Is heaven real? Yes, without a doubt. Do we live eternally there? Yes, you will. Can I be sure of going to heaven? Yes, you can. Will life in heaven be interesting? It will ascend far beyond your wildest dreams. If you could be instantly transported to heaven, would you be willing to go right now? This is a question only you can answer, and the answer will tell you a lot about your faith and hopes.
The first thing I’d like to mention about heaven is this is how we should live before we go: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (Isaiah 43:7; Matthew 5:16; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 10:31; 2 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Peter 2:12, 4:16; et al.). When you are in the world, but not of the world, this still may sound a little foreign. But Paul summed it up in 1 Corinthians 10:31, when he said, “Whether you eat therefore or drink, or if you do anything, you shall do everything for the glory of God.” (Aramaic Bible)
What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they ‘could be like Gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, and apart from God.
And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long, terrible story of man trying to find something other than God to make him happy.
The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as man made the engine. A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no substitute.
That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering to ask about His way. God cannot give us a happiness apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; a Revised and Enlarged Edition, with a New Introduction of the Three Books, the Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality New York,: Macmillan, 1952, 53-54).
Jesus said at the end of His private session on the Mount of Olives discussing the end times with Peter, James, Andrew and John, “Then the King will say to those who are at his right, 'Come, blessed ones of my Father, inherit the Kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the universe.'” (Matthew 25:34) Never forget, life is just a testing ground, a place of training for the rewards we are give and the wonders of our eternal life with God.
Peter says in 2 Peter 3:5-7, 10, “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
Then, the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to earth. (Revelation 21:10) “And I saw new heaven and a new earth, for the former heavens and the former earth had departed, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1) James T. Kirk had it wrong. Space is not the final frontier, heaven is. Heaven, and we who occupy it, will be outside the restrictions of this present earth. Heaven is a place of no tears, the end of evil, suffering and adversity.
Instead it will be active, purposeful and joyful life in what Jesus has created filled with beauty, fairness and justice. Eternal life will be productive, enjoyable and finer that all our wildest dreams. From Isaiah 65 we see that we will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and enjoy the fruit (v. 21), men will enjoy the fruits of their labor, not laboring in vain (v. 23). God will always hear our prayers even before we ask (v.24).
Here are just some of the promises of God related to eternity:
- If we earn it, we can rule over the nations on earth forever as kings and priest to our God (Revelation 1:4-7; Revelation 5:10).
- Although the heavenly city is our permanent home, we will be able to travel to the new earth to enjoy the wonders of variety and beauty that Jesus Christ has created.
- Not only we will be eternal, but the earth will be redeemed from the curse of sin and death (Romans 8:18-25) through our Lord Yeshua Messiah.
- Revelation 21, says God will dwell with us (v.3), He will wipe away every tear (v.4), there will be no more death (v.4), no more sorrow (v.4), no crying (v.4), no more pain (v.4), for the former things have passed away (v.4).
I haven’t even scratched the surface of the subject that is our hope while we are persecuted on the present Earth. I will write additional articles on the biblical truth about God’s promises regarding our eternal destiny in the near future, God willing.
If you are not a Christian you have eternity all sowed up as well. You will not spend it in heaven, but with your father Satan. Consider this, against all the world has to offer; give your life to Jesus Christ. First, realize you are a sinner, just as I once was. Second, repent and ask Jesus and God for forgiveness. And ask Jesus Christ to come into your life as Lord and Savior, and He will.
Jesus was talking to a very religious man who you would think was born again. But He said to Nicodemus in John 3:3-21, Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus replied, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God."
Read this story very carefully and see if you can find yourself in the words anywhere. The world and its ways are very deceiving. But Jesus Christ is still in heaven waiting for God to tell him to come and get his believers. Become one of the believers against all the odds. Surround yourself with like believers. God will help you find them. Then this promise of our Father will mean something to you.
I’ll end it with the words of Jesus from John 14:2-4,”There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If there weren’t, I wouldn’t have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you, would I? And since I’m going away to prepare a place for you, I’ll come back again and welcome you into my presence, so that you may be where I am. You know where I am going, and you know the way.” Jesus is the Way. (John 14:6)
Sources: Heaven, Homeward Bound, Dr. Grant Jeffrey, Water Brook Press, Revised 2005.
Thank you for reading the articles. Please subscribe at the + sign by my picture. My hope is that you both learn and enjoy the articles. I'm not here to convince you to believe as I do. I will always try to prepare the body of Christ for the soon coming rapture, warn against apostasy, and allow you to look it up yourself in the Word of God and come to your own conclusions.
God's blessings to you and your family.
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