Do Babies Go To Heaven?

I won’t keep you in suspense. Yes! Babies get to go to heaven! I was never sure of this until I heard a particular sermon on the internet a few days ago. The minister gave compelling bible verses to back this up. This is one of them.

Revelation 3: vs. 5  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

The minister, Gary Hamrick from Cornerstone Chapel, said that he believes that everyone’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life when they are born. If you later reject Christ, then your name gets blotted out of the book. I had always assumed that our names were not in there, but when you came to believe, then it got added. His explanation makes more sense.

Being enlightened by this news was such a blessing. Babies and some severely handicapped individuals are not mentally capable to understand who God is and to make a decision to accept or reject him. Therefore, their name will remain in the book of life until they make a choice to reject Christ instead of following him. (My belief is that all this applies to babies that die while still in the womb too. Their name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life because they have not rejected Christ).

Hallelujah for this good news! His explanation was exciting. The bible doesn’t specifically say that babies will go to heaven, so I was never sure until a few days ago. Knowing what a loving God our God is, I figured he would want all babies in heaven, but it’s nice to have bible verses to back this up.

Now you can’t say any more that there’s nothing but scary stuff in the book of Revelations. There is a lot of good news in there too!

If you want to hear Gary Hamrick’s sermon on this, click on the following. It’s a sermon on Revelation 3: 1-13. He’s with Cornerstone Chapel. If you don’t want to hear the whole sermon, go to the 17:00 minute mark and listen through to the 22:30 minute mark.

Next, I have a story from the bible about King David and his child who died.

2 Samuel 12 vs. 16-23  David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.” David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. His servants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!” He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

You can learn a lot from this story. David was a man who had a close relationship with God and he believed that his child was in heaven. He said that someday he would go to the child.  It doesn’t say how old the child was, but I’m assuming it was fairly young.

The other thing I like is that David’s reaction seemed backwards, but he was right on target. People mourn after their child dies, but that is when David stopped mourning. Sure, he would miss the child but he knew his mourning wouldn’t bring any good. He also knew that the child was in good hands in heaven and someday he would be with him again. That is a beautiful way to look at things.

When my father passed away, every one around his bedside was mourning and crying because they would miss him. I was the weird one because I didn’t have a tear in my eye. Yes, I would miss him dearly, but I knew that he was in heaven and blissfully happy. No more oxygen tanks. No more missing Mom. No more heart surgeries. I was sad for me, but extremely happy for him. I don’t think some people understood my reaction.

Yes, I believe babies go to heaven, but are they babies when they get there or are they changed? I’ve looked and looked but I couldn’t find a passage that was absolutely clear on this. I definitely don’t think they will remain babies forever because the bible says we will be perfectly happy in heaven. Who would be happy being totally helpless and dependent for eternity? Not me. My guess is that they will instantly be changed to an older age or maybe they will continue to age in heaven until they get to a certain age. Basically, I’m saying that I’m clueless on this question, but I do know they will be happy no matter what age they are.

Wow. I was so happy to receive this insight. I know that many people who have lost someone at a very young age wonder often about this subject. I’m hoping that this information will bring them peace.

Luke 12: vs. 32  “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.