You have wondered, “Will more people be saved and enjoy Heaven for eternity, or will more people remain lost?” If more people remain separated from God, then it seems that satan will have won. And it does not seem logical that God would allow that.
It is true that some Scripture appears to support the more-lost-than-saved position. (1) “Jesus said, “. . . wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13). (2) In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-8), only one kind of soil out of four brought forth a healthy crop, which verse 23 says means a person who is spiritually fruitful, meaning redeemed. (3) Scripture repeatedly uses remnant as an indication of those in God’s favor. God has normally worked through a remnant, not the majority. But we get a very encouraging perspective from John 14:2 and Revelation 21:16. John 14:2 says Jesus was / is preparing a place for His own.1 And Revelation adds that that place — the New Jerusalem — will be a 1400-mile-square cube. That is a huge place for His saints to live.
Figuring each palatial apartment2 to be 40 feet by 40 feet with 10 foot ceilings – one person per apartment (no marriage in Heaven, sorry; Matthew 22:30), in just one slice of apartments measuring only one square mile, the math looks like this:
Shifting from one square mile to a cube with each dimension being 1400 miles, means there would be many, many, many luxury apartments which can be expressed mathematically in any of the four following ways:
- 2.5 X 1016
- 1400 X 1400 X 1400 X 5280 X 5280 X 5280
- 2.5,000,000,000,000.
- 25,000 trillion such mansions.
That is a large number of palatial apartments for God’s people to enjoy throughout eternity. Two factors come quickly to mind that would change this estimate. First, individual apartments may be smaller or larger. My suggested 40 X 40 X 10 is just a guess. The home my wife and I live in now is smaller than that and still very adequate, hence my estimate. Second, there would need to be some space for hallways, elevators, streets, accommodation for travel, parks, concert auditoriums, stadiums, shopping, etc.
In recent years, millions have been aborted. I believe they went straight to the Savior’s arms. Through the centuries, multitudes have died shortly after being born. They were redeemed also. The Black Death of 1348 and the Plague of 1666 in London killed about 15% of the population, many were children and infants. Again, such innocents were redeemed.
Plagues kept the population of the world small until the last 120 years. Recently, better nutrition, better health care and a reduction in plagues has caused the population of the earth to balloon, the six (6) million killed by COVID not withstanding.
I believe that most of the people who have ever lived are alive now (which creates enormous accountability for the church to evangelize the world). We live in fascinating times.
Let’s return to the basic question – will more people remain unredeemed or will more people become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? Certainly as we look at society and the seven billion people alive today, most are not Christians. On the other hand, it seems logical that God would defeat satan by causing more to be redeemed than remain lost. And the place Jesus Christ is preparing for His own is huge!
There is a titanic, colossal battle going on today for the minds, wills, souls, resources and worship of people. So much so that angels preach the Gospel in the end times (Revelation 14:6). Scripture does not answer our question. But it the final tally will be awesome and Christians have a front row seat.
Graphic compliments of Jeff Rauf’s Technical Art.
Key Words & Phrases
- Heaven a large place
- John 14:2
- “Mansions” in Heaven.
- More redeemed than remain lost?
- satan unsuccessful
- Redeemed, the number of people r.
- Revelation 21:16
- Unknown – how many redeemed / lost u.
Written November 9, 2021; revised and improved March 21, 2022
1. “’Mansions’ from the King James Version is misleading if it makes us envision having massive lodging on separate estates. The intended meaning seems to be that we will have separate dwellings on a single estate, or even separate rooms within the same house.” Randy Alcorn, Heaven; Page 333. John 14:2 says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . I am going to prepare a place for you.” Place is singular, but rooms in plural. So maybe three – five rooms each within a large place /dwelling.
2. As stated, the King James “mansions” is incorrect. The Greek word means dwelling place.
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