Imagining Heaven: Use the Bible as we minister to others

Many of the ideas and Scriptures used in this article are from the book “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn.

Matthew 22:30 states, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” There will be one marriage in heaven, which will be between Christ and His bride. Our marriages on this earth can help prepare us for our marriage to Jesus.

Randy Alcorn quoted C.S. Lewis in response to the disappointment some people feel at the idea of no sexual intercourse in Heaven. Lewis wrote, “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.”

We really do not know how good Heaven will be. We are going to have to trust God, live by faith, and wait until we experience the New Earth to begin to really experience Heaven. Until that time we can keep studying the Bible and asking tough questions.

One of the more challenging questions I face is whether we will be reunited with infants who have died. The Bible teaches us that we were conceived lost and in need of salvation. Many of us have heard of the idea of the “age of accountability” but I cannot find the term in the Bible.

1 John 2:2 says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” John tells us that unless a person is born again, he or she can’t enter God’s Kingdom.

Jesus tells us in the gospel of Luke to “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.” Matthew 18:10 instructs, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Clearly Jesus loves the little children and the world.

We know that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. Jeremiah was set apart by the Lord before God formed him in the womb. God knew Jeremiah before he was birthed. David said in Psalm 22 “from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” Later in his life when his first son died, David said, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

I don’t know how God deals with the salvation issue involving infants. I trust that God is just and loving. You and I are without excuse for not believing in Jesus. The fool says in his heart that there is no God.

When my friends and acquaintances have lost a baby I attempted to comfort them with the words of David when he said, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” We are not to add to or subtract from the Bible.

We know that God is good and that He is love. God knows everything and He knows who is going to believe in Jesus and who is going to reject Jesus. It is not our job to save people but it is wise to win souls. We are to be encouragers and comforters. I suggest that we use the Bible under the unction of the Holy Spirit as we minister to others who have legitimate questions about salvation and Heaven.

May God bless you big.

——

This is the 10th in a series of articles examining the Christian view of heaven by Kevin Barsotti, pastor of Ark Church in Havre.