Heaven Is Not On Earth
“…they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.” (Galatians 2:7)
When we get to the part of the New Testament that is authored by Paul we find no references to fig trees, beautiful cities, lambs, promised lands, or the garbage dump of Gehenna (hell). Those things are related to Israel and its Kingdom on earth. Those blessing for Israel are FROM heaven, not IN heaven.
We are told that the destiny of the “body of Christ” is “among the heavens”. This body is composed of both Gentiles and Jews. Our blessings are not FROM heaven but IN heaven, and Paul tells us to “set our minds on things above” and look forward to being “caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it…so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another… And he is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead... Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things…our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body…we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord...God raises us up with Christ and seats us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 12:27; Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:18; 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-17; Ephesians 2:6)
To understand the Bible we should distinguish between what Israel has on the earth sent FROM heaven and what belongs to the "body of Christ" IN heaven.
God’s chosen people are destined to rule in a future earthly Kingdom. However, Heaven is for all people, both Gentile and Jew. We are God’s chosen people to dwell “in the heavenly realms”, after our resurrection, in the Empyrean of our great God.
When we get to the part of the New Testament that is authored by Paul we find no references to fig trees, beautiful cities, lambs, promised lands, or the garbage dump of Gehenna (hell). Those things are related to Israel and its Kingdom on earth. Those blessing for Israel are FROM heaven, not IN heaven.
We are told that the destiny of the “body of Christ” is “among the heavens”. This body is composed of both Gentiles and Jews. Our blessings are not FROM heaven but IN heaven, and Paul tells us to “set our minds on things above” and look forward to being “caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it…so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another… And he is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead... Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things…our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body…we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord...God raises us up with Christ and seats us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 12:27; Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:18; 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-17; Ephesians 2:6)
To understand the Bible we should distinguish between what Israel has on the earth sent FROM heaven and what belongs to the "body of Christ" IN heaven.
God’s chosen people are destined to rule in a future earthly Kingdom. However, Heaven is for all people, both Gentile and Jew. We are God’s chosen people to dwell “in the heavenly realms”, after our resurrection, in the Empyrean of our great God.