Are There Children In Heaven?

Biblegems #101

Question: Are there children in heaven?

The Bible does not have a lot to say on this subject, but neither is it left a blank.

Children In Heaven Now

Jesus said…

Matt. 19:14 Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

This passage tells us that heaven, right now, is full of little children because, as He says, heaven belongs to them! This would include aborted infants and all who die too young to be morally accountable for sin.

When King David lost his son, even though that child was born from an illicit relationship with Bathsheba, he knew with certainty he would see his child in heaven:

2 Sam. 12:23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, [i.e., in heaven] but he will not return to me.

Children in the Millennium

Scripture contains several references to children during the Millennial Reign of Christ, but these two from Isaiah tell the story pretty well:

Is. 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

Is. 11:8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra…

        

Children In Heaven Forever

For there to be children in heaven throughout eternity one of three things would have to take place: 1) Either, those entering heaven now as children would never mature—which seems very unlikely—or 2) God would create children whenever He wished, continually adding to the glorified human population in heaven without the participation of human parents—for which there is no Scriptural teaching, or 3) that glorified human parents would be able to conceive children.

While I personally think that parenting children in heaven is very unlikely, the fact remains that human beings in heaven remain human beings. Glorified, yes; without gender, no. Even the interpretation of the reference below that is so often used to teach that there will be no sexuality in heaven is entirely fallacious:

         Matt. 22:30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

The point of Jesus’ teaching is that the act of two people getting married is an earth-bound practice that is eternally binding. There will not be marriage ceremonies in heaven, even as the angels have no marriage ceremonies. Unfortunately, many have understood Jesus to mean that angels are genderless and, therefore, people in heaven will be genderless as well. However, the passage clearly says nothing about gender. Jesus was reminding the Sadducees that the marriage covenant on earth is binding.

This “forever union” is pictured beautifully in Ephesians 5:21-32, where Paul compares the union of a husband and wife with the union of Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:31).

So, the possibility of a couple conceiving a baby in heaven is at least hypothetically possible. HOWEVER, where the Scripture does not teach, we should not presume to go. Some surprises are better left until we see Him face to face!

Parental Accountability

Biblegems #55

Question: When parents dedicate their children to the Lord then backslide, how far does God hold the parents and disobedient children accountable?

The limit of parental accountability is an emotional as well as spiritual issue. We all know stories of poor parenting where the children have grown up to be responsible, spiritually mature adults, and great parents whose children rebel and become a source of grief to their parents. In the latter case, the parents cannot help but ask, ‘Where did we go wrong?’

The truth is, responsibility and accountability are both shared by parent and child, once the child becomes personally responsible for his or her own actions. There is no magical age of accountability here.

There was a popular belief in ancient Israel that God would punish parents for the sins of their children and even grandchildren. Behind this belief was a misunderstanding of the second commandment:

… I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me… (Ex. 20:5).

The “punishment” is aimed at “those who hate me.” If the sin of idolatry is passed down from one generation to the next, it will reveal itself in each generation in a hatred for God, and that generation will be punished for its own sin. This commandment against idolatry reveals how sin is so easily passed on from one generation to the next; but that punishment for the sin is leveled only against those who actually commit it:

Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin (Deut. 24:16).

Even so, the idea that parents would be held responsible by God for the sins of their children took on the form of a popular saying:

‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’ (Ezek. 18:2b).

God set the record straight through the prophet Ezekiel:

Ezek. 18:4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

And to make sure that Israel got the message right, the Lord emphasized again:

Ezek. 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

There is no question that God will hold parents responsible for the way they raise their children, as the story of Eli and his wayward sons illustrates (1 Sam 2:22; 1 Sam. 3:12-14; 1 Sam. 4:13-18; 1 Ki. 2:27). But God is just; He does not charge the sins of the children to the parents, or the sins of the parents against their children.