One evening little Claire was standing by herself in the foyer of our home and seemed to be engaged in a very animated conversation. A dear friend, Terry Santiago, said, “Well, look at that, she’s talking with her angel.” Immediately I was reminded of the words of Jesus about children. He said:
“I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10
I’ll be honest, I know of no scripture that says directly, “when a child dies he goes to heaven.” But, the Bible gives us clues to the answer and God gives us His Spirit to discern the truth. So let’s discuss what we know from scripture.
Right before Jesus said these words about the angels of children, the disciples had been squabbling about who among them was the greatest. In response, Jesus sat a child among them and reminded them of what He taught them earlier in the Sermon on the Mount; specifically, that an attitude of total dependence is necessary both—to be born again and—to have a healthy relationship with God. The lesson is clear—it is only when we have a deep dependency on God (like children do on their parents) that we can become great in His kingdom. In fact, we don’t even get into the kingdom of heaven unless we depend completely upon God for salvation!
The lesson for the disciples was that our life can never be eternally great until we are totally dependent upon God.
True greatness is never about us; it’s always ALL about Jesus.
So what has this got to do with Claire talking with her angel or whether children go to heaven when they die? I’m getting there…you know lawyers can be wordy. 🤣
God’s Word explains we are designed with a body, soul, and spirit. Each human soul is either alive in Christ or dead to Him. We know from reading the Bible that children, before they make a decision to willfully sin, are spiritually alive. We know this because Paul the Apostle wrote:
“I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” Romans 7:9-11
Paul describes himself as once being “alive” because he lived with no awareness of the consequences of sin. We know he is talking about spiritual life, not physical life—because of how the law of sin and death works. Sin causes spiritual death. (It is also the ultimate reason we die physically.) We know from reading Genesis that God is the source of all life—physical and spiritual. Every person is either spiritually dead or spiritually alive. And you notice how Paul does not say he was “without sin,” but rather infers that sin was dormant and capable of being brought to life. Thus, when he said he was alive, it can only mean “spiritually alive.” Spiritual life is having a relationship with God.
So what happened to cause Paul to experience spiritual death?
Well, at some point as a child, Paul gained a conscious understanding about the difference between good and evil. Sound familiar? Yes, if we go back to the Garden of Eden, where God gave Adam and Eve one commandment; Do not eat “of the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) We know Adam and Eve did not die physically as soon as they ate the fruit, so they obviously died spiritually. It wasn’t the fruit that killed them, but rather the knowledge of their direct disobedience to God.
Every human born after Adam is born with his sin nature. Romans Chapter 5 compares the sin nature of Adam and our nature after we choose the gift of salvation. It appears from Paul’s description in Romans Chapter 7 (above) that our knowledge of sin is somewhat dormant before that moment when we gain full awareness we are choosing wrong. The Bible is clear that sin kills our spiritual man. It ends our relationship with God. But the fact that we CAN die must necessarily mean we were once alive. Thus, it must mean we once knew God before coming into the knowledge that we were choosing to sin. And because during our innocence we enjoyed a close relationship with God, we are acutely aware when that relationship is gone. When you’ve experienced the presence of God, the absence of His presence is a nightmare. Sin causes deep anxiety. Think about it…
As soon as Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they knew they were naked and that something was very, very wrong, so…they hid from God. (Genesis 3)
Similarly, as soon as we are old enough to be aware that we have committed sin, we know we are missing something really good—it is the presence of God. It is then we become acutely aware that we need Him; and we need a Savior.
Now do you see the parallel between what Paul said and what God said in the Garden?
Like I said before, the Bible does not come out and say “when children die they go to Heaven; however, Romans Chapter 7 is instructive. In addition, there are several instances in the Bible which are helpful given what we know about God’s nature being completely holy. No unrighteousness can stand in His presence.
We know one benefit of salvation is we receive Jesus’ righteousness and the ability to communicate with God.
So in this context, let’s examine a few other scriptures which are helpful regarding this issue.
When John the Baptist was still in Elizabeth’s womb and Mary—who was pregnant with Jesus—drew near, the unborn John leaped with excitement in his mother’s womb when he sensed the presence of Jesus. (Luke 1:41) Baby John’s soul and spirit were evidently capable of sensing and communicating with the presence of God, which means He was spiritually alive and sin had not killed him.
Another scripture which speaks to this is 2 Samuel 12:21–23. King David prayed for forgiveness after having committed adultery with Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan told him that, because of his sin, their child would die. David responded by mourning and praying for the child. But after the child died, David’s mourning ended and people were surprised and asked:
“What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
David’s response was,
“While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
David’s words seem to indicate that he was at peace because he would see his child again some day in heaven. This knowledge gave David great peace. This is also consistent with Paul’s teaching, that he was “alive once” before he understood the consequences of the law.
This makes so much sense to me, does it to you?
If you walk into a hospital and are told you have a diagnosis of terminal cancer, your body is alive even though the cancer has been growing without you even knowing it. But when you become aware of the diagnosis, you now know you are desperately in need of a cure. Until a child is aware of her need for a Savior, she cannot accept Jesus’ gift of salvation. This is why Paul insists that, in spite of the law being a good gift from God, it is not how God intends for us to become righteous people. The law is how God intends for us to learn that we are sinful. Then when we are made righteous through the gift of salvation we enter back into a relationship with God. We are reintroduced to the purity of righteousness.
I see the purity of righteousness in Claire. I also see it in those who are born again and who are actively loving Jesus. It is natural that Claire would be chatting with her angel who is in the presence of the Father. Her perception of God is yet unsullied by sin. Her angel is in the presence of the Holy Father. Her soul and spirit are still so wide open to the presence of God. What is her angel saying to her? What is she chattering on about that makes her giggle and get so animated? I have no idea. I know this for certain: God’s presence is evident in her. She responds to God’s presence when it is reflected in those around her. Conversely, if she is surrounded by the “works of the flesh” described in Galatians 5—anger, gossip, worrying, cursing, etc., the adverse effects are seen on her entire countenance.
Jesus said we must come to Him like children. Does that mean children are already close to God? I think that is a logical conclusion based upon the words of Jesus!
2 Responses
We must come to him in child like faith.
Yes ma’am!