Where is Jesus of Nazareth now, exactly?

[Runningman]

Dear brothers and sister in Christ,

Today I studied where Jesus of Nazareth is exactly and I’m not 100% sure exactly. If you’d like, please read my train of thought as I rummage through various passages. Please explain where you believe Christ is exactly. Thank you!

Paul said in Philippians 1 that he wants to be with Christ, but that isn’t clear to me that Paul was talking about going to “heaven” as in the place where God’s “throne” is per Psalm 11:4 and Matthew 5:34.

Jesus went to heaven and sat down “on” God’s “right hand.”

Mark 16:19 KJV
19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

God doesn’t have a literal right hand with five fingers, a palm, knuckles, and a wrist as far as I am aware. “Right hand” means a position of power and/or authority.

Psalm 89:13 KJV
13Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

Psalm 63:8 KJV
8My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

Matthew 22:44 KJV
44The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Christ was “received up into heaven.” He was physically raptured, ascending through space, from point A to point B.

Whether Jesus actually exited the earth’s atmosphere or transfigured and went to some unseen realm in a different dimension is unclear to me.

One also must consider that heaven is possibly a reference to the universe itself which seems to be how it was meant in Greek. The earth is in the universe therefore the earth is in heaven. That’s how the earth is God’s “footstool” and heaven is His “throne.”

Isaiah 66:1 KJV
1Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

It’s coming apparent that God is big enough to exist everywhere simultaneously, including omnipresently in the physical universe which is only big enough to be considered a throne, somewhere outside of the physical universe (Genesis 1:1) where presumably the “mansions” (John 14:2) are, on earth because it’s a footstool, and in the hearts of believers because people are His temple.

But wait that’s not all. Somehow believers are seated in “heavenly places” in Christ. So maybe heaven isn’t a reference to a point in space, where Christ seems to have physically ascended to, but rather a spiritual location?

Ephesians 2:6 KJV
6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Maybe this is what Christ meant all along when He said the kingdom of God isn’t anywhere in particular, but rather inside believers?

Luke 17:20,21 KJV
20…The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

That means Christ is seated in God’s kingdom, in the temple of your body, in your heart:

Ephesians 3:17 KJV
17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

[TabinRivCA]

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. Rom 8:11
'The kingdom of Heaven is within you' to me means that when we are departed, we are immediately 'in the Spirit' where all Heaven is because we have accepted Jesus/Holy Spirit into our hearts.

 

[Marilyn]

 

[Adstar]

Dear brothers and sister in Christ,

Today I studied where Jesus of Nazareth is exactly and I’m not 100% sure exactly. If you’d like, please read my train of thought as I rummage through various passages. Please explain where you believe Christ is exactly. Thank you!

Paul said in Philippians 1 that he wants to be with Christ, but that isn’t clear to me that Paul was talking about going to “heaven” as in the place where God’s “throne” is per Psalm 11:4 and Matthew 5:34.

Jesus went to heaven and sat down “on” God’s “right hand.”

Mark 16:19 KJV
19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

God doesn’t have a literal right hand with five fingers, a palm, knuckles, and a wrist as far as I am aware. “Right hand” means a position of power and/or authority.

Psalm 89:13 KJV
13Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

Psalm 63:8 KJV
8My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

Matthew 22:44 KJV
44The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Christ was “received up into heaven.” He was physically raptured, ascending through space, from point A to point B.

Whether Jesus actually exited the earth’s atmosphere or transfigured and went to some unseen realm in a different dimension is unclear to me.

One also must consider that heaven is possibly a reference to the universe itself which seems to be how it was meant in Greek. The earth is in the universe therefore the earth is in heaven. That’s how the earth is God’s “footstool” and heaven is His “throne.”

Isaiah 66:1 KJV
1Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

It’s coming apparent that God is big enough to exist everywhere simultaneously, including omnipresently in the physical universe which is only big enough to be considered a throne, somewhere outside of the physical universe (Genesis 1:1) where presumably the “mansions” (John 14:2) are, on earth because it’s a footstool, and in the hearts of believers because people are His temple.

But wait that’s not all. Somehow believers are seated in “heavenly places” in Christ. So maybe heaven isn’t a reference to a point in space, where Christ seems to have physically ascended to, but rather a spiritual location?

Ephesians 2:6 KJV
6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Maybe this is what Christ meant all along when He said the kingdom of God isn’t anywhere in particular, but rather inside believers?

Luke 17:20,21 KJV
20…The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

That means Christ is seated in God’s kingdom, in the temple of your body, in your heart:

Ephesians 3:17 KJV
17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Jesus is omnipresent..

 

[Nehemiah6]

Whether Jesus actually exited the earth’s atmosphere or transfigured and went to some unseen realm in a different dimension is unclear to me.

Why would it be unclear when the Bible is crystal clear? Christ is now in Heaven (God's Heaven, which is the "third heaven") seated on His throne at the right hand of the Father. And all power and authority are now in His hands. As a matter of fact, He is in the New Jerusalem which is in Heaven.

 

[birdie]

Dear brothers and sister in Christ,

Today I studied where Jesus of Nazareth is exactly and I’m not 100% sure exactly. If you’d like, please read my train of thought as I rummage through various passages. Please explain where you believe Christ is exactly. Thank you!

Paul said in Philippians 1 that he wants to be with Christ, but that isn’t clear to me that Paul was talking about going to “heaven” as in the place where God’s “throne” is per Psalm 11:4 and Matthew 5:34.

Jesus went to heaven and sat down “on” God’s “right hand.”

Mark 16:19 KJV
19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

God doesn’t have a literal right hand with five fingers, a palm, knuckles, and a wrist as far as I am aware. “Right hand” means a position of power and/or authority.

Psalm 89:13 KJV
13Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

Psalm 63:8 KJV
8My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

Matthew 22:44 KJV
44The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Christ was “received up into heaven.” He was physically raptured, ascending through space, from point A to point B.

Whether Jesus actually exited the earth’s atmosphere or transfigured and went to some unseen realm in a different dimension is unclear to me.

One also must consider that heaven is possibly a reference to the universe itself which seems to be how it was meant in Greek. The earth is in the universe therefore the earth is in heaven. That’s how the earth is God’s “footstool” and heaven is His “throne.”

Isaiah 66:1 KJV
1Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

It’s coming apparent that God is big enough to exist everywhere simultaneously, including omnipresently in the physical universe which is only big enough to be considered a throne, somewhere outside of the physical universe (Genesis 1:1) where presumably the “mansions” (John 14:2) are, on earth because it’s a footstool, and in the hearts of believers because people are His temple.

But wait that’s not all. Somehow believers are seated in “heavenly places” in Christ. So maybe heaven isn’t a reference to a point in space, where Christ seems to have physically ascended to, but rather a spiritual location?

Ephesians 2:6 KJV
6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Maybe this is what Christ meant all along when He said the kingdom of God isn’t anywhere in particular, but rather inside believers?

Luke 17:20,21 KJV
20…The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

That means Christ is seated in God’s kingdom, in the temple of your body, in your heart:

Ephesians 3:17 KJV
17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Thanks Runningman. I enjoyed the conclusion you reached and agree with the conclusion, which is that Christ is in believers. We know that this happens by his Spirit, and not by sticking a physical body into our bodies. People used to see Jesus as a physical person walking around, but "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." Now we see Jesus in his believers by his Spirit, not walking around in his physical body anymore. The ones who have the physical body now are his believers but they have Christ in their hearts. I think when someone has Christ on the throne in their hearts, that is heaven. The believers are spoken of as being the term 'heaven': "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." From one end of heaven to the other means he'll be gathering the believers on earth who are actually described as heaven. The believers are described as the term heaven. The method he uses is sending the true believers (angels means messengers, the believers) with the trumpet (the gospel). Those that believe the gospel are gathered to Christ. Heaven is my throne. If Christ is on the throne in a person's heart, that is heaven most likely.

 

[birdie]

View attachment 240930

The phrase 'third heaven' is widely misunderstood and engenders diagrams like this above if you read the term as a surface text in the Bible. Actually, the Bible refers to the true believers using the term 'third': "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein."And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."

You can see in the Zech 13 passage above that the 'third' refers to true believers. When Paul said there is a third heaven, he meant simply the true believers' heaven. In other words, simply heaven.

 

[Runningman]

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. Rom 8:11
'The kingdom of Heaven is within you' to me means that when we are departed, we are immediately 'in the Spirit' where all Heaven is because we have accepted Jesus/Holy Spirit into our hearts.

What does this mean to you?

Ephesians 2:5,6
5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

[Runningman]

Why would it be unclear when the Bible is crystal clear? Christ is now in Heaven (God's Heaven, which is the "third heaven") seated on His throne at the right hand of the Father. And all power and authority are now in His hands. As a matter of fact, He is in the New Jerusalem which is in Heaven.

okay can you clarify that? Are you saying Jesus ascended to heaven and flew through the universe, in His body, to a place called “third heaven?”

 

[JaumeJ]

He was transfigured. This transfiguration took 40 days to complete from His crucifixion. It is all in the Book.

 

[Runningman]

He was transfigured. This transfiguration took 40 days to complete from His crucifixion. It is all in the Book.

The Book of Life?

 

[JaumeJ]

Bible may be fully translated as Book, which is the Book.

 

[Nehemiah6]

okay can you clarify that? Are you saying Jesus ascended to heaven and flew through the universe, in His body, to a place called “third heaven?”

Absolutely. "Flew through the universe" is how you would regard it, but the meaning is the same.

So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. (Mk 16:19) And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. (Lk 24:51) And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9)

 

[Nehemiah6]

[Christ] Who being the brightness of his [God's] glory, and the express image of his [God's] person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3)

[Christ] Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. (1 Pet 3:22).

 

[Marilyn]

The phrase 'third heaven' is widely misunderstood and engenders diagrams like this above if you read the term as a surface text in the Bible. Actually, the Bible refers to the true believers using the term 'third': "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein."And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."

You can see in the Zech 13 passage above that the 'third' refers to true believers. When Paul said there is a third heaven, he meant simply the true believers' heaven. In other words, simply heaven.

So the angels are IN the true believer?
And also Satan fell from US and went ......?

You comment makes no sense, saying that we, the believers are heaven.

 

[birdie]

So the angels are IN the true believer?
And also Satan fell from US and went ......?

You comment makes no sense, saying that we, the believers are heaven.

Thanks Marilyn for your comment. The term 'angel' means messenger. Jesus is the chief messenger and his disciples are messengers as well. They have the gospel. Remember how Jesus comes with the voice of the archangel in Thes 4. That's because he comes with his own voice, the gospel, which is the trump of God. Take a look at how many times in the Bible angels are called men. Also, take a look at this scripture from Genesis: "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; " The redeemer being described is Jesus, who is called an angel, which simply means 'messenger'. The archangel overcomes Satan in Rev by his own blood, by the blood of the lamb. Michael was also called Daniel's prince. Daniel's prince, of course, is Jesus. The angel which bound Satan in Rev 20 was Jesus. Jesus is the one who binds Satan.

Heaven is God's throne. If a person has Jesus on the throne, so to speak, in their heart, they are described as 'heaven'. Remember, God blesses the true believers with spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Places where Jesus is on the throne in their hearts.
Remember how in Matthew 24 God gathers his believers from one end of heaven to the other. Notice he does so by sending his messengers with the gospel (trumpet). in saying from one end of heaven to the other, he is calling the true believers 'heaven'.

 

[joecoten]

I know exactly where Jesus of Nazareth is...He's in me!

 

[Marilyn]

Thanks Marilyn for your comment. The term 'angel' means messenger. Jesus is the chief messenger and his disciples are messengers as well. They have the gospel. Remember how Jesus comes with the voice of the archangel in Thes 4. That's because he comes with his own voice, the gospel, which is the trump of God. Take a look at how many times in the Bible angels are called men. Also, take a look at this scripture from Genesis: "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; " The redeemer being described is Jesus, who is called an angel, which simply means 'messenger'. The archangel overcomes Satan in Rev by his own blood, by the blood of the lamb. Michael was also called Daniel's prince. Daniel's prince, of course, is Jesus. The angel which bound Satan in Rev 20 was Jesus. Jesus is the one who binds Satan.

Heaven is God's throne. If a person has Jesus on the throne, so to speak, in their heart, they are described as 'heaven'. Remember, God blesses the true believers with spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Places where Jesus is on the throne in their hearts.
Remember how in Matthew 24 God gathers his believers from one end of heaven to the other. Notice he does so by sending his messengers with the gospel (trumpet). in saying from one end of heaven to the other, he is calling the true believers 'heaven'.

So again I say, does that mean believers have angels in their hearts and that Satan fell from our hearts?

 

[birdie]

So again I say, does that mean believers have angels in their hearts and that Satan fell from our hearts?

Thanks Marilyn for your question. When the Bible says to let Christ dwell in your hearts, he lives in our hearts by his Spirit. When the Bible says that Jesus is a messenger, an angel, or an archangel it is using that terminology. I suppose you could say that the messenger, Christ, lives in the hearts of believers.

Satan does appear to fall from heaven: "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." I see this as meaning he fell from having God on the throne, so to speak, in his heart. Thanks again for your questions.

 

[birdie]

Thanks Marilyn for your question. When the Bible says to let Christ dwell in your hearts, he lives in our hearts by his Spirit. When the Bible says that Jesus is a messenger, an angel, or an archangel it is using that terminology. I suppose you could say that the messenger, Christ, lives in the hearts of believers.

Satan does appear to fall from heaven: "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." I see this as meaning he fell from having God on the throne, so to speak, in his heart. Thanks again for your questions.

Or perhaps better to describe the fall of Satan from heaven as God defeated Satan by the blood and and Satan lost his power in the realm of those who have God on the throne in their hearts.