“So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 ESV
Reflection: as a child of God and disciple of Christ, what is your inheritance?
We have all heard the contrasting afterlife existence of heaven and hell, either being in the presence or absence of God, and those of us who have accepted Christ, believe in His name (meaning following Him), will go to heaven to be in His presence. While there is a lot of Christian focus on going to heaven, let me ask you, what about our existence before and after heaven? Before is clearly what we experience now, but is heaven the final place for us? Are we there forever, or is there something else? In our focus verse today, Paul says something very strange, very curious, that
“All are yours”
In fact, he says it twice in these verses, stressing this point. What is he referring to? Turns out biblical scholars have written on these verses extensively, with a focus on everything around us that we see and experience of life and beauty, the universe itself, God is upholding and maintaining for us. (I recommend reading Barnes’ Bible Hub reference https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_corinthians/3-22.htm ) He created as an outpouring of His love, where we are the pinnacle of His creation. The beauty is for us to enjoy. When we see or experience difficulties and suffering here in this world as a result of our enemy, it easily becomes our focus as opposed to looking at what God has created and given to us. It doesn’t belong to the enemy; it all belongs to us. Telling us lies and deceptions are tactics of our enemy, who wants to steal, kill and destroy what God has created and given us. But,
we are in Christ,
as Paul writes, who is in God. But, I would like to add one more thought today, about the second part of my question. What happens after heaven? If we look at the book of Revelation, chapter 21, which describes a new heaven and a new earth (notice NO “world”). John starts out by writing “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Revelation 21:1 ESV. There will be a new existence, physical and spiritual, much like Eden, where God walks among us. No sin. No sorrow. No death. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””Revelation 21:3-4 ESV
We will not just “float around” as spiritual beings. If you remember when Jesus rose from the dead, he actually had a physical body, a resurrected body that had physical form but other properties where he would suddenly appear. Yet they could see Him, hear Him, touch Him. They even ate with Him, and was with them for 40 days before He ascended to heaven. We see so much focus and effort on extending life, to live longer. Think about the transhumanism movement, merging man and machine. Because we have an imprint of eternity as we are made in the image of God. But, because of sin, the only way we will experience all God has made now, and again will create for us with a new heaven and new earth, is to be in Christ. He is the only way to the Father. All other ways are false. But for all that are in Christ,
“all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” 1 Corinthians 3:22b-23 ESV