Heaven

 

Whenever we think of Heaven, we think of the place where God lives.  It is a place which is invisible to us now but someday we will be living there eternally.  The Bible speaks of several heavens and it is good to know the difference between them.  The Lord Jesus Christ spoke more about Heaven than many other subjects while He was here in his earthly ministry.

 

Physical Heavens

The scriptures speaks about three heavens.  The first two are physical which we can see with our very eyes.

 

The first heaven – The first heaven is earth’s atmosphere where we will see birds and airplanes fly.  In the Bible it is called the firmament and we find its description in Genesis 1:14-18 where God created the sun to rule the day and the moon to give reflected light at night.  The word “firmament” actually means expanse which is the visible arch in the sky.

 

The second heaven – The second heaven would be the universe where we would see the stars and the planets.  We would also see things like the Horsehead nebula or the Crab nebula.  We do not know if there is an end to the universe and if there was, what would be on the other side?  The Bible records this second heaven in Job 22:12; Psalm 8:3; Matthew 24:29.

 

God’s Heaven  - The third heaven

The third heaven is the place where God lives and that is where the Lord Jesus Christ came from before He came to earth.  It is not a physical place like the physical heavens but is a spiritual place which can never see any type of deterioration as we see in the physical heavens.  The Bible calls this place the “Heaven of heavens” in Deuteronomy 10:14.

 

Three times in scripture it is referred to as paradise – Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7

 

There is no night in Heaven – Revelation 22:5

 

Nothing sinful will ever enter into Heaven – Revelation 21:27; Revelation 22:14-15

 

A place of eternal rest for the believers – Revelation 14:13

 

It is the promised place for the believer to live eternally – John 14:2-3

 

We will know each other in Heaven – Matthew 17:4 – In Matthew 17:4 we see the Lord Jesus Christ and the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Peter in his impulsiveness asked if he could make a tabernacle for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  Moses lived 1500 years before Peter, Elijah live about 850 years before Peter and yet Peter recognized both of them.  This means that we will know people in Heaven, even those we never met on earth.

 

Heaven is a place of holiness – Psalm 11:4; Habakkuk 2:20

 

No sorrow, death, or crying in Heaven – Revelation 21:4

 

There is joy in Heaven when a person becomes saved – Luke 15:7

 

Jesus ascended into the third Heaven – Acts 1:11; Acts 7:55

 

Heaven is only for the saved in Christ – Revelation 21:24

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