So, in the grand scheme of things....?

Question

God, where ever he came from, created humans in his image (perfect...right?) but at the same time he offered temptation, then granted forgiveness (not so perfect, in my opinion). When humans die he offers this place called heaven, but for what?? To sit by his side and praise him for eternity? Doesn't sound like such a wonderful "being" to me. WHY does everyone want to sit in heaven with him? What is so great about heaven?

I'm not trying to downplay anything, I'm just trying to understand. If this God is so great, why is the greatest gift he gave to humans to be able to sit by his side and worship him? It sounds, I don't know, a little arrogant? What is the purpose of heaven?

Wow, Earl...

Science sounds even more logical after reading your answer.

Impossible Princess, although I'm still not conviced that he's real, you made some good points.

Answer 1

Heaven is infinite - God is infinite - we will be there for infinity.
My guess is - God is so great we can't even begin to comprehend Him - or heaven. Infinity is a long time to learn stuff. For starters, we only know of 4 (possibly 5) dimentions....what if there are an infinate number of dimentions? What does the colour blue sound like? or taste like? How can music be eaten?

That's just the very tip of the iceburg. God didn't create us to be automatons, so I suppose he's got a greater plan for us than we can possibly imagine.

Answer 2

I don't remember having read that heaven was about sitting at God's side and worshipping Him. I could be wrong though. I think the purpose of heaven is that it's a place where all the bad stuff is gone. There's no big mystery there. It wasn't designed as God's super fan club or anything. It's a reward to dealing with all the bull a person has to deal with. Not so bad in my opinion.

And yeah, God did create us in His image but at the same time, He didn't want mindless zombies to love Him. He wanted a being that had choices and choose to love Him. That's not so hard to understand really. You wouldn't want someone to love you just because you could buy them whatever they want. You'd want unconditional love and love because the person actually respects & likes you. God's pretty much the same. If you didn't have the choice of temptation, there wouldn't be a choice. You'd have no choice but to be good and is that really living? Is that a real test if you have nothing to choose from?

I think your questions are valid but you're looking at God like this mean old guy in the sky who needs validation from people. He doesn't. He's like us. He wants love & respect. He doesn't force it and He doesn't play mind games. Some people might view His tests as mindgames but they're not always looking at the big picture. I liken God to a relationship. You don't want someone to 'yes' you to death and you want something real. Not something forced or contrived. If that were the case, God would have created people who automatically loved Him and never question it. He wants you to use your brain. If you choose not to believe in Him, He doesn't go ballistic or anything so, he's not an ego maniac that demands anything from us. It's always a choice.


Edit: That's really good that you question things. Seriously. Don't buy into whatever people tell you. Make up your own mind. It's ok not to think there's a God. Maybe there's not, I don't know. The good thing is you're asking. If God was made up to control us, alot more people who be good. That is an age old excuse that people say when they can't just say "I don't know why there's no God". RELIGION is used to control people. God isn't religion. Religion is man made. Just continue to ask questions and read up on the topic. You might be convinced one day but then again, you might come to the same conclusion. The good thing is, you're using your brain and making an educated choice. That's really all that matters.

Answer 3

God created man in his image (with love, wisdom, justice, power, etc). And, yes, man was perfect. Satan offered temptation. God did not. God offered a warning which man did not heed. Then, God provided a way out of the predicament which man had gotten himself into by allowing Satan to tempt him by slandering God. A mighty loving thing considering all of our very existances were now threatened by the selfishness of those 2.

God made earth for humans. Heaven was for angels. However, because he is just and he made this extra provision for mankind to be redeemed, he also made it possible for mankind to have human representation in heaven. So, just a few humans (the little flock) have been bought for the purpose of ruling in heaven with Christ for the 1000 years which are necessary to fix everything which went wrong because of Adam's bad choices. The rest of the humans will live on earth because they survive Armegeddon or are resurrected from death to live on it.

Answer 4

Alot of questions in that one.
It depends on your point of view, but I believe we will only 'sit at gods side' when we become one with god again. This is, in esoteric lore, the final evolution the human soul-mind takes before it can move on in the great scheme of things to perhaps become the next planetary or solar logos.
I can't answer your question on what the purpose of heaven is, but I can say when we get there it'll be worth the wait.
Oh, and I don't believe any of us (no matter what religion, race or creed) are missing out.

Answer 5

I know that what I am about to say is not in the Bible and I could be wrong. But I wonder if what we call heaven is another plane of existence that we enter into when we evolve into our higher nature. Our physical body returns to the dirt and our Spirit/Soul goes on to another plane that is just as interesting as this one. It is all speculation. Who knows, maybe Marx was right. But I find living as a Christian a good thing and with good loving people. What happens next is out of our hands anyway, so why worry?

Answer 6

Because, when we came up with the idea of God, that's what we thougth a super-being would do, because that's what the very powerful people back then did. They made people worship them. A being such as God would not need the worship of his own creations. Would people think it was normal if some computer scientist created a bunch of robots for the sole purpose of worshiping him, and then if the robots didn't do it, he burned them and smashed them to pieces? I would bet a good deal of money that they wouldn't.

Answer 7

It's all a load of crap that people made up to control us I think. Every damn religion out there speaks of equality and then damns anyone else alive who thinks differently all at the same time... umm... conflictual ideology.

The point of life for me at this given time is to stop wasting my time on thinking about that kind of thing simply because noone truly knows, or god wouldn't be infinite, and to rather attempt to better the world and project positive morality, honesty, and integrity into society, or we are all doomed.

Build a water powered car, build a free energy device, start a forum with a positive intention, go visit a lonely old person in a nursing home who wonders when they will die of loneliness, take a friend with you to the beach and talk about this very same thing, fight liars with honesty, stop and let the guy in a crappy spot in traffic cut in front of you (I've had it done for me), go buy a small mouse so that he isn't fed to the snake at the pet store, and realize how lucky we are to not be mice, walk along the sidewalk listening to music and thinking about things to show others that you could care less about what kind of car you drive and your legs work just fine.

There are countless beautiful opportunities in life, but the main reason we live is not to pursue them, but rather to share them with eachother. In my belief this was what Jesus truly did on the cross. It was a gift, and regardless of what others say, there aren't any strings attached in my opinion. Perhaps when we all die we will finally see that.

Answer 8

It sounds over simplistic to you because it is. This fairytale version of life as we know it is the kind that is fed to an uneducated illiterate underestimated population by an institution which has the intention of controlling them. If you want real spirituality, it's out there. Read the Bible. It's in there. Hell, read all the holy books. "All men know God". The thing is, if you want real spirituality you have to work for it, you have to find it yourself... if you want to just lay back and have it fed to you, this is the kind of drivel you will hear.

Answer 9

heaven seems impossible- it is not possible for people to be happy constantly. It is not human nature, humans will always get a kick out of rebelling and having sex and drinking and what not, and if god forbids things that make us happy, and only those who obey him go to heaven, then he must ge giving central lobotomies at the pearly gates

Answer 10

in the grand sceme of things you have l;earned that you know
dont missunderstand me
you know nothing ,einstein knows nothing ,
the most clever in the world g w bush knows nothing
no do i
but every thing i know [god knew forever]
all the thoughts ,ideas reason ,logic debate was first formed in gods mind
but i know you dont read anything too long so continue ,
heaven is about learning [growing] to love serving the good ,to minimise our self serving of ego
can you claim to be the perfect man [say a christ or a budda]
the good do that finishing of our mense [our human]in heaven ,
you had no time to be the artist [in heaven [and hell] you have eternity to become greater than rembrant
a better singer than perro como ,.a better .faster smarter every thing you in human life was but nothing , compared to what we can become in the higher heavens

you in time will be smarter than einstein, in time be better than jesus
thats sort of what we do in heaven ,make us the best us we can be in love and truth ,in the light
[gods light that sustain all life to live ,to live to love]

heaven is the reward ,even in hell is the teaching and refinment even of evils ,but once all the evil arts what left in time but to learn the unending good arts
cleverness will only go so far even in eternity

instant answer to any question
knowing its not pr or spin but 100 percent true
can even re-live it real time [in special plays [renactments by the origonal people]
but its best to not know about it if you cant get in because of your own unbelief.