XPost: alt.religion.christian   
   From: usenet@christrose.news   
      
   You’ve quoted many verses, but your interpretation overlooks what   
   Scripture actually teaches about Heaven, the resurrection, and the   
   believer’s eternal destiny. Let’s look carefully at what God says.   
      
   John 3:13 does not mean no one ever ascended to Heaven. Jesus said this   
   before His resurrection, showing that no man had ascended on his own   
   authority to Heaven or could reveal Heavenly truth apart from Him (John   
   1:18). After Christ rose, He opened Heaven for His redeemed. That’s why   
   Stephen, when dying, saw “the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing   
   at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). He expected to enter Christ’s   
   presence immediately, not to sleep in the grave.   
      
   Paul also taught plainly that believers go directly to be with Christ:   
   “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2   
   Corinthians 5:8). Philippians 1:23 confirms this hope—Paul desired “to   
   depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” The believer’s   
   spirit does not cease or sleep; it enters the Lord’s presence until the   
   resurrection reunites it with a glorified body (1 Thessalonians 4:14–17).   
      
   As for 1 Corinthians 15:50, it does not deny that believers enter   
   Heaven. It means our present corruptible, mortal flesh cannot inherit   
   God’s kingdom. But in the very next verses, Paul explains that God will   
   change this body: “We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the   
   twinkling of an eye… for this corruptible must put on incorruption” (1   
   Corinthians 15:51–53). Believers do not remain flesh and blood; they are   
   transformed into glorified bodies fit for Heaven—just as Christ’s body   
   was (Philippians 3:21).   
      
   Your claim that only 144,000 go to Heaven ignores the plain language of   
   Revelation 7. John first hears the number of the sealed—144,000 from the   
   tribes of Israel—but then sees “a great multitude that no one could   
   number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,   
   standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). The   
   vision shifts from the Jewish remnant to the countless redeemed in   
   Heaven. Scripture interprets itself: the 144,000 are symbolic of God’s   
   preserved remnant, while the multitude represents all who have been   
   redeemed by the Lamb.   
      
   The “other sheep” in John 10:16 are not an earthly class but Gentiles   
   brought into one flock with believing Jews—“there will be one flock, one   
   Shepherd.” Paul makes this explicit: “There is one body and one Spirit…   
   one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4–5). There are not two   
   separate hopes—one earthly, one heavenly—but one body united in Christ.   
      
   Finally, Matthew 5:5 and Isaiah 45:18 show God’s intention to renew the   
   earth, not to deny Heaven. The “meek shall inherit the earth” points to   
   the future new earth (Revelation 21:1–3), where Heaven and earth join   
   together under Christ’s reign. God’s dwelling will be with His people.   
   The righteous will reign with Him, not merely under Him.   
      
   The Bible’s testimony is unified: all who are born again through faith   
   in Christ will dwell eternally with Him—in His presence, in the new   
   Heaven and new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).   
      
   Jesus’ promise remains clear: “I go to prepare a place for you... that   
   where I am, you may be also” (John 14:2–3). The hope of every believer   
   is to be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17).   
      
   --   
   Have you heard the good news Christ died for our sins (†), and God   
   raised Him from the dead?   
      
   That Christ died for our sins shows we're sinners who deserve the death   
   penalty. That God raised Him from the dead shows Christ's death   
   satisfied God's righteous demands against our sin (Romans 3:25; 1 John   
   2:1-2). This means God can now remain just, while forgiving you of your   
   sins, and saving you from eternal damnation.   
      
   On the basis of Christ's death and resurrection for our sins, call on   
   the name of the Lord to save you: "For 'everyone who calls on the name   
   of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:13, ESV).   
      
   https://christrose.news/salvation   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)