Lesson 31 Explore 3: Who Goes to Heaven? | Bible Questions
The Bible’s answer
God selects a limited number of faithful Christians who, after their death, will be resurrected to life in heaven.
(1 Peter 1.3, 4: Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you,)
Once they have been chosen, they must continue to maintain a Christian standard of faith and conduct in order not to be disqualified from receiving their heavenly inheritance.-
(Ephesians 5.5: For you know this, recognizing it for yourselves, that no sexually immoral person or unclean person or greedy person, which means being an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of the Christ and of God.)
(Philippians 3.12-14: Not that I have already received it or am already made perfect, but I am pressing on to see if I may also lay hold on that for which Christ Jesus selected me. Brothers, I do not yet consider myself as having taken hold of it; but one thing is certain: Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead, I am pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God by means of Christ Jesus.)
What will those who go to heaven do there?
They will serve alongside Jesus as kings and priests for 1,000 years.
(Revelation 5.9, 10: And they sing a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”)
(Revelation 20.6: Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.)
They will form the “new heavens,” or heavenly government, that will rule over the “new earth,” or earthly society. Those heavenly rulers will help restore mankind to the righteous conditions that God originally intended.-
(Isaiah 65.17: For look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be called to mind, Nor will they come up into the heart.)
(2 Peter 3.13: But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.)
How many will be resurrected to heaven?
The Bible indicates that 144,000 people will be resurrected to heavenly life.
(Revelation 7.4: And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:)
In the vision recorded at the apostle John saw “the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000.” In this vision, “the Lamb” represents the resurrected Jesus.
(Revelation 14.1-3: Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. I heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; and the sound that I heard was like singers who accompany themselves by playing on their harps. And they are singing what seems to be a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to master that song except the 144,000, who have been bought from the earth.)
(John 1.29: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said: “See, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!)
(1 Peter 1.19: But it was with precious blood, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, that of Christ.)
“Mount Zion” represents the exalted position of Jesus and the 144,000 who rule with him in the heavens.-
(Psalm 2.6: Saying: “I myself have installed my king On Zion, my holy mountain.”)
(Hebrews 12.22: But you have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels)
Those “who are called and chosen” to rule with Christ in the Kingdom are referred to as a “little flock.”
(Revelation 17.14: These will battle with the Lamb, but because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those with him who are called and chosen and faithful will do so.”)
(Luke 12.32: “Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom.)
This shows that they would be relatively few in comparison with the complete number of Jesus’ sheep.-
(John 10.16: “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.)
Misconceptions about those who go to heaven
Misconception: All good people go to heaven.
Fact: God promises everlasting life on earth for most good people.-
(Psalm 37.11: But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.)
(Psalm 37.29: The righteous will possess the earth, And they will live forever on it.)
(Psalm 37.34: Hope in Jehovah and follow his way, And he will exalt you to take possession of the earth. When the wicked are done away with, you will see it.)
• Jesus said: “No man has ascended into heaven.”
(John 3.13: Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man.)
He thus showed that good people who died before him, such as Abraham, Moses, Job, and David, did not go to heaven.
(Acts 2.29: “Men, brothers, it is permissible to speak with freeness of speech to you about the family head David, that he died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.)
(Acts 2.34: For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand)
Instead, they had the hope of being resurrected to life on earth.-
(Job 14.13-15: O that in the Grave you would conceal me, That you would hide me until your anger passes by, That you would set a time limit for me and remember me! If a man dies, can he live again? I will wait all the days of my compulsory service Until my relief comes. You will call, and I will answer you. You will long for the work of your hands.)
• The resurrection to heavenly life is called “the first resurrection.”
(Revelation 20.6: Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.)
This indicates that there will be another resurrection. It will be an earthly one.
• The Bible teaches that under the rule of God’s Kingdom, “death will be no more.”
(Revelation 21.3, 4: With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”)
This promise must apply to the earth, since death has never existed in heaven.
Misconception: Each person chooses whether he or she will receive life in heaven or on earth.
Fact: God determines which faithful Christians receive “the prize of the upward call,” that is, the hope of heavenly life.
(Philippians 3.14: I am pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God by means of Christ Jesus.)
Personal desire or ambition has no bearing on a person’s being chosen.-
(Matthew 20.20-23: Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons, doing obeisance and asking for something from him. He said to her: “What do you want?” She replied to him: “Give the word that these two sons of mine may sit down, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your Kingdom.” Jesus answered: “You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him: “We can.” He said to them: “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”)
Misconception: The hope of everlasting life on earth is an inferior one, offered only to those not worthy of going to heaven.
Fact: God calls those who will receive everlasting life on earth “my people,” “my chosen ones,” and “those blessed by Jehovah.”
(Isaiah 65.21-23: They will build houses and live in them, And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build for someone else to inhabit, Nor will they plant for others to eat. For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full. They will not toil for nothing, Nor will they bear children for distress, Because they are the offspring made up of those blessed by Jehovah, And their descendants with them.)
They will have the privilege of fulfilling God’s original purpose for humankind-everlasting life in perfection on a paradise earth.-
(Genesis 1.28: Further, God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.”)
(Psalm 115.16: As for the heavens, they belong to Jehovah, But the earth he has given to the sons of men.)
(Isaiah 45.18: For this is what Jehovah says, The Creator of the heavens, the true God, The One who formed the earth, its Maker who firmly established it, Who did not create it simply for nothing, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.)
Misconception: The number 144,000 mentioned in Revelation is symbolic, not literal.
Fact: Although Revelation contains symbolic numbers, some of the numbers it uses are literal. For example, it speaks of “the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.”
(Revelation 21.14: The wall of the city also had 12 foundation stones, and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.)
Consider the evidence for concluding that the number 144,000 should likewise be taken literally.
Revelation 7:4 records “the number of those who were sealed [or, confirmed for life in heaven], 144,000.” In the immediate context of this verse, a second group is contrasted: “a great crowd, which no man was able to number.” Those of the “great crowd” also receive salvation from God.
(Revelation 7.9, 10: After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. And they keep shouting with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”)
If the number 144,000 were symbolic, referring instead to a group without number, then the contrast between the two groups would be lost.
In addition, the 144,000 are described as being “bought from among mankind as firstfruits.”
(Revelation 14.4: These are the ones who did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins. These are the ones who keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,)
The expression “firstfruits” refers to a small representative selection. It aptly describes those who will rule in heaven with Christ over an undetermined number of subjects on earth.-
(Revelation 5.10: and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”)
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