Are my feelings altered when I enter the Kingdom of Heaven?
score:4
Can one be happy in Heaven, with loved ones in Hell?
Yes!
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4, NIV)
If we would still be weeping in Heaven because our loved ones are in Hell, it won't be Heaven at all. Heaven is a place where there are no more tears, no more sorrows and the past is forgotten.
Peter Kreeft, a prominent theologian says,
We know there is no sadness in Heaven: God "will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Rev. 7:17). I think we will not be sad about the damned for the same reason God is not. According to the Sermon on the Mount, he will say to them, "I never knew you" (Matt. 7:23). God will wipe our memories clean. This is not falsehood or ignorance, but truth, for in a sense, the damned no longer are—that is, they no longer are in the most real place of all, Heaven. They no longer count. They are like ashes, not like wood. They once were fully human, fully alive, real men and women. But hell is a place not of eternal life but of eternal death. We do not love or weep over ashes; we only love or weep over the thing that existed before it was burnt. In Heaven, however, we will not live in the past—we will have no regrets; nor will we live in the future—we will have no fears; but like God, we will live in the eternal present. Our heavenly emotions will be appropriate to present reality, not past reality.
7. If we have emotions in Heaven, why won't we be sad about those we loved who are in hell?
It is indeed sorrowful to know that some of our loved ones whom we fail to bring to Christ will go to Hell. However, this should motivate us to witness Christ to our loved ones and pray sincerely for them.
Many people have wondered how those in heaven could ever be truly happy, especially with the knowledge that unsaved loved ones were in hell. We do not know the full answer, but we do know what the Bible says concerning God’s people: “He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
We can be sure that with the presence of the Lord, the fellowship of believers, and the wonders of eternity, there will be no sorrow in heaven.
We also know that God is perfectly just, and those who are in heaven will have every confidence that whatever has happened at the final judgment has been totally just and right. The terrible possibility that our loved ones might miss heaven should motivate us to earnestly pray and lovingly witness to them while there is still time in this life for them to experience salvation. (Billy Graham)
Upvote:0
Yes
Our feelings, your feelings, are all valid--but some are corrupted by the flesh. When we die our flesh dies too, along with all the deceitful desires that went with it.*
One deceitful feeling can be to love your parents (or anyone) more than you love God, your savior. You say that you could never be happy knowing that you Father is in Hell. Well, I have some bad news for you:
Luke 14:26-27 ESV “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Jesus doesn't want us to hate our family, he wants our love for him to be so great that our love for our family in comparison is practically hatred. This might be an extremely hard thing to grasp, but God gives us these comforts:
1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV But, as it is written,“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Colossians 3:1-4 ESV If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
All the more reason for us to give them the good news now while we can.
*Helpful resources: Can there be free will in heaven?
Upvote:1
You have not specified a denomination from which you wish to receive your answer, so I will give you the LDS answer, being a family centred church, I feel it will give you the most hope.
Families can be eternal, modern revelation has opened the gates of heaven and revealed to us that we can be sealed to those that we love for time and all eternity in this life or in the life hereafter through proxy work. Sealed together, we can live togeather forever in heaven.
Modern revelation has also given us a clearer understanding of heaven and hell. Hell is not a literal fiery place as it is painted by may sects of christianity. Hell is that part of the spirit world inhabited by the wicked awaiting the eventual day of the resurrection. In it, the spirits that dwell there suffer the torments of the dammed, but hell has an end.
The Book of Revelations tells us:
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (Rev 20:13;)
All of God's children born on earth have kept their first estate and will be rewarded with a resurrected body, as well as a place within a kingdom of glory. There are three kingdoms of glory, but only one where the exalted are blessed with eternal progression: the Celestial Kingdom.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: (1 Corrinthians 15:40-42)
In the Celestial Kingdom we receive a glory likened unto the glory of the Sun, in the Terrestrial Kingdom, a glory like the light of the Moon, in the third kingdom, the Telestial Kingdom, a glory of the stars. God dwells in the celestial kingdom, there is no end to glory in the celestial kingdom, no limit of joy. In the terrestrial and telestial kindoms, there is a limit to your progression, once you have reached that limit, there is no further progression of joy, and just as a river is stopped, you're soul is eternally damned there. Damnation means you will progress no further.
The telestial kingdom is largely regarded as hell, and is reserved for the most egregious of sinners, the murderers and adulterers, the unrepentant, but it is in fact still a degree of glory, a perfected earth free of pain and suffering, the hell experienced there is the regret of falling short of a greater degree of glory, and being able to experience greater joy. I doubt your father will end up there, those who do not believe in God, or do not accept him or his church, but still live good lives, will dwell in the terrestrial kingdom, which is greater in glory to the telestial as the moon is to a star. The celestial kingdom is where all the followers of Christ will dwell, and it is generally accepted that most of Gods children will return to live with him.
The vision of the kingdoms of heaven is given in Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
For more information on eternal families, click here.
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