This short blog was given to me very recently, on two separate days. Basically, all I had to do was to write it down. I don’t presume to be an expert on this subject, so I can only share what I am given, without any personal commentary.
Life:
Life begins when we enter time and space at conception.
Life is the process of continually facing, and coming to terms with, the constantly-changing, challenging nature of earthly reality, which includes both joy and suffering.
Life ends at death, when we stop breathing, and all brain activity ceases.
Death:
Death is the cessation of earthly life.
At death our souls enter a completely different reality, where we face judgement.
Judgement:
After death we see and judge ourselves through Christ’s eyes.
We will be bitterly ashamed of all our wrongdoing, but we will be forgiven, and will not be condemned.
There is a link to my recent blog on this subject here.
Heaven:
Heaven is a state of eternal, perfect, blissful oneness with God.
Heaven is beyond time and space, so there is no longer any suffering to face, or anything to come to terms with.
The absolute, transcendent, ultimate reality of heaven is far beyond anything we can imagine whilst we are on earth.
This heavenly reality is what we all come from before conception, and it is what we can return to after death.
Conclusion:
At death we pass from being subject to time and space, to being beyond time and space.
This new realty is heaven, which is total oneness with God, who is everything.
We can prepare for heaven by growing in oneness with God whilst we are still in exile, here on earth.
The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).
Look! God’s Tabernacle is among humankind! God will live with them; they will be God’s people, and God will be fully present among them. The Most High will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more, for the old order has fallen (Revelation 21:3-4; TIB).
References
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5; NLT).
You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:13-16; NIV).
You will have suffering in this world (John 16:33; CSB).
Can you uncover the mystery of the divine? Can you discover the limits of Shaddai? They are as high as heaven – what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the world, and wider than the sea (Job 11:7-9; TIB).
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things (Ecclesiastes 11:5; NLT).
How great is God – beyond our understanding! (Job 36:26; NIV).