Ephesians 1:10 says that God's plan for the “fullness of time” is to unite all things in Christ, “things in heaven and things on earth.” Therefore, we can't deny the existence of heaven without also then abandoning God's eternal purpose (Ephesians 1:9, 3:11).But in the beginning of the Bible, God and Adam are talking together in a place that already seems like heaven on earth. What went wrong?
The short answer is that sin, misery, and death entered the world (Genesis 3). The fall of Adam had consequences, and one of them was that God drove the first man out of the garden of Paradise, placing angels and a flaming sword at the entrance to prevent him from entering back into Eden. Soon after this, one brother murders another (Genesis 4), and a long list of people die (Genesis 5). This is the world we live in now.
Is everything gloom and doom? Is there any way to get back to life in the garden with God? Is all hope of heaven gone? Not at all. In fact, the word heaven is used 690 times in the rest of the Bible. And that does not even count all the references to heavenly existence that don't include the word heaven, but still talk about it.
What are some of those passages? We'll take a look at a few of them next.
Looking forward to hearing more from scripture on heaven. HOpe your book is coming along and look forward to reading it let us know when it's ready won't you please??
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts on Jesus's words to the criminal on the cross beside Him, when He said; "today you will be with me in paradise?" Could the Garden of Eden be the Paradise in which we wait for the end of times once we have passed from this earth? Just a thought. DS