I don’t know.
I don’t know.
I don’t know…….and neither do you.
I build my life on the tenets of Christianity. I build my life on the Bible and on the teaching of Jesus.
At least I try.
The Bible, in broad strokes, says that the world and time are in motion. That motion is not circular……it is linear. Time had a beginning and it will end. The world and time are not sustainable……they were never intended to be. There will be an end and it will be ugly. There will be an end for you and for me, individually. There will be an end……for everything. And we know very little about what follows the end. There is a part of us that will continue after the end, whether that end is our individual death or a global apocalypse. The part of us that goes on after death will experience either eternal joy…..or eternal pain.
Which?
And there is the rub. Who decides?
The decision does not fall to you. It does not fall to me. It does not fall to the preacher blasting us with fire and brimstone…….death and damnation.
God decides.
In the end……it’s all about God. It’s not about you or me. It’s not about our appetites or our identity.
I can only speculate on how God will make that decision. But, I believe that he will operate in a manner consistent with his identity and with his plan. He will decide based on who he is and on what will fulfill his long term goal.
What is God’s identity?
Love
What is his long term goal?
Relationship
So…..here it is…….my best guess.
God will populate paradise based on love and relationship………his love and his desire for relationship……our love and our desire for relationship.
All I can do…….all you can do…….is to pursue those ideals…….and trust in God’s love and in his desire to have a relationship……with me…..with you…..with every soul……unborn, living, and dead.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”
Paul, 1 Corinthians, 2-9, ESV