15/11/2018 - NO ONE HAS ASCENDED TO HEAVEN

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No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3: 13

We often say that Enoch went up to heaven, where God is. However, according to this Bible verse, this did not occur. It is true that no one has seen him anymore, because the Most High has taken Him for Himself (Gen. 5: 24). However, we cannot make doctrine out of a personal speculation. For this truth to be clear, Jesus explained it to Nicodemus. Now, where are Enoch and Elijah? That’s a good question. What we do know is that they are not where God is.

This may shock many people, but I prefer to keep the statement of Jesus. The apostle Paul says that he ascended to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12: 2), and the theologians soon went on to state that he went to the throne of God. Sincerely, I do not know the location of the first, second or third Heaven neither do I know if there are other heavens, but the full truth is: the Master was not mistaken. I believe they are not among us, but to declare that they have gone where God is, is to deny the Word.

Jesus said that the Father is in Heaven, and in that I believe. Only the Son who came down from Heaven saw the Lord. After having made atonement for our sins, the Savior was raised to Heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16: 19). Not even Christ knows the day of His return, only the Most High, who will tell Him the time to return to take us to the eternal Kingdom (Matthew 24: 36). The promise is that we will know God as we are known by Him (1 Corinthians 13: 12).

There are mysteries in the Scriptures that will only be revealed to us in due time. In Mark, chapter 12, for example, Jesus spoke to the Sadducees, who did not believe in angels, in the soul and in the existence of demons, that the Lord is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; therefore, He was not the God of the dead, but of the living. I do not know if the Master was referring to the fact that they, at that time, were waiting for the Messianic work to get them out from amongst the dead, even though they were separated from the lost.

However, it is crucial to note that Abraham was not asleep. He was a kind of person to whom the lost sought help, as did the rich. But no relief was given to the latter. On the day He overcame death, defeating Satan and his demons, Jesus entered where the righteous were awaiting Him. Then He preached to them and brought them out of that place. It is not good to try to talk about what is still hidden (Deuteronomy 29:29).

The important thing is that when we accept the Lord, we go to the other side – we leave the empire of darkness and are transported to the Kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossians 1: 13). Now, when we die, instead of seeing death, we will pass from here to the other side, where the devil will not disturb us. Christians have already defeated Satan and all his kingdom, so they will no longer die. Expect great things from God here and in the hereafter.

It is good to know that Jesus is God with the Father, indivisible, but different as a person. One day, the last trumpet will sound, and He will come to get us. Those who have died will rise first; we will follow them to receive a glorified body and we will never again perish (1 Corinthians 15: 51-54). To God be the glory for what He has done and will do in the life of the saved by Christ.

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares