That's very true. Spending eternity with God, no matter where you are, is far, far better that the alternative of ceasing to exist.In the end, in the Eternal State, the dwelling place of God will be with Man. How He figures out how to do it geographically doesn't really concern me. My hope is and always will be in the Lord himself. I am happy to leave living arrangements to Him and stick with John 3:16 ;-)
However, Paul, said in Heb 11:16, "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Better is Better - why not shoot for the best, Heaven? Of course, he's talking about the New Jerusalem, the greatest hope during Acts, the Heavenly city that comes down from heaven (see Rev 3:12) and docks on the New Earth. This city is not Heaven. It's where saved Jews and the Gentiles grafted into Israel during Acts, both under Paul's tutelage, will spend eternity. It's a Jewish city with 12 gates named after the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 foundations named after the 12 apostles who ministered only to Israel (with one exception, Cornelius). Acts was 100% Israel, you just cannot get around that fact. It's one of mid-Acts dispensationalism's many stumbling blocks.
I must admit that, concerning the New Jerusalem, there is one thing I've always wondered about. The NJ is either a 1500 mile cube or square base pyramid, probably the latter. It's hard to imagine a city that large. If the city were just on one flat level, it would be the size of about 200 cities the size of Los Angeles. It very well possible that it's multi-level. At the same population density of L.A., one level, wall to wall, could hold about 4 billion people. At the present time, the only people we know that will occupy this city are those few thousand Jews and Gentiles from Acts.
So, one question is: are more people going to be added in future dispensations, or What? Because a mentor believed this way, I usually say that those that don't see the truths in Paul's last 7 books go to the White Throne Judgement. However, I am starting to believe that this is untrue and that those Gentile saints that have lived since 70AD, those many billions who couldn't see the truths in Paul's last 7 books, may just end up in the New Jeruselem. Since most Christians LIVE in the doctrine of the Jewish Acts church. they would fit right in. They could then have those Jewish things that they love, Romans, 1Corinthians, the Gifts, the New Covenant, and, especially, their precious rapture at the 2nd Coming of Christ, when they are resurrected, go out to meet Christ, and then return to the earth. None of these will go to heaven, according to the scriptures. Our loving God is an infinitely gracious God.
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