"When" we All get to Heaven

Here's another brief interruption in my Leadership Series. Sorry, I just got to thinking . . .

I've been listening to some teaching files and also reading some books that have gotten me thinking about time. Since I love thinking about time (like a good SciFi time travel story), I'm going to share some thoughts I've been mulling around. I hope I don't lose anyone because our limited minds have no way to really conceptualize the absence of time (yet)! Hang on!

God created time and is therefore above time. How that looks, I guess, is to imagine a huge time line where the beginning of time is to the left and the end of time is to the right. Everything that happens in time can be plotted somewhere on that line. The fall of Rome, WW1, your birth, my Grandfather's death, my last haircut.

Then imagine God way up above that line looking down on it. God can see the beginning, the middle and end all at once. Anyone living in that time line, must travel through that time from left to right. But God sees it all happening at once and can focus on any part of the line whenever he wants (or even all parts at once!).

So now lets imagine someone from the past (to the left) leaving that time line and moving up to God. As they leave their time line, they go above that time with God and can look down to see the time line below them just like God can see it.

Imagine another person leaving the same time line from the future (to the right). As they leave their time, they go above that time with God and look down as well. And so on with anyone leaving the time line at any point in time.

So here's the part that may blow your mind: based on what I just had you imagine, what if everyone who leaves our time line (dies) arrives at God's Throne at the same "time?" I mean, can't you see people leaving their time line from their particular point in time and as they leave they look to the left and right to see everyone else leaving from their point in time. But the moment they leave their time line, they are no longer bound by time and everyone ends up getting to God all at once; together!

What if the way we've always thought about dying and getting to heaven (based on time) is just wrong? What if my Mom isn't really waiting for me, she left the time line at the same "moment" I "will" in the future!?

I mean, if God created time, you don't think he subjected himself to it (other than when Jesus entered our time line for a while)? If he's still above time, and I think we all pretty much agree on this, then when we get to him, we too will be above time!

So what does this do to some of the traditional concepts of "where we go to wait" until time is fulfilled (purgatory, paradise, Abraham's bosom, hades, et al)? No one's waiting for anything! In fact, "waiting" will cease to exist! Basically, we die- we immediately go to the big banquet party God has planned . . . OR we die and we immediately go to eternal judgment, which will be anything BUT a party.

I suppose we could die and go to a different place still within our time and wait, but what fun is that to think about?

So join me in mulling this around a bit. Anyone have anything else to add to the fun?