Will murderers be with God in heaven? Heaven is only a reward for faithful Christians. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NET), “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived!… Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Reformed, faithful Christians will receive a heavenly resurrection. The Apostle Paul consented to Stephen’s stoning, “I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him,” Acts 20:22. He considered himself as participating in this murderous act, but he was washed and transformed. He expected a heavenly reward. (2 Timothy 4:6-8.)
Moses is not in heaven. Some believe otherwise based on the vision in Matthew 17:1-13. In the ninth verse, Jesus stated, “Tell the vision to no man.” The Apostles saw a “vision” of Moses and Elijah with the Lord, just as St. John on the Isle of Patmos saw visions of beasts, angels, etc., and not the actual things themselves. Moses had not been resurrected because our Lord Jesus was the first to rise from the dead and be glorified. Acts 26:23, “He (Christ) would be the first to rise from the dead.”
The import of this “vision” is also clearly indicated by the Apostle Peter. 2 Peter 1:16-18, “For we…were eye-witnesses of his majesty; for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.”
This was a symbolic representation of the glory of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. The changed appearance of the Lord's person and clothing were symbolic of his coming glory in the Kingdom. Moses represented the earthly phase and Elias the spiritual or heavenly phase. This vision represented the established Kingdom referred to in Matthew 16:27, “I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God.”
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