So Mama When I Die

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According to pop thought, where Christians get when they die is the same place they will spend eternity. Merely that's not what Scripture says. Revelation 21:1-iv tells united states of america that after Christ'due south triumph at the stop of the world, we'll alive forever with him on the New World as resurrected beings.

In the meantime, Christians go to exist with Christ when they die. What an encouragement to know your mother is there with the Lord! My mom was ane of the closest friends I've always had, and she's been there for 23 years this calendar week. I can't await to meet her once more someday.

Theologians call this identify where our mothers now alive "the intermediate sky," and we larn a slap-up deal about it from the apostle John's vision in Revelation vi:9-11: "I saw under the chantry the souls of those who had been slain because of the discussion of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until y'all judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to expect a picayune longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."

Here nosotros see that those in heaven are the aforementioned people—only relocated. There'due south continuity of identity from this life to the next. Your mother is now ane of what Hebrews 12:23 calls the "righteous men fabricated perfect."

Notice that the martyrs are enlightened of what happens on earth when they ask God, "How long … until you guess the inhabitants of the world and avenge our blood?" They know those who killed them haven't yet been judged. They remember their lives on world, even that they were murdered. Some say people in heaven tin can't remember or see life on earth because knowing of evil would diminish heaven's happiness. But the key to heaven's joy isn't ignorance; it's perspective drawn from living in the presence of Christ.

For instance, when called from heaven to the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah "appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his difference, which he was near to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). They seemed fully aware of life on earth, and what God was about to do.

Also consider this: Christ referred to "rejoicing in sky over one sinner who repents" (Luke fifteen:vii). Similarly, he said, "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10). It doesn't speak of rejoicing past the angels but in the presence of angels. Surely this includes saints in sky, who would be overjoyed by human conversions, especially of those they knew and loved on world. To rejoice, they must be enlightened of what is happening on globe—non by and large, but specifically.

Hebrews 12:1-2 tells the states to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." It evokes the image of Greek competitions watched by throngs of engrossed fans sitting high in aboriginal stadiums. The saints who've gone before us are called a "neat deject of witnesses." This imagery suggests those saints—veteran spiritual athletes—cheer us on from the great stadium of heaven. (Notation that the witnesses are said to "surround" u.s.a., non just to have preceded us.)

I believe Scripture clearly suggests your mother, who's now in heaven, is witnessing God'south unfolding program on earth. She lives in a place where joy is the air she breathes, and null she sees on earth can diminish that. If you're following Jesus, no doubt your female parent is rejoicing over y'all. She'due south looking forward to your great reunion. In fact, when you enter heaven, I think she'll be amidst those right there with Jesus to give you lot a "rich welcome" (ii Peter 1:eleven).

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries (world wide web.epm.org) and the author of 20 books, including Heaven (Tyndale). He lives with his wife in Oregon.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today/Today's Christian Woman magazine.

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Can My Mother See Me From Heaven?

So Mama When I Die,

Source: https://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2005/january/can-my-mother-see-me-from-heaven.html

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