Do children go to heaven?

This is always a difficult question to answer. I've always answered this question in the past by saying 'God is a just God so whatever decision he makes will be just.'
But, it is always nice to get a glimpse of God's justness with a practical example within the Bible.
In Numbers 14, the Israelites are on the brink of entering the Promised Land that God promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They sent spies into the land to scope the place out. The spies came back saying that the land was good but the Nephilim were there and they were big looking. The Israelites complained that God brought them out of Egypt only for them to fall by the sword. God replied to Moses:
 'How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?'.
God's judgement was:
'not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it...As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.
Once the Israelites were on the verge of the Promised Land again after a generation of wandering in the desert, God gave them a history lesson via Moses and reiterated:
 'the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.'

This is just a thought. I haven't looked into it that deeply. There is probably a deeper scriptural lesson that I've overlooked. But if the Promised Land is a 'type' of what is to come i.e Heaven, I'd say this is a little insight into the attitude God has, when it comes to children arriving at the judgement seat.

God is not your besty! He is the Lord your God

As God was giving the 10 Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai, God's presence was there for the people of Israel to see:
Ezekiel 20: 18-20 - When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."

It is interesting that the Israelites had to have the 'fear' of God to keep them from sinning. In the modern day vernacular, God literally pulled out a bit of 'shock and awe' for the benefit of Israel.  The 'fear of God' evidently does not mean to be 'afraid' of God because Moses started his response with 'Do not be afraid'. There is a difference between being 'fearful' and being 'afraid'. Israel was God's chosen people to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, yet they were still called to 'fear' the Lord their God.

Now that we Gentiles have been grafted into the branch of Israel, we are also his chosen people, and we too are called to 'fear' God.

Christians still have to appear before the judgement seat of God to receive our inheritance and the knowledge of this leads us to 'fear the Lord':
2 Corinthians 5: 10-11 - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.

'Fear' without being 'afraid' is the domain of the Christian.
Being 'afraid' is probably reserved for those who deny Jesus Christ and only realise what they have done when their number is up. Knowing what it means to 'fear' God motivates us to persuade the non-believer.

Christians don't have to 'fear' being rejected by God. We are supposed to live out the reality of our salvation with 'fear and trembling'.
2 Philippians 2: 12-13 - Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

So what does 'fear of the Lord' mean for the Christian? I'm no theologian and don't know what 'fear' means in the ancient Hebrew dialect. God doesn't need us to be multi-lingual or be the sharpest tool in the shed to understand what 'fear of the Lord' means. We are to fear is nature. We are to fear who he really is. God starts the 10 commandments by establishing who Israel is reckoning with. He clears this up before he lays down the commandments on how they should treat each other. The 10 commandments start with 'I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me'. He is a jealous God. To 'fear' God is not to fear eternal punishment. 'Fear' is for the believers. 'Fear' is knowing who God is and knowing he won't share his supremacy with anyone else.

The rich young ruler in Mark 10 asked Jesus, what must he do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that he should keep the commandments (i.e 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother). The rich young man did all these things. He adhered to the commandments on how to treat is fellow man.  It is interesting that Jesus 'looked at him and loved him'. Jesus' command to sell everything he had and give to the poor was not even part of the 10 commandments. I reckon Jesus knew the way the young ruler regarded his wealth was in violation of  'You shall have no other gods before me'. Jesus looked upon him with love, but saw that the young ruler was lacking in fear. Therefore just because God loves us, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't fear him.

The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed

To borrow a line from Chuck Missler ‘The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.’
The Old Testament is not only for the Jews to believe in. Believing in Jesus Christ as the Messianic Saviour, as Christians do, is absurd without the foundation of the Old Testament.
Why would you believe in a guy who says he is the Saviour without any authentication?
Jesus’ authentication is found in the Old Testament.

There are over 300 Messianic Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ. No one else fits.

Jesus went to great lengths to claim himself as the Messiah by continually putting himself in context with the Old Testament. For example, when Jesus went to the Synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, he read from an Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 61). Jesus read:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."[e]

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4)

The actual prophecy he was reading from is in Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn." -Isaiah 61:1-2

On a side note, it is interesting why Jesus stopped part way through verse 2. He didn’t read ‘and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn’. To me, this indicates that the day of righteous judgement (or Jesus’ Second Coming’) is still yet to come. Jesus’ first appearance was to bring the good news of Salvation. His Second will be as righteous judge.

A couple of other examples:
In John 5 Jesus said:
"...the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39You diligently study[c] the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me...’ 45"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

In Matthew 26 when the Disciples tried to stop Jesus being arrested he said:
54...But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

In Luke 18 when Jesus was preparing to be crucified he said:
"We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33On the third day he will rise again."

And in Luke 22:37
‘what is written about me is reaching its fulfilment’


In Luke 24
And after Jesus was resurrected, he hooked up with some believers along the road to Emmaus:
25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ[b] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

and what is all this for?

Acts 10:43
“All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

But that was Old Testament Law!

Leviticus 18 is a list of sexual laws that were given to the nation of Israel. It states things like:

No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God.
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable
Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it.
If you defile yourself, the land will vomit you out.
Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people.

The Israel of the Old Testament was under the administration of Law. They were required to obey God's law and the only way they could receive pardon was by animal sacrifice. The punishment was to be cast out of the nation of Israel.
Luckily, we are now under the administration of Grace. Being cut off has been replaced by forgiveness (but only after repentance)
Eventhough we are lucky enough to be under Grace, church denominations (okay, some sections of the Uniting Church and inevitably the Anglican Church) are taking advantage of this privilege and are cherry picking the above list. They say things have changed. Society has changed.
If some denominations condone one of the points in the above list, they surely have to condone the entire list. If a priest can lie with a man as one lies with a woman in today's churches, why stop there? Why can't he screw an animal behind the alter? Why can't he sleep with his sister or his mother? If society justifies everything on the basis that it is changing, then having sex with animals and close relations will inevitably be condoned.

But has God changed?
Under New Testament Law, has God changed? By nature, no
Under New Testament Law have we changed? No
Under New Testament Law has the dispensation (law) changed? Yes

The Old Testament Law has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Jesus still calls us to obey:
'If you love me, you will obey what I command' (John 14:15).
He says in Matthew 5: 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.'

Jesus Christ's standard is even higher then the Old Testament standard. He claims that looking at another woman with lust is adultery (also in Matthew 5). If Jesus' moral standard is even higher in New Testament Law, how on earth can we expect to get away with condoning anything in Leviticus 18?
Under New Testament law, we are saved by Grace and that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ, who became the sacrifice once and for all. Grace does not give us the license to cherry pick God's moral requirements. We are privileged to be under Grace but we do not have the privilege to water down God's moral standard. Anyone who condones any sexual activity in Leviticus 18 must condone the lot of it.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.(Romans 15:4)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16)

Gillard won't play religion card

Our new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has said she does not believe in God and she won't pretend to for the sake of votes.

She will no doubt lose Christian votes.

But which is better:

1.) A Prime Minister running the country that doesn't believe in God or
2.) A Prime Minister running the country that pretends to believe in God

I would prefer a point 3 but if it was a choice between 1 and 2, I would vote for 1.

Rudd went to church every week but apparently he was asked at a football match if he believed in Jesus Christ. His response was 'I am someone who goes to church regularly...'. That's right Kev. A lot of people do just go to church.