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A PLACE CALLED HEAVEN - "Who Will Be in Heaven?" (Excerpt)

Children & the Childlike Who Cannot Believe

As a pastor, one of my most painful duties is ministering to a family that has lost a child, especially if that child was a newborn or infant. One question consumes the thoughts of every family member: "Is my little one in heaven?" Parents and grandparents of deceased teenaged or adult children who are mentally in capacitated to the point of being "childlike" ask this same question: "Are they in heaven?"

I wish I could point to one passage of Scripture proclaiming a resounding yes, but I can't. However, we do have the confident claim by one of God's choicest servants, some interesting observations from Jesus' teaching, and the rationale of theology to assure us that children and the childlike do go to heaven when they die.

Just as Abraham serves as an illustration of the faith of all Old Testament saints, so David serves as a representative of all parents who have lost a child before he or she could express faith. David's tragic story began one evening with a rooftop walk. The mighty king of Israel spotted a beautiful woman named Bathsheba bathing in the moonlight. David sent for her and the rest, as they say, is history.

When Bathsheba discovered she was pregnant, David attempted to cover up the fact that he was the father. He recalled Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, from the front lines and tried to convince him to spend the night in his own bed with his wife. Surely, everyone would then surmise that Uriah was the father of his wife's baby. When Uriah refused to indulge in this pleasure out of deference to his fellow soldiers who were still in the field fighting for their country, David arranged to have Uriah murdered, making his death appear to be a battlefield casualty.

Later, the prophet Nathan confronted David over his twin sins of adultery and murder. Instead of continuing the cover-up of his sins, David confessed his transgressions and received God's forgiveness. Nevertheless, God's forgiveness did not erase the temporary--and very painful--consequences of David's actions: a divided kingdom, a disloyal son, and the death of Bathsheba's child.

Immediately after the birth, David and Bathsheba's child became ill and lingered on the edge of death for seven days. During this week, David neither ate nor slept but fasted and prayed for his son's recovery. After the child died, David quickly recovered from his grief and began to eat.

His servants were perplexed. Tradition held that fasting and weeping took place after death, but not before. Now that the child had died, how could the king go on as if nothing had happened? David's answer was simple and direct--and full of faith. Knowing God would not bring his son back to life, David said: "I will go to him, but he will not return to me" (2 Sam. 12:23).

As long as the child lived, David believed his petitions might move the Lord to heal his son. But once the child died, David knew no amount of fasting and praying would bring his son back. The king could pick himself up and look forward because he believed his son was with God in Paradise. If David believed his son had gone to hell or simply to the grave, he could not have honestly declared that he would see his son again. Instead, the king would have had every reason to continue mourning even more intensely. David's dramatic change in demeanor after his son's death was rooted in the belief that his child had gone to heaven.

Admittedly, David's claim doesn't prove definitely that children and the childlike go to heaven when they die. But if we couple David's claim with some of Jesus' teachings about children, I believe we can make a strong claim that children who die before they are capable of exercising faith in Christ are welcomed into heaven.

For example, in Matthew 18:1-4 Jesus uses a child to illustrate the spiritual quality of humility necessary to receive God's gift of forgiveness:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

--End of Part 1--

--Part 2--

Jesus could have selected any child to illustrate the spiritual lesson of humility; but if He had selected one of the destined of hell then the analogy wouldn't have made sense. The child Jesus selected represented all children--just as Abraham represented Old Testament saints and David's son represented deceased children. By His actions and words, Jesus indicated that all children (and those who are mentally childlike) are destined for heaven.

Beyond the belief of David and the teaching of Jesus, consider the testimony of Scripture. Nowhere in the Bible are children condemned to ****ation. Of all the biblical descriptions of hell, infants or little children are never mentioned as residing there. Nor are infants and children described as standing before the great white throne of Revelation 20, which is the precursor to eternal punishment in the lake of fire. I believe this is another piece of evidence that argues strongly for the presence of children in heaven.

Finally, we need to recognize that the Bible distinguishes between inherited sin and the sin of unbelief. As we've seen, humanity--including children--has inherited Adam's guilt and corruption. The fact that everyone--including babies and children--dies is proof that we have all contracted the sickness of sin. Nevertheless, God distinguishes between inherited sin and deliberate sin. He declared that people are responsible for their own sins, not the sins of others:

The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. (Ezek. 18:20)

We find a greal illustration of the distinction between the guilt of adults and children in Deuteronomy 1. Because of their failure to believe in God's power to give them the Promised Land, God pronounced a sentence of death on the Israelites. They would wander in the wilderness until that unbelieving generation passed away. However, the Lord exempted one group of Israelites from His condemnation. The Lord said:

Moreover, your little ones who you said would become prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. (Deut. 1:39).

God did not hold the children accountable for the sin of unbelief becuase they "had no knowledge of good or evil." In the Bible, the sin of unbelief is not simply failing to believe God; it is the deliberate choice not to believe what God has said. Unbelief is the willful rejection of God's revelation--a choice children and the childlike are incapable of making.

Again, none of these arguments is enough in and of itself to say definitively that children and the childlike automatically go to heaven. However, when we consider all of the evidence Scripture provides, I believe we can say that our loving God welcomes children into heaven. As Abraham declared, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" (Gen. 18:25). We can depend upon God to deal justly--graciously--with those who are incapable of exercising faith in Christ.

Who will be in heaven? It is significant that, outside of those who lived before Christ and the children (and the childlike) who are incapable of trusting in Christ, there is no instance in the New Testament of anyone being welcomed into God's presence apart from a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To attempt to reduce the population of hell by ignoring that requirement and allowing other individuals or groups into heaven is something none of us has the authority to do--especially if we take seriously Jesus' claim that "no one comes to the Father but through [Him]" (John 14:6).

--End of Part 2--

Posted by Tammy:

Excerpt from Dr. Robert Jeffress' book--"A Place called Heaven," Chapter 7

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