Heaven Coach

Afterlife for the Egyptians, especially the Egyptian Pharaoh’s was central to their beliefs, so much so that a good part of their lifetime and of their slaves was spent in preparation for the next life.

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), depicting paradise and hell

Throughout history the people of our little planet have been fascinated with the next life. Of course, many today deny there is anything past this life. There was no certainty in the time of the Pharaoh’s or when Hieronymus Bosch painted his picture above in the 14th century. A lot of people made guesses and amazingly a lot of people believed in those guesses. Actually there cannot be absolute certainty regarding the details of the afterlife, but you can know the big picture with absolute certainty.

Afterlife, after you close your eyes the last time on planet earth

If you thought you were going to read about some grand idea, some more guessing about the afterlife, then you might be disappointed. Instead, this material has an exceedingly stronger basis. I honestly do not know the answers to many of the often frivolous, albeit fascinating questions people frequently ask. However, by staying very close to what God has revealed, we can get close to correctly answering many of the typical questions. The answer will make sense, although you may not like the answer. If this were my idea or the idea of any person it would be meaningless. As always, you decide what you believe. If a reasonable answer is provided, perhaps more reasonable than other ideas and consistent with scripture and especially consistent with God’s purpose you might consider it to be, well “REASONABLE” possibly even close to what will actually happen. Again, the “big picture” you can know with certainty. You will die, your life on earth will end. Then it becomes murky for many and often this is desirable – they really do not want to know – it might make life less pleasurable, less comfortable. The other CERTAIN THINGS that many doubt are existence after death, a judgment and eternity based on how you lived your earthly life. One very good reason to believe in God is simply because there is no other reasonable answer for ANYTHING existing. You might read,”Why Does God Exist.” You need to understand what you believe and that kind of tenacity regarding finding the truth is required to overcome much of the deceit.
You might also want to read, “End Of The World” to get past the silliness and problematic teaching of many religions regarding how the world will end. The truth on this subject is quite clear and most of that lengthy discourse (found at this website) is straightening out the mess on this subject. Understanding the end of the world can be pretty powerful and encouraging in terms of the seriousness of living life correctly.

What Will Be Different In The Afterlife
Than You Might Presently Think?

Those who fail in life will be surprised. Indeed your eternity will be quite different than you thought, such as:

1. When you come before Christ in judgment, you will know you are lost.

Although all are present at judgement before Christ for the DIVIDING, only the lost stand IN JUDGMENT, BEING JUDGED. The saved do not have to endure this event, but are passed from death to life. They achieve heaven.

2 Cor 5:10

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

John 5.22-24

22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

Note: On salavtion
We are talking about the afterlife and being judged, but you need to understand God’s word is very accurate and it all fits perfectly together. There are no conflicts. So, when it says in the verse above, “he who hears My word” that is what it means – My word. It is not what some person says God’s word is, but God’s word is the truth. Then it says, “and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life” then that is the truth. However, many people and most preachers get this all wrong as simple as it is to the destruction of many souls.
We have:
***** Hears My word, that is the truth – nothing else – the things revealed by God that define salvation.
***** And Believes in Him who sent Me – That is believes in the Father, but believing is more than a mental acceptance, but is defined by God – the scriptures teach that those who believe in God, do what He says, those who love God keep His commandments. Now in God’s word you have certainty, but not in any man’s or woman’s word. So, what does God teach about becoming a child of God and being successful so you can avoid being judged? As you would expect, God is very clear about this.

2. Arguing with God

People frequently say they have a good excuse for their actions and in a discussion with God, He will understand. There will be no discussion with God, certainly no argument with God. The fact that you are being judged as noted above indicates you are lost eternally. You know your fate and there is no argument.

3. How Much Will You Know

You may not be given much information, just your final judgment. God knows all and your judgment will be perfect and your eternity sealed. I rather think you will know your mistakes in terms of God’s word. You may think of some of the unfavorable things you have done, but at judgment God will call into your ACCOUNT every idle word. I believe this indication in God’s word (below) is a way of indicating how EVERYTHING in your life is exposed before God. It also emphasizes how serious you need to take everything you do. There will be no defense before God, because He knows all things and will be judging according to His word. It will be a painful time as finally you realize your foolishness and indeed being lost is not pleasant.
You see those who have succeeded include those who sinned, but the blood of Christ covered their sins and their sins are truly gone, even every idle word.

Matthew 12:36

36 “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

4. Those who you thought would be in heaven also failed

Famous people, good people we have known, friends and family that we might expect to be in heaven will very likely NOT be in heaven. Religious people will typically not achieve heaven because few teach the truth. The most hated thing by God is deceit, lying, misleading others spiritually and those in these categories will FAIL. It is not what you THOUGHT was the truth, but THE TRUTH is what you need. Very, very few people make this distinction. It is the most serious thing to speak as though you know the truth when you do not. It should terrify every person who teaches about God and heaven because of the gravity of their words. It scares me half to death!

5. Many of the house of God will also be lost

There are those who found and obeyed the truth, but in that position did not fulfill their duty of service to God. Much like the parable of the talents, God expects your service to be fruitful, full of vigor and dedication to the cause of Christ. In fact, judgment begins with the house of God. Many think they are headed for heaven and especially those who obeyed the gospel, but many of these will also fail.

1 Peter 4:17

17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

6. Your earthly personal successes mean exactly NOTHING

There will be absolutely no value in whatever success you attained in life. It will not matter if you are in the hall of fame, or have a shelf full of awards/trophies or if you were the most admired person in the world, because those things are not important to God. After all, all your success if rightfully obtained comes from God. It will not matter if you are a man or woman, a boy or girl or what race you represent, or if you are rich or poor or anything else you can think of because the judgment is about your battle with sin. Ultimately, success in life requires you have a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus. It is amazing how many people think a great singing voice or special athletic ability, or a brilliant mind or many other things honored by people have any value in terms of achieving heaven. The characteristics mentioned in Jesus’ sermon on the mount have exceedingly greater value than the way humankind measures success. These are eternal things whereas the the works of the world will be destroyed along with the elements.

2 Peter 3:10

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

7. Enabling is not God’s way

If you are one who believes you are owed something or you have certain rights whether earned or not, you will find that concept is not valid with God.
If you take supplies from work office because they will not miss them or think the rich have too much and you can help yourself to what they have or other similar attitudes that relate to your perception of fairness – you will find that God’s fairness is much, much different. There is truth and there is error, there is right and wrong and there is no “in between.” So with God there are all these absolutes and God does not enable to satisfy your situation. When you live with such ideas in this earthly life you are setting yourself up for eternal failure. This attitude is not conducive to determining the truth, but instead you believe you can be rewarded for mediocrity. The world often supports enabling and that can be misleading. Enabling is often done out of love, out of concern, but many enabled people come to expect “certain things.” In the end enabling often has the opposite effect and people become more dependent, less aggressive, even lazy. When a person lives in an enabling society, even if they are not being enabled themselves, they may very mistakenly think God (a God of love) will be an enabler. God, you think will look past your problems, your sins and accept you for “what you are.” If you want to be successful in life that means just one thing, namely, an afterlife in heaven. There is not a single back door to heaven, and luck plays no part in achieving heaven. One very important understanding is that ultimately, life is not about this life. Life is not about your earthly successes or about the many “aberrations that confuse” such as enabling or the religions of men/women, but life is about the soul.

8. You will know there are no second chances

Religions often invent second chances as part of their doctrine. When you die and face judgment one thing you will know is that you will not have another chance. You will likely also know that you could have easily known that during your lifetime. There was no valid basis for such teachings as purgatory, the rapture or reincarnation. Again, the decision to accept such teachings shows your reliance and trust in men/women instead of God.

Hebrews 9:27

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment

9. There is no one to blame except me

In some way you will know that it was YOU that failed God’s test. God’s power and perfection will be understood in a limited way but sufficiently to realize He makes no mistakes. So your judgment was perfectly fair, albeit devastating, eternal and “my fault.”

10. Lost opportunities

In some way, your eternity will be torturous inasmuch as there were so many opportunities for doing the right thing in your lifetime. Why, why, why were you so foolish, so full of pride.

11. God defines Good and Evil, Right and Wrong

You may NOW understand why few achieved heaven

You were in the majority in your beliefs, and your lifestyle, in your lack of seriousness about God and spiritual things and indeed you remain in the majority in a lost state. You “stand” amazed at the numbers of people that have failed. You were so certain that God would save most people. You stand with the self-righteous, who you rejected for their attitude and they “stand” with you towards whom they INDEED acted self-righteously. Those who know the scriptures and understand God’s purpose and His plan are not surprised that few succeeded. You were so certain you were as good as most and again you were right. As the scriptures teach there is a way that SEEMS right to mankind, but it is the way of death – spiritual death. As “heaven coach” teaches throughout, you can only understand spiritual things corectly if God reveals them.

Some things You Will Know if you are lost

1. JESUS was at the center of God’s plan

Jesus was God’s Son and the only hope you had in life to succeed.

2. God does exist

You will know how foolish it was to doubt God’s existence. How ridiculous to believe that life, intelligent life just happened. That foolishness will be an eternal pain of great proportions. How foolish, why did I believe that nonsense! You will know there is no one to blame except yourself. You would like to blame someone, but ultimately it was your decision to even reject God’s existence.

3. You will realize God was the God of the bible

It will be very painful to realize that God was the God of the bible. There was a ton of evidence, but you never looked, you did not want to look. You may have laughed at everything religious, but you are not laughing now! God is in no way reticent in this matter. God’s emotions are seen in His revelation regarding those who reject Him in Proverbs 1.24-32 and then in verse 33 we see the result for those who listen to God.

Proverbs 1.24-33

24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

There is no enabling in God, no middle ground of acceptance, but there is a harsh vengeance for rejecting God’s counsel.
If you want to understand the afterlife and succeed in life then listen to God (verse 33). If God says LISTEN or BELIEVE or LOVE God, He does NOT mean:
> To merely physically read or hear Him, but to respond to the listening
> To merely mentally believe what He says, but to act in obedience to that belief
> To claim you love God but to prove it by acting accordingly in agreement with His commands
This is why Jesus carefully taught:

Matthew 7.21

21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

4. You will realize you should have trusted God’s word
and not what someone said was the truth

Also it will be excruciatingly painful realizing you rejected the truth and in many cases by people who knew the bible was the truth. You thought you were following God, but the doctrines you accepted actually came from men or women. You trusted “Christian preachers” who in fact were typically also deceived. Now, you know how easy it would have been to just stay with the scriptures and not wander off course by listening to various teachers. The scriptures were indeed all you needed and you should have tested the teachings of men and women. One of the pages at this site is, “Believe No One.” When we talk about scripture as your guide, it is because that is where you need to place your trust. Men and Women can teach anything and claim they follow the scriptures, but why should you believe them? God did not leave you in such a predicament. God left you the scriptures and that is your guide. You may believe many things about scripture such as, “it is your interpretation” or “there are so many versions of the bible” and as a result you never venture into the scriptures. The failure is really that you do not trust God to deliver the one thing that He says you can trust – His word. Yes, some people would pervert the scriptures, but nonetheless you can rightly divide God’s word and unlock God’s will for you. The following verses indicate the effort needed to get to the truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Acts 17:11

11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

It is clear that God’s test of humankind requires a person to be strong, humble, open-minded, having a love of the truth and having great tenacity/perseverance. Life is hard and additionally there are some scriptures that are hard to understand and some people twist those scriptures making understanding even more difficult. In truth, if you have the right attitude even the more difficult scriptures are quite easily understood. You need to get the fundamentals right. One key fundamental is understanding God’s purpose and then seeing His plan to fulfill that purpose.

2 Peter 3:16

16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures

The New Testament is filled with warnings regarding those who would pervert the truth. There is a great deal to overcome to succeed in life (gain heaven) and many specific warnings are given such as in the verses below.

Timothy 4:1-5

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

The fact that God provided this and many warnings, lets you know that there will be many who deceive people regarding spiritual matters.

5. The Judgment is a fearful time – nothing on earth compares to this

Paul knew the importance of the gospel in terms of the soul. He went about following the directions from God always realizing the value of every soul. Many people do not like the idea of hell and even say they reject the bible for that reason. The truth is the concept of hell is there for your consideration, to help you see the seriousness of life. You reject God’s help and thus reject God. God wants nothing to do with you and the test has worked in your case settling your fate. You will be judged not according to YOUR reasoning, but according to the word of God. Pride will be the root cause most people fail in life as they select THEIR way over God’s way. Paul was very clear being led by God to warn people about failing in this life as is seen in the dramatic verses below:

2 Cor 5:11

11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;

Philippians 2:12

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

Why should you work out your salvation with fear and trembling? Because the scriptures indicate it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:31

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The world is confused about the nature of God and frequently indicating that God is a God of love. They are right, but He is also the God of justice.

Hebrews 10:30

30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 12:19

19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Nahum 1:2

2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies;

Here is the distinguishing factor – God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Can you see that God’s love is tied to His Son and rejection of His Son is rejection of His love. Many people believe they are Christian but they are not! If you want a successful next life, you need to believe what the scriptures teach and not what some person or persons have taught you. If you love God, who loved you do you mentally accept Christ to show you love God? If God says, believe to be saved do you mentally believe in Jesus as God’s Son and expect salvation? If you love God, will do what He says as the scriptures teach and keep His commandments? If you believe in Jesus as the Son of God will you do what He says. Jesus, the scriptures teach, became the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him. The following verse points out God’s wrath for those who fail to obey the gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1.8,9

8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power

On the other hand,
If you are successful in life

If successful, you will learn a great deal as you transition, actually you knew a lot about the afterlife when you were alive. Now, you have achieved the one thing that matters and in heaven you are perfectly happy. The difficulties of living in a body and in a “time existence” are past. The concerns have past and your existence is beyond anything you imagined. You knew heaven would be good, but you had no idea of how infinitely wonderful. Heaven, is however NOT about you, but about God and the relationship you now have with the Almighty. You are in no way separate from God. You passed the difficult test of life and it was not easy but your character, your actions, your love of the truth grew and that character is still very much a part of you into and throughout eternity. You became what God wanted, you overcame sin in repentance and finding the truth you had your sins covered by the blood of Christ. You obeyed the gospel and lived faithfully until death.
You will know God’s judgment was perfect and the beloved lost souls of your earthly relationships will not in any way be worrisome. How can that be? This is difficult for people who live outside a relationship with God to understand. However, it is easily understood and accepted for God’s people. God’s children FIRST trust God as the scriptures teach:

Matthew 6.33

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

It is a level of trust that only comes from understanding God and His purpose. You can reach a point where you understand that friends and family who fail in life did so because they choose to reject God. Of course, it is not what you want for them and your efforts on their behalf were your best efforts. Those who truly love God, love God more than anyone or anything are quite different than the people of the world. This means that their love shows in their actions. You learn God accepts nothing less. God after all, gave you life and really all your friends and family are blessings from God. The attitude of God’s children is one of working as hard as you possibly can for the kingdom of God and truly believing you are not doing nearly enough. You look at yourself as no better than anyone else and realize except for the blood of Christ you would have no hope.

Summary

As mentioned, this discussion of the afterlife is really about being successful in this life, that is in order to have a great afterlife in heaven. Consequently, this page has to do with what God has revealed about the next life. God is serious about your success and wants you to pass the test. Few will succeed because they will choose to gain all they can in this life at the expense of their afterlife. One might say, people typically do not know about the seriousness of living according to the scriptures. Now, you have “hit the nail on the head” because THAT IS THE TEST: To find, obey and live the truth. Many people fail in the first step since they never find the truth – many never even care. God is not far from you, but do you care to find Him? If you find Him, can you live this life for Him? This life is full of obstacles, there is much to overcome and few have the courage, the humility, the meekness, the love of the truth, the perseverance, and the forgiving spirit that God looks for and requires of His children. You can have a wonderful afterlife if you want it badly enough.

1 Cor 2:9

9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Romans 8.18

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The afterlife outcome called heaven is the great reward for living as God directs. The other dreaded outcome is as highly undesirable as heaven is desired. It can be called hell and is the eternal place of those who failed. No one has to fail – you choose!

A short but similar theme page is found at this site called, “The First Perception After Death.”