Children were also offered up to Baal as live sacrifices, seemingly acting as a form of birth control! Nothing new under the sun! TR Children were also offered up to Baal as live sacrifices Yes. Just a modern day version of it. Nothing has changed. Only fashion and technology. Depravity is every bit as deep. And like you said, nothing new under the sun! So in 6,000 years … think of all the babies/children that died young. Billions or trillions in heaven right now? I’m wondering if they will enter into the millennium kingdom along with the believers that survive the tribulation and will get a chance to grow up and repopulate the earth and have a chance to make decisions on their own to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior? In regards to unborn children being given a chance to live a full life on earth, that I don't know. IMHO, I would say not. Perhaps they'll be allowed to grow up in heaven or in some fashion? Anyway, the number that secular science seems to trot out seems to be over 100 billion. This BBC article estimates about 107 billion. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16870579 That, of course, is from an evolutionary point of view. It also may not count all the unborn children that died or were murdered in the womb. Anyway, here are some numbers about the New Jerusalem: The volume of the new Jerusalem, a cube measuring 1,500 miles, is 3.375 billion cubic miles, which consists of 216 billion cubic quarter miles. It is estimated that the total number of people that have ever been born is about 107 billion. If every human who ever lived experienced the saving grace of God, each of them would have an abode in the new Jerusalem equivalent to 2 cubic quarter miles. Would that be enough room for you? The magnificence of the new Jerusalem testifies to the bountiful provision Jesus made for the sinners for whom he died, which was that estimated 107 billion! Oh what grace! http://truthonfire.com/pen/2016/gates-of-pearl.asp Anyway, God has made room for all. When He desires that none shall perish, He really means it and has prepared accomodations for everyone that has ever lived. God is so wonderful! :yahoo: I’m wondering if they will enter into the millennium kingdom along with the believers that survive the tribulation and will get a chance to grow up and repopulate the earth and have a chance to make decisions on their own to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior? I have thought this too. Everyone else was required to make a choice so I don't see how they will be any different. Yes. And instead of a requirement, maybe think of it as their opportunity. :yahoo: :yes: Think of it as Good News you choose to accept. 😉 Some thoughts: The very sad fact that infants sometimes die demonstrates that even infants are impacted by Adam’s sin, since physical and spiritual death were the results of Adam’s original sin. Christ is the only way. John 14:6 records what Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through Me.” While the Bible does not directly state that young children or others unable to make a decision to follow Christ by faith will be in heaven, there is no reason to believe that God would not choose to mercifully save those who cannot make a faith decision. God's mercy extends to all sinners at a time when they cannot help themselves (Romans 5:8). We can also take into account 1 John 2:2, teaches that Jesus is "the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." This verse is clear that the death of Christ is sufficient for all sins. If God has chosen to cover the sins of young children and others unable to come to Him by faith, then the blood of Christ is certainly sufficient to do so. Enough indirect information can be pieced together from Scripture to provide a satisfactory answer, which relates to infants as well as those with mental handicaps and others. The Bible speaks matter-of-factly about children who do not know enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isaiah 7:16). One reason people are guilty before God, Romans 1 says, is that they refuse to acknowledge what is “clearly seen” and “understood” concerning God If a child is too young to know right from wrong and possesses no capacity for reasoning about God, then is that child exempted from judgment? We believe that granting saving grace to babies and young children, on the basis of the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement, is consistent with God’s love and mercy. Before people mature enough to discern right from wrong (sometimes called reaching “the age of accountability”), it would seem that they are not held responsible by God. Toddlers sin, and they bear Adam’s corrupt nature, but lacking the ability to understand the concept of right and wrong, they are under God’s grace, in our opinion. David testifying that he would be reunited with his dead child after death in 2 Samuel 12:23) support the reasonable belief that infants go to heaven when they die. The same holds true for those with mental disabilities who cannot comprehend right and wrong. David’s response indicates that those who cannot believe are safe in the Lord. Although it is possible that God applies Christ’s payment for sin to those who cannot believe, the Bible does not specifically say that He does this. It is our position that God applies Christ’s payment for sin to babies and those who are mentally handicapped, since they are not mentally capable of understanding their sinful state and their need for the Savior. Of this we are certain: God is loving, holy, merciful, just, and gracious. Whatever God does is always right and good, and He loves children even more than we do. Got Questions God is truly benevolent and gracious with His love! Though historically many innocent children have suffered and died, it is not accounted unto them for their sin, but rather to expose the sins of their parents! True that we are all human and ergo born into sin but God judges accordingly and righteously! TR i think that part about David knowing he would go to where his dead infant son is (kolleen's posted article) is very telling...and i don't think it would be like the angels in the way that they were created as angels to serve God and were in Heaven and then chose to rebel and therefore fell and would not spend eternity with God, so, i do not think infants (and the severely mentally ill) that die and therefore are in Heaven -covered in God's atoning grace by the shed blood of Jesus because of their inability to choose- would then be given a choice later to reject Him and therefore die spiritually...just my rambling thoughts... i would think they would already be united and alive spiritually by The Holy Spirit and have become new creatures in Christ Jesus...maybe at the moment they died, The Spirit enters them to give them new life, enable them into the presence of God and protect them as they take their souls to be with Him....maybe they "grow up" in spiritual bodies in Heaven and then they would receive glorified adult bodies at the Rapture with the other "dead in Christ" and therefore not be physically reproducing or choosing to accept or reject the offer of salvation I agree that abortion is child sacrifice to gods -modern day in USA examples are the gods of career/wealth, "freedom", self, even "health", education and/or sports...etc etc...but I do not believe most who have an abortion have any idea that it is hurtful to the baby or to themselves and they have no idea how hurtful it is to God or that they have been deceived by the devil into an act of idolatry and murder... I believe we as a whole (modern American culture at least & possibly churches) have failed to understand and teach that we are given life for God's purposes not our own and therefore the god of self has been raised above Him in our minds and actions - and even when it doesn't feel selfish or prideful, that's what all we do outside of His will actually is... He says children are a blessing, so anything that tells you they are a curse, a burden, a devastation to your life is just Satan's lies and must be rejected...trust His ways and walk in them and receive the blessings of becoming more like Christ- filled to overflowing with the fruits of the Spirit- raising children is a great way for Him to work all these things out in and through you and to understand the parent/child relationship that our Heavenly Father uses to teach us about how He relates to us
