Do Christians Go To Heaven?

When the Messiah walked the earth he gave a famous sermon called “The Sermon on the Mount.” During this sermon he stated that the earth will be inherited by the meek (Matt 5:5). One may ask what exactly did he mean when he made this seemingly benign statement? Shouldn't the meek Christians inherit heaven? Or one may even ask do the meek Christians even go to heaven?

The verse most will quote to show Christians are going to heavens or fly off into a paradise in the clouds when they die is in Luke 23:43 King James Version when the Messiah told a thief on the cross: “...Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Notice that the comma is before the word “today.” The comma was put in front of the word today at the discretion of the translator which makes no sense in the context with the rest of the bible. In the original Aramaic or Greek there were no commas. Because of this the way it was read when it was written is that the reader would have to have to understand the context of the statement to get full meaning. 

Now I am going to reveal where I am going with this. It is my belief that the comma before the word today should have been after the word to make the sentence read “verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.” The reason I say this is because if you look at the context of the rest of the bible then it doesn't make sense to claim that this thief on the cross would go to heaven that day or any day.

For example:

In John 3:13 it is written “... no man hat ascended up to heaven...”

In Proverbs 10:30 it is written “The righteous shall never be removed...”

In Matthew 6:10 it is written “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven”

The bible says that David was a man after Yahweh's own heart, and he is going help rule in his kingdom, but yet it even states in Acts 2:34 “For David is not ascended into the heavens...”

At this point some may be scratching their head because the bible clearly states in John 14:1-4 that he has gone to prepare a place, or mansions for Christians in the heavens. Although this is true that he has and is, the mansions will not stay in the heavens and will come to earth for us to live in because in Revelation 21:2-3 the mansions of the new Jerusalem will come out of the heavens and be here on earth. For those who cannot understand what is being said, I could compare it this way, a car is made in a factory, but it doesn't stay in the factory. Or another thing to compare it to is that food is prepared in a kitchen at a restaurant but doesn't stay in the kitchen. 

On that day we will greet him when he comes in the clouds 1 Thess. 4:15-17 when he descends with the new Jerusalem. Notice the bible does not say he reverses direction and goes back to heaven with the Christians in some sort of secret rapture, but rather we will be transported through the air to the new Jerusalem. So we are staying here, the wicked are leaving just as the parable of the Wheat and the Tares when the tares will be rooted out and destroyed in Matt. 13. The position we will have in the new Jerusalem is best illustrated by the parable of the Pounds in Luke 19:12-27.

On the glorious day of the lord (Zecheriah 14:4) when he returns to earth in bodily form Israel (Israel means to rule under God's law) will rule with him just as it says in Rev 20:4 and in Rev 22:3-5.

So in closing...

It is very true that the Meek will inherit the earth as the Messiah stated and the wicked will be destroyed when he returns to establish the new Jerusalem. I have said it many times before that we are now in Father Yahweh's kingdom and we are not doing a good job at all. Hopefully all of Israel will become meek and seek his face (2 Chron 7:14) in preparation of his return. The time is now for us to act in preparation for his return as John the baptist did.

I pray all will not follow the traditions of men and keep the words of Yashua Messiah first in all they do!