• HOME
• LESSONS
  • Current Study Lesson
  • Bible Lessons
    • Bible Study
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
  • Lessons » Email Sign-up
• TOPICS
  • Angels and Demons
  • Bible, The
    • Bible Study
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
  • Challenging Questions
  • Children’s Questions
  • Christian Doctrine
  • Christmas
  • Church Matters
  • Cults
  • Discipleship
  • Easter
  • Heaven
  • Faith in the Workplace
  • Living the Christian Life
  • Missions
  • Prayer
  • Prophecy
  • A-Z index
• STUDY AIDS
  • Reference Materials
  • Online References
  • Links
• PRAYER
  • Prayer List
  • Prayer Aids
  • Post a Prayer
  • Post a Praise
  • Prayer List » Email Sign-up
• WES HUSTED
  • My Testimony
  • Doctrinal Position
  • Blogs
  • Sermons
  • Organizations That I Support
  • Mission Statement
  • Dad’s Poetry
  • Contact Wes
•  

As I got older, my questions didn't stop, but got more complex, e.g., Should we simply have blind faith regarding Christianity, or should we be equipped to defend it and validate it?; If God is just, then why do bad things happen to good people, including good Christians?; etc.

The questions below were compiled from 5th and 6th graders.

Here are some of the questions these children think about a lot.

1. What is heaven like? Is it like earth?
   1. ANSWER: Heaven is a wonderful place, the Bible calls it Paradise. It is not like earth, there is no night there and God is there. Everything in heaven accomplishes God’s will unlike earth where Satan is busy trying to cause man to sin and trying to ruin the earth. The Bible tells us Heaven is so wonderful it can’t be described, but when we get there we’ll see just how wonderful it is. (2 Cor 12:1-4)
2. What is my purpose for life?
   1. ANSWER: I can’t answer this for you, but God knows and will reveal it to you. God had a plan and purpose for you before He even created you. Once we completely turn our lives over to Him he’ll reveal that plan to us one day at a time. This is the excitement and adventure that we experience in living each day for Him. You can know for a fact that God cares for you and He has a great plan for you, all you need to do is trust Him and live each day for him. (Matthew 6:33 and Jeremiah 29:11)
3. How will the world end?
   1. ANSWER: In the end Jesus will bring a new heaven and a new earth for us to live in and the old earth will be burned up. We’ll be given a new home with no devil, no sin, no illness or death, no tears, no pain. The old ways and the old earth will be gone and God will replace it with a brand new one that He comes to live in with us. (Revelation 21:1-4)
4. Will heaven ever be over crowded?
   1. ANSWER: No it will never be crowded, but there will be a lot of people there. The Bible tells us the number of those in heaven will be so large we can’t count them, and yet compared to the number of people who won’t get into heaven the number will be small. (Matthew 7:13-14 and Revelation 7:9)
5. How did the other religions come to be?
   1. ANSWER: Other religions, other ways of searching for God, have been with humans ever since God cast them out of the Garden of Eden. The Bible warns us not to follow people who try to create a religion or teach things that wrong. It tells us that many people will try to follow crazy ideas and think they can get to heaven by doing good works or by thinking big thoughts, but the only way to heaven is through Jesus. When people don’t want to follow what Jesus taught they invent their own religions that others follow. Jesus warns us not to follow them, and to only follow him. (Matthew 7:13-14, Colossians 2:8 and Isaiah 55:8)
6. When you die, do you immediately go to heaven or is it a journey?
   1. ANSWER: When we die the Bible tells us we go right to be with Jesus. In fact it tells us when we die angels come and carry us to heaven. We need to remember, God is the God of the living, not the dead – death isn’t an end for us we go on living in heaven. (Matthew 22:32. Luke 16:19-26, Luke 23:43)
7. Is heaven years the same as earth years?
   1. ANSWER: No heaven has a different time. In heaven there is no night there. People can rest and be at peace because they are with God. They don’t need to hurry anywhere or worry about time because they are with God. The Bible tells us to God one year to him is like a thousand years to us. So in heaven we’ll have lots of time to visit with God and all those who are in heaven, won’t that be neat? (Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8)
8. Would we recognize people in heaven?
   1. ANSWER: Absolutely. I think we know this from many things the Bible tells us about heaven and the stories Jesus taught about what happens when you die that we talked about in question 6. From these stories we can see that not only will we recognize each other but we’ll recognize others as well, people like Moses and Elijah that we’ve read about in the Bible. (Matthew 17:1-4, Luke 16:19-26 Luke 24:27-31)
9. Do animals go to heaven?
   1. ANSWER: The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly, but I believe they do. Heaven is a place so wonderful it can’t be described, and God is so wonderful we cannot find enough words to describe Him either. With His great love for us and His creation I think it’s very possible the animals we love and who love us go to be with God in heaven when they die. I also think when Jesus brings down the new heaven and new earth and we are raised up into our new bodies he will do the same with the animals. The Bible tells us that all of God’s creation awaits the day when sin will be overcome and everything God created will be resurrected. I think that means the animals as well. Heaven is full of love it won’t surprise me to find animals to love there as well. (Romans 8:21-23)
10. Do we get older in heaven?
    1. ANSWER: No, in fact we get new bodies that never age and never get sick. We’ll be perfect in everyway, even our age. God will make us just the right age, give us clothes to wear, and food to eat that keep us perfect and healthy so we can live with Him forever. (Revelation 22:1-5)
11. Who invented purgatory?
    1. ANSWER: The teachings on purgatory go back some 1700 years to the early writings of the Catholic Church and are based on the belief that the saved soul must still suffer to pay for their sins on earth and be cleansed before they can enter heaven. However, no where in the Bible can anything be found that relates to purgatory. This caused many to leave or not follow Catholic teachings and the protestant churches of today do not believe in or teach about purgatory. We believe the Bible is clear that Christ paid for our sins and that when we die we go directly to be with Jesus in heaven. (Psalm 103:11-12, Luke 23:43, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:17)
12. Why did Muhammad think he was a greater prophet than Jesus?
    1. ANSWER: I think we would have to ask him that, and unfortunately he died hundreds of years ago. He did write that he believed he was a messenger of God on the order of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus, and that he was the last great prophet God had chosen. I think he saw himself as greater because of two primary things, one he came along after Jesus and two he believed he had a more accurate and updated message from God. Unfortunately he did not recognize Jesus as the true Messiah, the anointed one from God, and Muhammad did not put his trust and faith in Him and in the Holy Word of God that Jesus proclaimed but chose a different path that led to the creation of the Islam religion. We know he was wrong as Jesus himself told us that he was God and that He was the only way to God – no one else can save us but Jesus. (Isaiah 43:11 and John 10:30)

Have a great week everyone!

Yours in Christ,

Wes