Why Are You Still Alive If Heaven Is A Nice Place?

One mistake to make is to see the Bible as a religious book... and we have all made that mistake at a point. One of the questions usually asked religious people is "if Heaven is a beautiful place, why not just die and go to heaven?". I have been asked this question before and this has made me research about the purpose for humanity Let me tell you why we're still on earth. 

This question as it sounds has nothing to do with the destination or the end of man but this is the question of purpose. Over 7.2 billion of us on this planet called earth is struggling to answer this same question - the question of purpose. This is also a question of the truth about the world and the truth about how it came into being. The truth of a thing or a person can be defined as the quality of being in accordance with the standard set by the "originator". Therefore; the truth about a mobile phone is defined in the purpose of its creation. The same way the truth about tv is in the "mind of the manufacturer". If everything which exists has a purpose, then we can be sure that there is this great Creator and has a purpose for everything made. However, if we also assume that the earth came about by a big bang, or humans came by as a result of years of evolution of animals into humans, how then are we able to answer the question of the purpose of man?

Why Humans Can Only Find Their Purpose In God

The Holy Bible is the greatest book on this earth that gives detailed accounts not only of things that happened in history but also contains the words of the creator about His creation. If we know that God is the creator of the universe and humans, we should be able to explain why he created us. In other words, if God is the creator, He should be able to tell us why He created us in the first place. One thing that has to be clear to us is that God did not create anything that is useless. However, when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. This is to say that when we do not know the reason why some things are made, we will simply abuse it. For example, when you do not know the proper use of marijuana, you will simply abuse it. This does not mean the plant is bad, but it is rather being misused. 

when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable.

Every company or business has its vision and mission statement in their manuals, reports and publications. The same way the purpose of humans is stated in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; LET THEM HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” This verse explains and simplifies the purpose of mankind. So the Bible can be simplified like this: God (King of Heaven) created the earth and put His children there to influence earth with the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven. As simple as that!  Psalm 115:16 says The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men. And so the only place God has given to man to have dominion is the planet earth. The words used in the Bible such as Kingdom, dominion, church ...etc are not religious words. They are words found in governance. Jesus' message was misunderstood by many and I think it is because since he was quoting from the same Bible that the religious leaders also used, people were expecting him to preach a religious message, however, Jesus' mission and message on earth was centred not on his miraculous birth, not on the miracles he performed, but on a Kingdom - the Kingdom of Heaven which he said is here. 

Psalm 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

The word dominion used in Genesis 1:26 means to have sovereignty, control or supremacy over a territory these words aren't religious but words of governance. In an earlier article titled Is The Kingdom of God An Actual Place? I explained briefly how kingdoms operate and the essence of the Kingdom of God on earth. Jesus taught his disciples to pray for the Kingdom of God to come on earth and to establish God's will on earth just like it is done in Heaven in Matthew 6:9-13. It is only when we are restored to God's kingdom that we can have true success. Note I am not writing about a religion! I am talking about Kingdom governance and kingdom influence which is our original place.

So why won't I go to heaven? This physical body gives me the right to stay on earth and to influence the earth with the Kingdom of God (see it as colonization of earth by God through His children which are you and me). My place of rest is determined after I have represented my country on earth. Just like how ambassadors are rewarded for good service. Since man lost his place of dominion, we have come up with ideas of religion and other ideas to define the purpose of man and one of such ideas is called science. 

The Kingdom of God and Laws

Just like every country, there are laws, rights and privileges. The same way every manufacturer builds products with laws, God built into every of His creation, laws to guarantee the success of that creation. That's why God told Joshua: This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success - Joshua 1:8.  Laws are not made to limit you but to guarantee success. When you buy a car that operates with diesel, and you decide to use orange juice because you like it, the car will malfunction. God designed the fish to live in water and it will only stay alive when it is still in the water that is the same way we have to be "in" God to live.
Laws are often not explained. Eg. when you buy an iron and the manufacturer writes in the manual that "do not operate in water", they don't usually explain what happens when you do that. However, obeying that law will guarantee the success of the iron.  

Laws are not made to limit you but to guarantee your success.

Divine Assignment

Since God made everything with purpose, the only way we can succeed is when we are with him see an article titled "Who are you? What are you made of?". Man has drifted away from God and so since God does not want us to die in our sins and be punished for not carrying out our assignment, He sent his son to come and die so we have eternal life. Why must Jesus die? because In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22.
But this act of love demonstrated by God will not deal with the problem of the sin of men unless men are reconciled to God. For this reason, Jesus Christ who is the only one who came directly from Heaven gave us some assignments to do.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ AND GAVE US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
 (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

What it means is that we are supposed to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God on earth and to reconcile men back to God's Kingdom through Jesus Christ.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.(Mark 16:15-16)

Wow! can you imagine that you have been made the ambassador of your country? wouldn't it be an honour? Well, I tell you there is greater honour and a greater reward in becoming an ambassador for God's kingdom on earth. Rise up every morning believing yourself as an ambassador. 

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. - (Ephesians 2:10)

You were created in Christ Jesus to the GOOD WORKS of God which God prepared for you to do before you were born. The good work is the work of an ambassador (evangelist)

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST, fulfil your ministry. - 2 Timothy 4:5

Beloved, you'll have to be born again! Being born again is not a religious initiation act. It is God's divine way by which man can be reconciled back to God and experience the Kingdom of God on earth and also in eternity when he/she leaves this body. 

Let's not forget that we shall all die someday. Although we know not when, we can escape the consequences of our sins only through Christ Jesus and not any religion. 

Click here to pray this prayer to be born again.