John 3:13
And no man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.
A believer wrote:
I HAD A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO! I HAD FLATLINED FOR 7 MINUTES BEFORE BEING BROUGHT BACK. IT WAS AS REAL AN EXPERIENCE AS ANYTHING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN LIFE. IT IS ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE IT WAS NOT REAL. IT CHANGED MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER AND MADE ME A 100% BELIEVER IN GOD AND CHRIST AS MY REDEEMER! YET IT IS AT ODDS WITH YOUR TEACHING OR INTERPRETATION, WHAT SAY YOU!
Dear Believer,
God Bless you, and thank you for writing. We are glad your experience positively affected your life and that you are doing fine now, but we must all believe God and His Word no matter what our experiences are and how real they may seem. Maybe the Father allowed you to have that experience because it removed the fear in that situation and will help you to understand that Everlasting Life, though not currently realized, is a reality that will happen at the Resurrection, which occurs at His Son's return from Heaven. So many people have trouble with the fact that the dead remain dead until The Resurrection because of the traditional belief of "die and go to heaven," but let's look at just a few verses from the Gospel of John. Every pastor knows John 3:16, but how many know and will believe John 3:12-13:
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Now let's look at 1 Corinthians:
1 Cor. 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1 Cor. 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Cor. 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Cor. 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1 Cor. 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1 Cor. 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1 Cor. 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So why is this not the common teaching?
Gen. 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
We have prepared a research paper that is free to download that deals completely with this subject. Please download this Free Book in PDF: The Rich Man And Lazarus. We would like any feedback on how we could improve the teaching or any Scriptures we did not handle that you think should be included. So far, no individual or institution has found fault in our research.
God Bless you abundantly,
The Believers
