One of the struggling faith questions posed this spring dovetails with the Heroes series we began yesterday. “What happened to the ‘God followers’ (Moses, Abraham, Aaron) that lived before Jesus came to earth? Did they go to heaven, purgatory, nowhere?” Let’s look at this a step at a time.
1. The only way for our broken relationship with God to be restored is through trusting that Jesus Christ’s death atones for my sins and his resurrection gives me new life (Acts 4:10-12; Romans 10:9-10).
2. Our faith looks back to the historical appearance of God in Christ’s cross and empty grave. The faith of the believers of the Old Testament looks forward to the same event. Quoting from Genesis, Paul explains it this way:
In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. (Galatians 3:6-9).
3. Speaking of all the heroes in Hebrews 11:16, we are told they were looking forward to their heavenly home. “But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Considering how little revelation they had to go on, this is amazing faith.
4. According to the Roman Catholic Church, purgatory is a temporary place of punishment and cleansing before entering heaven. It is a major component of Dante’s Divine Comedy, but the concept is not supported by the Bible.
5. Old Testament and New Testament believers go to a place often referred to as the “intermediate state.” This is where the souls of those who die believing go awaiting the final resurrection. Jesus refers to it as paradise and tells the thief on the cross that he would go there immediately (Luke 23:43). And Paul longs to leave this world to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23).
6. Heaven will be a place on earth. God will renew this fallen world. And we will dwell forever with Him in resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Revelation 21:1-7).
One of the great realities of heaven will be enjoying the community of believers from all ages, including the era before Christ. Together we will experience the ultimate joy of God’s presence.
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