2 Texts I Thess. 4:13 (NIV): –“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no.

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TextsTexts• I Thess. 4:13 (NIV):–“Brothers, we do not want you to

be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”

• II Cor. 5:8 (NIV):–“We are confident, I say, and

willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

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IntroductionIntroduction

• Last Sunday I mentioned the intermediate Heaven.–By the puzzled look on one or two

faces I think that this is part of my past teaching on the subject of Heaven that may have been missed by some.

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• I feel it is important to understand the term “intermediate heaven.” –This is where, at the time of their

death, those who are saved will go to be with the Lord and all the saints who have gone before.

• With that in mind, this lesson will be about what is called by many the “intermediate heaven.”

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It Is Vital to Know What Happens

When We Die

It Is Vital to Know What Happens

When We Die• In I Thess. 4:13, Paul wrote: – “Brothers, we do not want you to be

ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”

–The words “fall asleep” are a euphemism for those who have died.

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• If we are alive at Christ’s return, we will be: –“...caught up together with them in

the clouds to meet the Lord in the Air. And so shall we be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words” (I Thess. 4:17-18).

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• Most of us focus on the eternal heaven, or the place where we will live forever after the final resurrection.–We have all had loved ones to

die, and we ourselves will die unless Christ returns first.

–So, we should consider what the Scripture teaches about the intermediate Heaven.

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• The intermediate Heaven is the place we go at the moment we die.–The term “intermediate Heaven”

is not found in the Bible.

–It is a theological term used by Bible scholars to refer to the place where the saved go when they die.

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Intermediate Heaven is Temporary

Intermediate Heaven is Temporary

• The Intermediate Heaven Is Temporary In Nature.–Again, when a Christian dies, he

or she enters into what theologians call the intermediate state.

–This is a transitional place of peace and joy.

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• Most of the time when we refer to “Heaven” we are speaking of the place Christians go immediately after they die.–When we say that someone is

now in Heaven, we mean that they are in the intermediate Heaven.

–By definition, an intermediate state or location is temporary.

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• We are told that Life in this intermediate heaven will be “better by far” than living here on earth. (Philip. 1:23).–We will be free from all the pains

and troubles of this life and in the presence of the Lord and all those who have been saved.

• Yet, the intermediate heaven is not our final destination.

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• Although it will be a wonderful and glorious place, the intermediate Heaven is not the place we are meant to live for eternity.–Our ultimate destiny will be to live

as resurrected beings on the New Earth, under New Heavens.

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Will We Live In Heaven Forever?

Will We Live In Heaven Forever?

• The answer to the question, “Will we live in Heaven forever depends on what we mean by “Heaven.”–Will we be with the Lord forever?

Absolutely.• Will we always be with Him in

exactly the same place that Heaven is now?

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–The answer is No.

• In the intermediate Heaven, we will be in Christ’s presence, and we will be joyful and enjoy complete peace and safety.–However, we will still be looking

forward to our bodily resurrection and permanent, eternal relocation to the New Earth.

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• It bears repeating, because it is so often misunderstood:–When believers in Christ die, we

do not at that point go to our eternal home where we will live forever.

–Instead, we will go to an intermediate heaven, where we will await the time of Christ’s return to the earth at the Second Advent.

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• This will be the occasion of our bodily resurrection, the final judgment, the renovation of the earth by fire, and the creation of the New Heavens and New Earth.

• If we fail to grasp this truth, we will fail to properly understand the biblical doctrine of heaven.

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• It may seem strange to say that the Heaven we go to at death is not our eternal Heavenly home, yet it is a true statement.

• We often speak of living with God in heaven forever, yet theologian Wayne Grudem writes”– “But in fact the biblical teaching is

richer than that: . . .

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–“. . . it tells us that there will be new heavens and new earth — an entirely renewed creation — . . .

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–“. . . and we will live with God there. …There will also be a new kind of unification. There will be a joining of heaven and earth in this new creation” (Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, p. 1158).

–The intermediate Heaven is a temporary dwelling place, a stop along the way to our final destination.

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• It will be a fantastic and wonderful place and experience, but an even better and permanent home awaits after the final resurrection.

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So, Does Heaven Really Change?

So, Does Heaven Really Change?

• Only God is both eternal and self existent. Everything else is created.–Heaven is not synonymous with

God, nor is it part of His essential being.

–Therefore, God must have created Heaven.

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• Heaven is not a place where God must dwell, it is the place where He chooses to dwell.–Because Heaven is a place where

angels live, where finite beings come and go, it appears to be a finite environment, a specific location.

–Because God created heaven, it had a beginning and is, therefore, neither timeless or changeless.

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• Heaven had a past –(the time prior to Christ’s

incarnation, death and resurrectiion).

• Heaven has a present –(the intermediate Heaven, where

believers go when they die.• Heaven will have a future

–(the eternal Heaven, or New Earth).

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• The past Heaven, the present or intermediate Heaven, and the eternal Heaven can all be called “Heaven”, yet they are not synonymous.–It is important to recognize the

distinction between the present, or intermediate Heaven, and the eternal Heaven where we will dwell together in our resurrected bodies.

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• The present Heaven is a ‘temporary lodging place’ – a waiting place – until the return of Christ and our bodily resurrection.–The eternal Heaven is what Eccl.

12:5 calls our “long home.”

–This is the place where we will live forever with our Lord and each other for all eternity.

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• The questions, “What is Heaven like?” and “What will Heaven be like?” have two different answers.

• The present, intermediate Heaven is in the angelic realm.–This is distinctly different from this

earthly realm (though it has more physical properties than we might at first assume).

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• By contrast, the future Heaven will be in the human realm, on the New Earth.–The dwelling place of God will be

the dwelling place of humanity in a resurrected Universe.

• Rev. 21:1-3 speaks of this, saying:–“And I saw a new heaven and a

new earth: . . .

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–“. . . for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, …

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–“. . . and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

• Heaven, God’s dwelling place, will someday be on the New Earth.–Notice that the New Jerusalem,

which is now in Heaven, will one day come down out of Heaven from God.

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• It will come down to the New Earth, and from that time on, the dwelling place of God will be with mankind on Earth.–Some might argue that the New

Earth not be called Heaven.

• But it seems clear that God’s special dwelling place is, by definition, Heaven.

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• And, we are told that the dwelling place of God will be with mankind, thus making Heaven and the New Earth essentially the same place.–We are told that “the throne of

God and of the Lamb” is in the New Jerusalem, which is brought down to the New Earth (Rev. 22:1).

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• It just seems clear that wherever God dwells with His people and sits on His throne will be Heaven.

• I agree with theologian Anthony Hoekma, who writes:–“The ‘new Jerusalem’ . . . Does

not remain in a ‘heaven’ far off in space, but it comes down to the renewed earth; there the redeemed will spend eternity in resurrection bodies . . .

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–“. . . So Heaven and Earth, now separated, will be merged: the New Earth will also be Heaven, since God will dwell there with His people. Glorified believers, in other words, will continue to be in Heaven while they are inhabiting the New Earth.” (“Heaven, Not Just An Eternal Day Off,” Christianity Today, June 2003).

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• That God would come down to the New Earth to live with us fits perfectly with His original plan.–God could have taken Adam and

Eve up to Heaven to visit with Him in His world, but Instead, He came down to walk with them in their world (Gen. 3:8).

• Jesus says of any who would be His disciple in John 14:23b (NIV):

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–“. . .If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

• This is a picture of His ultimate plan, not to take us up to live in a realm made for Him, but to come down and live with us in the realm He made for us.

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• Many views of Heaven fail to grasp that Heaven will be God dwelling with His resurrected people on the resurrected New Earth.–As Jesus is God incarnate, so the

New Earth will be Heaven incarnate.

• Think again what Rev. 21:3 is telling us:

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• God will relocate His people and come down from Heaven to the New Earth to live with them.–“God Himself will be with them.”

–Rather than our going up to live in God’s home forever, God will come down to live in our home forever!

• I spend a good deal of time studying about Heaven.

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• I have recently been thinking about what I have always been taught (and subsequently taught myself) concerning the New Jerusalem hovering over the New Earth.–The more I consider this, the

more I am inclined to change my belief concerning this.

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• Rev. 21:2 doesn’t say that the New Jerusalem will hover over the earth.–There is no Bible reason to

believe it stops before it reaches the New Earth.

–I am now inclined to believe that the assumption that it remains suspended over the earth is not supported by Scripture.

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• I think this idea results from the notion that Heaven and Earth must be separate.–That is the case now, but won’t be

the case with the New Earth.

–The Bible indicates they will be joined.

–Their present incompatibility is due to the Earth’s being under sin and the Curse.

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• Once that situation is corrected and the New Earth is created, that aberration is corrected.–Heaven and earth will be fully

compatible again. (see Eph. 1:10).

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In ConclusionIn Conclusion

• There is a good deal more to be said on this subject, so I will stop here and we will pick up the study again.–Among other things, we will

consider:

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–Do we remain conscious after death?

–Will we be judged when we die?–Is the intermediate Heaven part of

our Universe or another?–Is the intermediate Heaven a

physical place?• And a number of other things of

interest.

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