Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | John 3:13 "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:13 "No one has gone up into heaven, but there is One who came down from heaven, the Son of Man [Himself--whose home is in heaven]. |
Subject: How does John 3:13 fit with Genesis 5:24 |
Bible Note: Greetings Roaring Lamb! I pray that you are having a blessed new year my friend! 1) Allow me touch yet again upon 1 Thess. 4:14. It is not until v. 17 that the 'dead in Christ' shall rise. So, who or what comes back with Him in v. 14? ;-) My understanding of the passage is that the 'spiritual' part of man returns with Christ, then their bodies are raised in v. 17. 2) John 3:13 and Acts 2:29, 33: I just dealt with John 3:13 yesterday in the context of Enoch and Elijah. I believe that Scripture is clear that no one went to 'heaven' (in terms of what we mean by 'heaven') until after the resurrection of Christ. This would also be true of David. When he died, he did not 'ascend' to Heaven. He went to Hades like all the dead before Christ. However, after the resurrection of Christ, we are told two things. First, we are told that the Old Testament saints were raised. Secondly, we are told that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The KJV translation of Acts 2:33 did throw me for a moment. If indeed Acts 2:33 used the present tense concerning the status of David, I would have to reconsider my position. However, the Greek verb is 'aorist', not present tense. So, it is in harmony with my understanding. David did not ascend at the time of his death, but nothing in the verse rules out that he ascended at the time of Christ's resurrection. Yet, you said of the verse: "Instead, we find him pointing to his tomb, emphasizing that David was still dead, followed by the explicit claim that he had not yet ascended to heaven." But, the verse never actually says this my friend. There is no 'yet' or 'still' in v. 33. Further, the verb is aorist, not present. 3) Concerning Ecc. 9:5 and Psalm 146:4, you answered your own question my friend. They are poetic! Poetry uses word pictures to express powerful emotions. But, I would not base theology upon poetic statements. For instance, the writer of Ecclesiastes seems to have no knoweldge whatsoever of man's future destiny, either in my understanding or in yours. He sees death as the end of everything - period. His writings are not the place to find our theological understanding of death. :-) I would say the same of Ps. 146:4, except to also not that it says 'when their spirit departs (NIV)'. Where did their spirits go? I don't base my theology of death on these poetic statements. Rather, I turn to the New Testament passages concerning death. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |