Where is God in heaven?

Since we learned that God is really everywhere (see our recent post "Where is God?"), we can say, “Yes, God is in heaven. 

The Bible teaches that heaven is the place where all the people who have accepted Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as their Lord and Savior will spend eternity. In your new Bible, please read John 3:16, John 1:12, John 14:6 and Romans 10:9! Though heaven is a place, it is a spiritual place, not a physical place. Just like God is spirit and we can’t see, smell, touch, taste or hear him, we also can’t use our senses to see, smell, touch, taste or hear heaven. Although our human minds cannot truly know exactly what heaven will be like, the Bible describes heaven as an unimaginably wonderful place, where we are always in the presence of God! You can read about this in Revelation 21:3-4!

What part of the world will the Antichrist come from?

Awesome question! And it is a question that Bible scholars have debated for years! The truth is no one is really sure. The Bible does not specifically say where the Antichrist will come from or what race he will be.  What we absolutely can say for certain is that someday he will come and be revealed to us all. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 clearly tells us, “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

There is some speculation based on verses in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation that the Antichrist will be from a revived Roman Empire. Others believe that the Antichrist will come from either Western or Eastern Europe (Well, gee whiz! That really narrows it down, doesn’t it???). And yet others believe he will come from the Middle East, possibly around Syria.

Again, we just don’t know. BUT, we do know one thing for certain: no matter where he is from: his reign is only for a short period of time during a time called the Tribulation. Then, he loses…BIGTIME! Christ will conquer him and all those who follow him. Hallelujah!!!

What does 666 mean and where does it come from?

Wow! That is an awesome question! The number “666” is only mentioned once in the Holy Bible and it is in the Book of Revelation in chapter 13, verses 16-18. It reads, “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.”

So, this number represents both the name of the Beast (Satan) and the number of his name. However, the origin of that number or what it signifies isn’t really known.

Many Bible scholars believe that the number “6” is man’s number. It is one number short of God’s number, which is “7”. The number “7” represents perfection. We fall short of God’s perfection so mankind is given the number “6”. Because God presents Himself to us as three persons – God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit – the Beast tries to imitate God and so we have the number 6-6-6.

Then, there are all sorts of other theories involving that number, which include using some sort of mathematical formula to determine who the Anti-Christ will be based on a secret code involving the letters of a person’s name. In fact, one group of people who believe this (they’re called numerologists) thought that if you make the letter A = 101, B = 102, C = 103 and so on until you get to Z = 126, the name Hitler equaled 666! Weird, huh? 

Still other numerologists believed that if you used the Hebrew alphabet, as opposed to the American alphabet, the name Nero, who was an evil Roman leader who persecuted Christians, also equals 666. 

The truth is we don’t really know where “666” originated from; we just know that it is the name of the beast or the number of his name and it’s based on man’s number.

Where do animals go when they die?

Wow! That is an awesome question! And I believe what you are asking me is if animals go to Heaven when they die. I get this question a lot because when kids lose their pets, they want to know if their pet gets to go to Heaven.

The truth is we don’t really know and this question has been debated among Bible scholars for a long time. It is one of the mysteries that God has chosen not to reveal to us.

Some Bible scholars claim that animals, however smart they can be, have no souls so they cannot have an immortal spirit that can survive after death. They also argue that animals were created inferior to human and they are not equal to us. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Still other Bible scholars make the argument that there are animals in Heaven and reference Biblical passages such as Isaiah 65:25, which talks about the new Heaven and new Earth and describes all sorts of animals living together, and Revelation 19:14, which describes Jesus and his army returning on horses.

I tend to believe what it says in Matthew 19:26, “…with God, all things are possible.” I also know God’s character and I personally believe that God, in His infinite love and wisdom, created a Heaven that is a place of perfect happiness. For me, perfect happiness would include all of God’s beauty and creation, including animals.

Is my hope based on complete Biblical truth? Nope. I’m just hoping that I’m right!

What happens to your spirit when you die?

Wow, what an awesome question! And it’s also a very difficult question to answer because so many Bible scholars have different opinions on it. The truth is that no one knows for sure what happens the moment we die and I think that God had a good reason for keeping us wondering about the mysteries of heaven. Perhaps our brains just couldn’t grasp the realities of eternity.

BUT, the Holy Bible does reveal the following truth about the afterlife. We know that while our earthly bodies will die, our spirit will continue on for eternity. The million dollar question then becomes, where are you going to spend eternity? And there are only two choices there; you can spend eternity with God or apart from God.

You see, the choice is really yours. God gave you free will to either choose Him or reject Him. If you choose to follow God and accept Jesus as your Savior, you will spend eternity with God in Heaven. If you choose to reject God, then you will spend eternity separated from God in a place that God never meant for you. The Bible even says this place, Hell, is a place that God “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Remember when I said earlier that no one knows for sure what happens the moment we die? Well, there are many Bible scholars who believe your spirit goes somewhere else before you get to Heaven and that you’ll only get to Heaven once Jesus returns. However, there are other Bible scholars that believe you enter God’s presence at death. We just don’t know.

Here’s what I’m confident of: If you believe that Jesus is who He says He is and you’ve received Him as your Lord and Savior, you will be with God forever (Psalm 23:6) and that Jesus is preparing a special place for all us believers in Heaven! (John 14:1-3) Not only are you with God forever, you will never die again (Revelation 21:1-4).

Who was the snake in the garden with Adam and Eve?

That is an awesome question!!! Although the Book of Genesis never actually refers to the snake, or serpent, as Satan, we can determine who this serpent was (or rather who was controlling and speaking through this serpent) from other passages of the Bible.

In Ezekiel 28:13, it indicates that Satan was in the Garden of Eden. The only other people that were in the garden were God, Adam and Eve. The snake spoke to Eve and we know that no other animals spoke to Adam or Eve. So, someone was speaking through the snake. And since the Bible shows that there were only four people in the garden, it stands to reason that Satan had possessed the snake.

Next, we can see from Revelation 12:9, 12:15 and 20:2 that the serpent is called “the devil and Satan” not once, but three times! When we combine those passages with what the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:3, the identification of the serpent in the Garden of Eden with Satan is unmistakable.

Also, in Genesis 3:14-15 we see God cursing the snake. And in that passage it says that God will put “enmity” (which is hatred and warfare) between the seeds (future generations) of the snake and the woman. This makes no sense if the snake were simply a physical animal.

Finally, although the snake wasn’t actually the devil, the devil was working through the snake and had assumed the snake’s identity. Remember, this is very close to the time of creation or the beginning of time. And it says in 1 John 3:8, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Here it shows that Satan was around near the beginning of time, which further supports that he was in the Garden of Eden.

Additional Scripture Citations:

“You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald … Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.” Ezekiel 28:13

“The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Revelation 12:9

“Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.” Revelation 12:15

“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:2

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3

How is it possible that God has been here forever because it seems like everything should have a beginning?

Yahoo! I love that question because friends ask me that question all the time! I could easily give them the standard Biblical answer that “God has always been here and He has no beginning and no end and He will always be here because He is eternal.” But, I usually get that deer-in-the-headlights look when I say that.

So, here’s my way of explaining it: Imagine being able to go back in time to the days of the pilgrims as they were colonizing this country and trying to explain to them how a helicopter works or how an iPod works. Remember, there’s no such thing as electricity, gas engines, batteries, etc. So, how do you explain how those things work to people that have never seen stuff like that? You see, we’ve grown up with so much technology that we just accept what is there without really trying to understand how it works. But trying to explain something so difficult that we casually accept to someone who’s never experienced would be very challenging.

Let’s apply that thinking to the idea of God being eternal. Truth: God’s eternal power is clearly seen in the creation of our universe but our brains have a hard time wrapping around that idea. And we kind of know what eternity is but we don’t fully understand it. So, what do we do? We try to explain it in terms we can see and understand. But how do we explain eternity to people (all of us) who are stuck in the passage of time? We usually start by trying to simplify the idea!

The Bible is our place to start. The Bible simply says God “is.” Remember Moses? When he asked the Lord God what His name was, do you remember what God said? He said, “Tell them I AM” Exodus 3:14). Revelation 1:8 and 4:8 says that God is, God was and God is to come.

We know tht time is a measurement of physical change. Time, though, has only existed since the creation of the universe. Genesis 1:1, the very first book and chapter of the Bible, says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God created everything, so time started at creation.

We also know from Genesis 1:1 that God was BEFORE the creation of the heavens and the earth becuse He was there to create it. That makes God timeless (eternal) because He created time! So, to answer your question in the simplest of terms, God has been here for all eternity and will be here for all eternity.

Thank you for a great and challenging question!

How could the Bible get out if John was on an island?

That is an awesome question! While it is true that John, one of Jesus’ original disciples, was exiled on the Island of Patmos for a time in his life, we also know that he was eventually released and that he most likely ended up in Ephesus where he died.

It was while he was on Patmos, as a prisoner in a penal colony, that John wrote down on a scroll of the things he “saw and heard” when the Lord came to him in a vision. Those writings later became the Book of Revelation. John starts the Book of Revelation with an assurance too:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw — that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:1-3)

Now, remember also that the Holy Bible is a series of historical accounts written by several different authors. They were accounts inspired by the Word of God but men actually wrote the various books. John was just one of those authors. All of his writings are in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul also wrote many of the New Testament books. The Old Testament has many different authors, some of them unknown.

It was a group of early church leaders that assembled all of these different accounts of God’s word in what we call the Holy Bible.

I heard something about God setting up a kingdom on earth … but we go to heaven! Revelation is confusing!!!

So, let’s talk about God setting up His kingdom on earth .... Okay, so this is another very difficult and often debated part of the Bible. I mean, what exactly does John mean when he says that in Revelation 21:1?!?!

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1)

Here’s what that means, and this gets a little confusing because the Book of Revelation was written in Greek. In Greek, the term “new earth” is kainos gae, which is primarily means a different kind than the present earth. Our English-speaking ears hears second earth and second heaven, which makes it sound like an earth and heaven created subsequent to the first one. But, John is making a distinction between two radically different orders of things based on “this age” and “the age to come.”

The current earth and heaven belong to this present evil age, where sin exists. But, this present heaven and earth are temporary and destined to perish. But, the new heaven and earth, on the other hand, belong to the age to come and are, therefore, eternal. They will never perish (have I confused you yet?).

Let me try and explain it this way: when we physically die our bodies are destined to perish. BUT, because of Jesus’ bodily resurrection, one day we will also be raised imperishable in glorified bodies. And just as our bodies will be raised without the loss of our personal identities (we’re going to know each other) the new heaven and earth will be completely re-created while maintaining some continuity to present heaven and earth. In the easiest way to explain this as possible, although the new heaven and earth will be completely recreated with every trace of human sin purged from them, the new heaven and earth will be recognizable in the same way as our resurrected bodies will be.

Do we get a second chance if we are left behind?

In the book Left Behind for Kids, it talks about kids who were left behind and then come to Christ. In church we learned there would be no more chances. I’m confused!

Wowee! This is an awesome question! It is also a very difficult question to answer because of the various theological debates that have been going on for centuries concerning the end times. That is a very fancy way to say that Bible scholars have argued for a long time over the interpretation of the Book of Revelation and other prophetic books of the Bible regarding the end times.

So, I am going to answer your question based on the Left Behind for Kids premise. The authors of that series, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, are respected Christian scholars and authors. In fact, Dr. LaHaye is a nationally recognized speaker on Bible prophesy. He is also a minister and has written 45 books on a bunch of Biblical subjects, including Bible prophesy. So, while their books are fictionalized (made-up) accounts, they have written their stories on their interpretation of the Holy Bible.

The Left Behind series authors, for both the kid and the adult versions, base their stories on the “pre-tribulation rapture” theory. That basically means that the authors believe that Jesus will “take away” his people before the Tribulation period. Some Christian scholars believe there is a mid-tribulation rapture, some believe there is a post-tribulation rapture and some believe there is no such thing as the rapture. I won’t get into who is right or wrong but let’s assume the authors interpretation is correct and there is a pre-Tribulation rapture (by the way, on an interesting side note, you won’t find the word “rapture” anywhere in the Holy Bible).

So, that means that before all the bad stuff happens involving the anti-Christ, Jesus will take away all the people, including kids, that are saved and who believe in Him. That doesn’t mean that those people who are “left behind” are doomed though. According to the authors’ interpretation of Scripture, those people who are not taken during the rapture still get a second chance to come to Christ although life is supposed to get a lot tougher during that period of time.

Scripture also supports the belief that you can be saved anytime before Christ’s second coming. If you look in Matthew 24, up to the point when Christ returns, those who are “left behind” can be saved. Once He returns, though, it’s too late. That’s why we are all warned by Jesus when He says:

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. “ (Matthew 24:36-44)

Don’t ever forget that we have a God of “second chances.” He loves you and does not want you to perish. But, you have to be truly repentant (sorry) and believe that Jesus is who He says He is.

“Yet to all who received Him, to all who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

Where is Heaven?

Wow, what an awesome question! Okay, so here’s the first thing: you won’t find the location of Heaven on any map or atlas or on any celestial map of the universe. There’s no drawing in any versions of the Bible that shows where Heaven is either.

However, we do know a few things about the location of Heaven based on the Holy Bible. We do know that it is a real place and it is where God is. And, based on everything I’ve read, I can only say this about Heaven: it is somewhere in this spacious and infinite arena above the world.

Why do I believe this? Because, in Revelation 4:1 John writes that he looked and he saw a door open to Heaven and then a voice says to him, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” In Acts 1:11, it says, “Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

So, based just on those two Bible verses alone, we know that Heaven is in an upward direction and not on the surface of this earth. It is above and outside the earth and somewhere in space or beyond space. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 14, it talks about Lucifer (Satan) “falling from Heaven” and “being cast down to earth.” It also says that Satan wanted to “ascend to Heaven” and “raise his throne above the stars of God.” (Isaiah 14:12-13)

Is it somewhere in outer space? Is it in another realm beyond outer space? We just don’t know. The only other important thing I know about heaven is that I will go there someday after my time here is done. We are all promised eternal life, with God, when we believe in the name of Jesus Christ and receive Him as our Savior. I pray that you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior so that you will get to see how beautiful heaven is someday after you’ve lived a wonderful life here!

What does death lead to?

Wow …. I think the Bible makes it pretty clear that there are only two options when you die: either eternal life in Heaven with Jesus or eternal torment in Hell. There is no middle ground or some holding tank for second chances.

Bottom line: If you are saved, you go to Heaven. If you are not saved, you go to Hell. I think it is very important at this point to make a very important distinction or clarification and that is: it’s all about being saved, not being good. Good people don’t go to Heaven; saved people do.

What I’m trying to say here is that it’s not about the good things you’ve done in your life or that you will do in your life that determines whether you go to Heaven. You can’t “earn” a spot in Heaven. It’s already been bought for you by Jesus’ death. He gives it to you as gift … a gift called grace. I love Ephesians 2:8-9, which says it clearly, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith --- and this is not from ourselves but it is a gift of God --- not by works, so no one can boast.” It is right there for the taking! Jesus gives you eternal life with Him as a gift! All you have to do is accept it. You don’t have to “do” anything. If you try and do things to somehow earn it, you take away Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and make it about earning salvation. Jesus is crying out, “No! I bought and paid for you with my blood! I did it willingly because I love you.”

Let me also say something about Hell. God did not create Hell for people. It is a place that was created for Satan and his demons. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus tells those who never came to Him, “Depart from, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

It is a terrible place…the Holy Bible can’t even adequately describe it. We do know that it is a place where even Satan is tormented day and night forever (Revelation 20:10). It is a place of total darkness, where you are completely alone and where you are in constant anguish from the searing flame with a thirst that cannot be quenched and where there will be a constant weeping and gnashing of teeth (Revelation 14:11, Mark 9:4, Jude 7, Matthew 22:13). If that scares you, that’s okay … it scares me too.

There are people, who are non-believers, who will say, “How can a loving God send people to a place like Hell?” The truth is God doesn’t send us to Hell. The non-belief in Him and sin, choosing the devil’s way, put people in Hell. Remember, God is holy and will not allow sin in His kingdom.

But, know this: God does not want anyone to perish! He wants all of us to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) More importantly, God sent His One and Only Son to die for us so that we would not go to Hell. But, it’s not enough just to know that Jesus died for us. You must truly believe that He died for us and then confess Him as your Savior. Remember our A-B-C’s in the Bridge Illustration? You must Admit your sins, Believe that Jesus is who He says He is and Confess Him to be your Savior.

Never forget how much God loves you!!! He loves you so much that while we were still sinners he sent His son to die for us! (Romans 5:8) And the reward is so great, too, because the Bible says that, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17)

Would God be in your pet?

That is a very interesting question! And the first thing we have to do is make a distinction here because it is a very important one: God created your pet but God is not in your pet. Let’s look at the Old Testament in the book of Genesis. The very first chapter talks about all the things God created, including the animals. So, we know that God creates all life, including our pets.

But, if you read a little further, in Genesis, it says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” This seems to imply that animals are not equal to humans (I know, duh!). But many Biblical scholars interpret this passage to show that animals are subservient to people and that, while they may have the “breath of life” (nephesh in Hebrew), they do not have an immortal soul like we do.

I think the Bible supports that only people have souls too. I believe the following Biblical passage clearly shows that animals do not have souls: “They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.” (2 Peter 2:12). If animals had souls, the Bible would probably mention a salvation plan for them. But, it doesn’t. Salvation is only offered to us.

Now, having said all that…I also believe there are animals in Heaven. How else could Jesus come riding down on a white horse in Revelation 19:11? In the Book of Isaiah, it is written that the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lay with the goat, the calf, the lion and the yearling will be together and a child will lead them. (Isaiah 11:6). This seems to imply that all of God’s creation will live in Heaven.

Do I believe that someday I’ll be reunited with my first dog? Probably not, although that would be a great thought! Remember, “With man this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible” (Matthew 19:25-27).

What if you are in Hell and you pray about your sins? Will God take you to heaven from hell?

Wow, dude, that is an awesome question! Sadly, though, the Bible is quite clear on that and the truth is, no. Once you are in Hell, it is for all eternity.

Jesus actually talks more about Hell than He does about Heaven and the reason is because He does not want any of us to ever go there. Hell was not created by God for you and me. It is a place that was created for Satan and his demons. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus tells those who never came to Him, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

It is a terrible place…the Holy Bible can’t even adequately describe it. We do know that it is a place where even Satan is tormented day and night forever (Revelation 20:10). It is a place of total darkness, where you are completely alone and where you are in constant anguish from the searing flame with a thirst that cannot be quenched and where there will be a constant weeping and gnashing of teeth (Revelation 14:11, Mark 9:4, Jude 7, Matthew 22:13). If that scares you, that’s okay…it scares me too.

There are people, who are non-believers, who will say, “How can a loving God send people to a place like Hell?” The truth is God doesn’t send us to Hell. The non-belief in Him and sin, choosing the devil’s way, put people in Hell. Remember, God is holy and will not allow sin in His kingdom.

But, know this: God does not want anyone to perish! He wants all of us to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) More importantly, God sent His one and only Son to die for us so that we would not go to Hell. But, it’s not enough just to know that Jesus died for us. You must truly believe that He died for us and then confess Him that He is your Savior. Remember our A-B-C’s in the Bridge Illustration? You must Admit your sins, Believe that Jesus is who He says He is and Confess that He is your Savior.

Never forget how much God loves you!!! He loves you so much that while we were still sinners he sent His son to die for us! (Romans 5:8) And the reward is so great, too, because the Bible says that, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17)

Where is Heaven?

Heaven is a real place - Jesus said so in John 14:1-3 when He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Heaven is also known in the Bible as the “New Jerusalem” and it is an eternal city that is described beautifully and in-depth in Revelation 21 and 22. I think my favorite description is in Revelation 21:3-5 which reads, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new.'"

So, where is it exactly? No one really knows. It is beyond our Earth and beyond the universe. I know that is hard to imagine, but I just wanted you to know that no matter where it is, it is a real place and a place that has no sadness, no death, no mourning, no crying or no pain. We will have glorified bodies (and no one knows what those look like but we will know each other somehow) and we will be in the constant presence of God. Pretty exciting, huh?

If Satan is evil in Heaven and in the Bible it says there is no sin in Heaven, why did Satan sin then?

WOW!!! That is a very awesome question! And, to be quite honest with you, I don’t know the answer to that question and I don’t think anyone, other than Jesus, really knows. But, here’s what I do know to be true:

God absolutely hates sin. He cannot even be in its presence.
There is no sin in Heaven.
Satan was once God’s most perfect angel named Lucifer and he was cast out of Heaven because he sinned against God.
A third of the angels also sinned and were cast down to Earth with Satan.
Satan is also known as the “accuser of the brethren” because he gets to go to the Throne of God and point out the sinners to God but Jesus protects us by saying, No, Satan, you’re wrong, They are covered by my death.” (Job 1:6-12 and Revelation 12:7-9 tell some of the story!)

So, there are a lot of bible scholars who believe that there are different realms of Heaven and that when Lucifer sinned against God it was in one of the realms of Heaven but not Heaven itself. There are also some Bible scholars that believe the Throne of God isn’t in Heaven but just outside Heaven which would allow Satan to come close to Heaven without being able to get it to Heaven itself.

We have to remember that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. He has an unstoppable plan for us and for Satan. Don’t forget…Satan is not God or the opposite of God. He is a created being just like you and me. God created Satan. Satan cannot create life, he is not all-knowing, he is not all-powerful and he cannot be in two places at once. Never, ever think that God and Satan are equal because they are not.

In fact, if God wanted to, He could make Satan disappear with just a thought. But, God has a plan for us all, including Satan, and God’s plan is perfect and unstoppable. We cannot ever imagine or begin to know why God does some of the things he does or allows some of the things he allows. We will never know, until we go to Heaven, why God allowed Satan to sin.

Can Satan create? If so, did he make dinosaurs and were they evil so they could not go on the ark?

One of the problems with Satan is that a lot of what we think we know about him is popular mythology – meaning that we get our ideas from stories and history and traditions that are not in the Bible. That Satan is a mean dude in a red suit with a pitchfork is a good example of a description of Satan that is not in the Bible. Another idea – a surprising one - is that Satan is in hell. The Bible states that he roams earth looking for someone to destroy (Job 1:6-7; 1 Peter 5:8). The point I am making is that we want to use only the Bible to understand Satan.

One of the clearest statements about Satan is Revelation 12:9, which states that “this great dragon – the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.” There are a lot of other passages in the New Testament that also describe Satan as humanity’s deceiver, adversary and challenger. 1 Peter 5:8 makes it clear that Satan wants to destroy us and Matthew 4:1-11 is a great example which shows that not even Jesus was free of his challenges.

To answer your question directly as it refers to dinosaurs, Satan is not the Creator, God is. God is the Creator of everything, of all matter and energy and space and time and life, and everything in creation that God called first “good” and later “very good.” This includes dinosaurs! God created dinosaurs and they were good.

The reason they did not make it onto the ark was probably because they were already extinct, not because they were evil.

Why did Adam and Eve get kicked out of the garden for lying? Will I get kicked out of heaven for lying?

Adam and Eve didn’t get kicked out of the garden for lying, they got kicked out because the Lord didn’t want them to eat from the tree of life and live forever. Read all about it in Genesis 3:22-24. Really, Adam and Eve blew it with God because they disobeyed Him. He told them what NOT to do, and they did it. This just made everything into a big mess, as disobedience always does……..

As for lying, our God does “desire truth in the innermost being (Psalm 51:6A).” In Proverbs 6:17 we’re told that God hates a lying tongue. So this tells us how God feels about lying. We’re then told in James that, “to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin (4:17).” And God tells us to “confess our sins to one another” in James 5:16. So, we know that God doesn’t like lying so we shouldn’t do it. We know that if we do what we shouldn’t, we are sinning. We know that if we are sinning, we should tell someone. AND, we know that “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).” Knowing all that, will God kick us out of heaven if we tell a lie and don’t ask for forgiveness?

If Jesus is truly our Lord and Savior, habitual sin is impossible to do without feeling extremely tormented. So a person who lies all the time and doesn’t give it a thought probably doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus. If that is the case, we’re told in Revelation 21:8 & 27 that there isn’t a place in heaven for such a person. But if we DO have a relationship with Jesus, nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:39). We won’t, however, be able to sin without being bothered by it. And if we’re bothered by it enough, we’ll probably HAVE to confess it to SOMEONE, even if it IS only to the Lord (although it’s most helpful to tell another person as well).

So, a true child of God, one who has been adopted into His family through Jesus, will not be kicked out of heaven. I don’t believe, however, that we’ll get into heaven without unconfessed sin being laid bare to our Savior. He says in Matthew 12:36 that on the day of judgement, we’ll be held accountable for “every careless word [we] shall speak.” He says nothing unclean will be allowed into heaven. SO…..I personally don’t want to be standing before my Lord on judgement day in need of a shower. I’d rather confess my sins and get washed clean while I’m still here—how about you?

If God says in Thessalonians that he’s going to call people to heaven, why does he say in Revelation that demons are going to kill a third of mankind?

Wow! Awesome question!

I started by finding the verses I think you were asking about. Here they are:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Revelation 9:14-19
14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." 15And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.
17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

At first, this does seem a bit confusing, so let’s break this down and understand it. First, do you see that in Thessalonians God is calling people to heaven, but in Revelation it is again God who has sent the angels (even though they may be evil angels) to destroy a third of mankind?! Is that even more surprising, or what? (That’s important to understand, though … read on …)

In order to understand the Bible correctly, we have to understand that God gave these words to us and – because this is how awesome God is – one part of the Bible will agree with another part of the Bible. It becomes our job to understand it correctly! In order to do that, one of the things we have to understand is the “context” of the verses we are reading. Go grab a dictionary and look up the word, “context.” (go do that right now, and then finish reading this.)

So you see that “context” means the words, and sentences, and even the story that comes before and after the verse we are reading, AND (and this is very important) it affects the meaning and our understanding. If I tell you to go ahead and pick out a shirt to wear, but I don’t tell you whether we are going to a funeral or a football game, then you can easily pick out the wrong shirt (and obviously you would want a different shirt for those two times.) It would help if I gave you the “context” of why you needed to grab another shirt, right?

OK, back to Thessalonians and Revelation … what is the context of those verses? Take a few minutes right now to read the verses that come before and after the verses we are talking about (take a minute to do that right now …)

Here’s what’s going on with those two letters:

In 1 Thessalonians: the apostle Paul, Silas and Timothy have visited Thessalonica, a Greek city, on one of their missionary journeys. They started a church there, and many of the people who came to that church did not know God. The people there were enthusiastic about getting to know God, but they also had a lot of questions. And they didn’t always come up with the right answers!

Paul wrote back to that church (that’s the letter of 1 Thessalonians) to correct some of the errors they had made. One of the main issues he is writing about concerns what happens to people who believe in God when Jesus returns. You see, Paul was worried that the church there (because it was so young) would abandon their commitment to following Jesus, so Paul is writing to correct them and ALSO to encourage them!

SO – in 1 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul is encouraging new believers in Jesus Christ to hang in there even though things were at times a bit confusing and difficult.

Revelation was written by the apostle John at the very end of his life. John’s purpose was to comfort Christians who were going through really rough times; and Christians were being heavily attacked and persecuted during those days. John is telling his readers that the ultimate victory belongs to Jesus but – as you probably noticed – he uses some pretty wild and imaginative images to get his ideas across. He talks about horses of different colors and lakes of fire and swords coming out of mouths and WOW! how do we understand all that? Well, let’s remember that this letter is intended to comfort people (not to scare them, though the apostle John is not afraid to scare people into trusting Jesus!) and then recognize that this type of writing is called “apocalyptic.” (that’s a big word, but it just describes a kind of writing that uses lots of visions and wild images.) This is a little bit like how The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia stories are also pretty wild, but there are good stories and message there, right? Apocalyptic literature was a style of writing used to encourage people who were really being persecuted. Does that make sense to you?

In these verses in Revelation, Jesus is making it clear that those who don’t follow him (read verse 20 to see what all people were doing!) were going to be separated from him forever – and that sounds way harsh. But the context of this part of the story shows that ultimately God wins, Satan loses, and those who follow Jesus and accept him as their Savior, get to be with him forever. See, that’s the encouraging part that people needed to hear – and that’s the bigger picture that you and I have to understand. If we just see God as this God who is going to slay one third of mankind and we don’t realize that that third is the third that has rejected God, then we wonder if he is a mean God, or if we’re going to get killed like that.

SO – in Revelation, the apostle John is encouraging all believers in Jesus Christ to remain committed to him and to be comforted by the fact that in the end he wins, and Satan loses, even though things were way tough, confusing and difficult right then.

Who made God? If God has no beginning, how can he exist?

This is an incredibly good question!

Here is the history that the Bible gives us about God: Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That’s all we know! When you read the whole Bible and put all the pieces together, basically it looks like God has always been and always will be. I know that’s difficult to understand especially because we think of everything in terms of time. The earth revolves, and we call it a day. The earth goes around the sun, and we call it a year.

But God is different: In the beginning God created everything. When the Bible says “heavens and the earth”, that was a way of saying “everything”, and everything includes … time! God even created time!

The Bible says that God does not have a beginning and an end. He is a spirit. No mom and pop. Just God. Revelation 22:13 says I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Wow!

So if God had no beginning, how can he exist? Your question is very good. The answer is not simple, but the answer the Bible gives us is that God does exists, and that he always did, and that he always will.