Question:  Greg,

            How do I explain to my 6 year-old son that God isn’t dead?  He thinks that he is since he is in heaven.

            Brenda

 

Answer:  Dear Brenda,

            Heaven is not a place of the dead; it is the place of life—and eternal life at that.  According to the Bible, it is a place of music, song, joy and activity.  When people die they do go to be with God, and while we know that their body is dead and buried, they are with God in heaven.  A minority of people believe that our soul/spirit is “sleeping” while we are with God (a misunderstanding they have based upon one of the uses of the word “sleep” in the Bible).  The vast majority of Christians have always believed that the soul is, in some way, conscious, while in heaven, awaiting the resurrection of their body, which takes place at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps it would be good to restate exactly what heaven is, and that it is all about life, not death.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht