're there. We don't we do not become angels as human beings. We are human beings. Angels are angels. We do not cross over and become angels when we die. We become similar to angels in the sense that we do not have husband and wife. We are not in a marital relationship after death, but we do not become angels. And again, a person is not in its final resting place when they die today. The Bible tells us that when we die, Scripture says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So we do not believe in soul sleep.

The Bible does not teach that. The Bible teaches that when a person who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ accepted his sacrifice, his death on the cross for sin, when that person dies, when they close their eyes and take that last breath on this side of life, that person then opened their spiritual eyes into the presence of Jesus Christ in the third heaven. Now, that physical body, though, is still in the grave.

It is in the ground. But that spirit is dwelling in the third heaven. So what's going to happen, folks, is the next significant thing that will take place is the rapture of the church. I do hold the pre-tribulational rapture view, meaning I believe the rapture takes place before the seven year tribulation. And when the rapture takes place, as First Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 through 18 tells us, it says that there will be a loud shout from heaven and a trumpet will sound. There will be the shout from the archangel. And it says then Christ himself will descend into the clouds.

Jesus Christ will descend into the Earth's atmosphere. And at that point, the Bible says the dead in Christ shall rise first. So those people who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ who died, their spirit has been dwelling with our Lord in the third heaven, their physical body is going to be resurrected, is going to come up from the grave or wherever they've been buried. And I've heard people say things. What about what about those who have been cremated?

What about those who have who have been lost at sea, maybe swallowed by whales or sharks, whatever it may be? The thing is, folks, remember, God created man from dust. God is a God of all things.

He has all power. We need not worry how he's going to resurrect that person's body. But the Bible says it will be done. It will happen at the rapture of the church. Their physical body is going to be reunited with their soul and spirit, which is descending out of heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ. And then the Bible says that the rapture of the church, that those of us who remain in our alive in our believers in Jesus Christ, we shall also be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And then we shall forever be in the presence of our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And the scripture says, Therefore, comfort one another with these words. So it is at that point that the believers, those from the church age only, meaning those who have been a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ from the time that he died on the cross, all the way up until his return in the sense of returning in the rapture, when he descends into the clouds, all of those who have died will receive a glorified body. And then those of us who are alive at the time, we also will be receiving glorified body at that point, and we will go into heaven. Now, what will take place next is there will be a seven year period on the earth known as the tribulation. The Bible also calls it the time of Jacob's trouble. And the reason why I believe that we are taken out the church that he is and do not go through that period is for several reasons. But I would just touch on a couple here for the sake of this discussion that Jesus called it the time of Jacob's trouble. That is referring to the nation of Israel.

And the nation of Israel is the primary focus. The primary purpose of the tribulation is to bring Israel to repentance for having rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah, to get their eyes to open and see that he is the Messiah that they've been looking for. So the church, by definition, has already received Jesus Christ. So there's no need for the church to be on earth during this time period. God does not pour out his wrath on the church, those who have already received him. And that is what's going to happen during this every year tribulation.

And I have people to ask the question, they say, well, what makes us so good that we don't go through the suffering that those in the first century, the first century church went through or even some places in the world, even today, places like like China, where there is great persecution of the church, they say, well, why do we get the privilege of not going through that? The thing about it is we have to understand the difference between Satan's wrath and God's wrath. When the church in the first century was being fed to lions, when we were being set on fire, used as torches, sawed in half, that was the wrath of Satan trying to destroy the church. But during the seven year tribulation, it will be the wrath of God.

That is the distinction. God does not pour out his wrath on those who have received him. But that seven year tribulation period will take place on earth. And then at the end of that seven years of tribulation, what will happen is Jesus Christ will come out of heaven. The Bible says that he will descend in Revelation chapter 19, riding on a white horse. And then it says that we will come out of heaven with him. Those of us who have been raptured seven years earlier, we will return to the earth with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And we will come back as he comes to rule and reign to set up his kingdom on the earth. It is at that point that we look at the book of Daniel chapter 12. It says the Old Testament saints, remember, they are not part of the church. So when you look at the prophets like Daniel and Jeremiah, Moses, Abraham, all of them, they were not a part of the church. So they will be resurrected at the end of the seven year tribulation and receive their glorified bodies at that point in time. And then the Bible says, when Jesus comes back, those who are still alive on the earth, who have not received him as Lord and Savior, those who go through the entire seven year tribulation, those who had accepted the mark of the beast, but still were alive.

Then the Bible says in the book of Matthew chapter 24, one shall be taken and the other left. And a lot of people will accredit those verses to the rapture of the church. But that is not the rapture. Those were verses are referring to those who will be taken and cast into judgment. Because remember, Jesus is coming to set up his 1000 year millennial kingdom. Those people who have not received him are not allowed to enter into his kingdom.

We also see it with the judgment of the sheep and the goats. That is the again judgment upon those who have not received him as Lord and Savior. But for those of us who again, have been raptured, we in glorified bodies will rule and reign with Jesus Christ during the 1000 year millennial kingdom. And folks, it is going to be a beautiful time that we are looking forward to because the Bible says lifespans will be increased. So you may ask the question, well, if we have already received glorified bodies, then what do you mean life's lifespans will be increased? Remember that during the seven year tribulation after the rapture, there are people who are going to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior during that time, there are some who will become what's known as tribulation saints, they will receive him receive him, they will resist the mark of the beast, they will resist anti Christ, many will be killed, they will be beheaded for that and those people will receive glorified bodies. But for those who reject the mark of the beast, reject anti Christ and live they make it all the way to the end of the seven year tribulation. Those people still do not yet have glorified bodies. And what will happen is they will go into the 1000 year reign of Christ in natural bodies, just like I am today, those people will continue to have children, they will be in marital relationships.

We know that because again, and folks, I'm giving a high level overview. So I'm not citing specific scriptures anymore. But we will get into greater detail in the weeks to come. But those people will give birth to children. The Bible says that during that time, people's lifespans will increase that at an age of 100 years old, a person will be considered just a child. That is what is to come. And during that time of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ, the Bible says that the curse of sin will be greatly lifted. The Bible says that the animal kingdom will come at peace. It says the lion will eat straw like the ox, it says the the lamb will, the wolf daddy is will lie down with the lion, I almost said it the way in which I want to correct because a lot of people say the the lamb and the lion will lie down together.

And that may happen, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if it does. But the scripture specifically says it is the wolf and the lamb will lie down together. That is what's going to take place during the Millennial Kingdom. And we're not there today. There are some people that try to say we're already in the Millennial Kingdom. But folks, if you you place a lion with a wolf today, they will not be at peace.

If you go to the zoo and get into the the enclosure with a lion, I don't recommend it because you're you're not likely to come out alive because we're not yet in that time. But that will happen during the 1000 year reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that the child will play by the cobras hole, a snake and it will not harm the child because we will be in a time in which that sin curse will be greatly lifted.

And that is why we have things like cannibalism of animals, eating one another even eating their own. It's because of the curse of sin. We look at the rosebush, the beautiful rosebush, but you see those thorns that are on it, they're that is because of the curse of sin. Those things will be removed during the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ. And that is the time period in which Christ will rule and reign on the earth. And the Bible says everyone must submit to his rules and anyone that rises up against it, it will be quickly put down. And again, we as those who have received Jesus Christ, those who have been have been raptured, we will be those that will be carrying out our Lord's orders throughout the world. When he says we will rule and reign with him, it is referring to that 1000 year period. But you may ask the question, you say, okay, well, if everyone that goes into the millennial kingdom are Christians, and those of us who are ruling and reigning are in glorified bodies, then who's rebelling against our Lord? Well, remember, those that enter into the 1000 year reign of Christ into that kingdom in natural bodies, they are going to give birth to children, they'll those children are going to repopulate the earth, the Bible says there's going to be a great population explosion during that 1000 year time period. And what's going to happen is everyone still has to make a decision for Jesus Christ. And the sad thing about it is even with our Lord physically present on the earth, there are going to be children of those people who are going to reject him, they're not going to receive him as Lord and Savior. And what will happen is, at the end of that 1000 year reign, when Jesus Christ comes back at the end, I'm going to back up for just a minute, at the second coming when he comes back to the earth, the Bible says that Satan is going to be locked in the bottomless pit and that's where he will be for 1000 years. So for anyone who is sinning during that time, they can't say well, Satan made me do it because his influence will not be on the earth. But at the end of that 1000 year period, he will be released from the bottomless pit.

And you may ask the question, why? Why would God do that? Why would he allow Satan out once he's had him in prison?

And we'll talk about that in greater detail in the weeks to come. But there will be people who in their hearts have rejected Jesus Christ, those those children that have been born and grown up during that time period, they are going to some of them, many of them, not all, but many of them are going to join the ranks of Satan as Satan comes to make war against our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is going to put down that war, it'll be what's this known as the second Gog and Magog war, there will be a prior Gog and Magog war that we'll talk about in the weeks to come. But in that final one, Jesus Christ is going to destroy them all, he is going to cast them and Satan into the lake of fire. And at the end of that 1000 year reign, for those who have lived throughout history throughout the world's history, that have never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, even prior to Christ coming to the earth, for those who rejected God, those people are going to be resurrected, their physical bodies are going to be brought back to life, and they will stand before Jesus Christ at the great white throne judgment. And Jesus Christ is going to give them their sentence. You see, today, when people die, they go to Hades, that is for the non believer, they go into what is known as Hades, the torment section, no one is in the lake of fire today.

And the lake of fire is also another name for hell. A lot of people sort of incorrectly today say people die and go to hell. But technically speaking, no one is in hell today, people go to Hades that have rejected Jesus Christ, but they will be released from jail, so to speak, at the end of the 1000 year reign, Jesus Christ will go through their case, he will see what they've done, the Bible says the books will be open, and he's going to judge them according to the books.

You may ask what books? Well, we know the Bible will be there. And then I think there will be a record of what wrong people have done throughout their life. And because they did not receive the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, they will have to answer for their sins, which is death. And the Bible says they will be cast into the lake of fire. Now once that happens, God is going to renovate the earth, as I read in the opening scriptures, God is then going to burn away the earth, the Earth's atmosphere, outer space, and he's going to create a new heaven and a new earth. And then the Bible says, as we read earlier, that the New Jerusalem is going to come down out of heaven, and it is going to come to the earth. And it says that Jesus Christ, the lamb shall be there.

And then it says God the Father will also be in the New Jerusalem. And we will live with them in a perfect kingdom where there will be perfect peace, no more death, no more, no sorrow, no more crying, that is where we're going to spend eternity with our great Lord. So folks, we have a long way to go to get to our eternal state. No one is yet in their eternal state. There are people who, their destination in terms of whether they have eternal life or not has been determined, but in terms of their final state, no one is yet there. We have at least at a minimum of 1007 years to get to that point, because we have to go through the seven year tribulation. If the rapture were to take place today, and the seven year tribulation began shortly thereafter, then we know we have at least 1007 years remaining before we reach that final eternal state.

So we have quite a ways to go to get there. So we want to share this teaching because again, I used to hear people say things like someone died and they went to heaven and that's where they're going to be forever floating on clouds as a disembodied spirit. And well, the Bible clearly says that is not the case where we spend eternity. We'll be on the earth when God comes back and he renovates the earth. He's going to rid it of all sin for all of eternity. And that is where we are going to spend in the presence of our great Lord. The Bible says there will be no need for the sun because there will be no night there. There will be nothing but joy and gladness as we live and just have perfect peace in the presence of our great Lord and savior. So I am looking forward to that day.

I pray that you are as well. Again, if you have never received Jesus Christ, I urge you to do so today because the Bible is real. The Bible is true. And for those who reject him, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire that he is yet to come. So folks, that is just again, a high level overview of where we spend eternity and how do we get to that point? So in the weeks to come, we will go into greater detail into what it will be like for those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, the born again in eternity and for those who have rejected him. So I want to thank you for tuning in. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to discern the times by view and life through the lens of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel and to the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Thank you for tuning into discerning the times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God.