Heaven is a Place

Heaven now is a real place of departed spirits, the place of bliss in God's presence where believers go when they die. Enoch entered heaven when "God took him" to be with Himself (Genesis 5:24). Elijah also "went up to heaven in a whirlwind" (2 Kings 2:11). Jesus went there at death after saying, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46). A repentant thief did also after Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Paul referred to it as being "absent from the body" and "present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Heaven is God's home; Jesus spoke of "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9; 5:16) and said it was an actual place, reminding his disciples:

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 14:2-3).

Jesus said He came from heaven and would return there: No one has ever gone into heaven (bodily) except the one who came down from heaven- the Son of Man" (John 3:13). The one who comes from heaven is above all" (v.31) "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever" (John 6:51).

Jesus told Mary Magdalene, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'" (John 20:17). This He did at His ascension, when the angels said He would return the same way He'd just departed (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16).

Angels also are said to be "in heaven" (Matthew 18:10), to come "from heaven (Matthew 28:2), to dwell "in heaven" (Mark 13:32), and return to heaven (Luke 2:15). In heaven is God's "throne" (Matthew 5:34), where Christ sits at His "right hand" (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 1:3), where angels surround Him in praise and adoration (Revelation. 4-5).

That God dwells in heaven does not mean He is localized and not omnipresent. Solomon prayed: "The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you" (1 Kings 8:27). God is everywhere, as the psalmist revealed: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (Psalms 139:7-9). The reality of heaven as God's dwelling simply means that there is a place (like the old covenant tabernacle and temple) where God is manifested in a special way, a center or "throne" from which He rules the universe. Weather heaven is within the physical universe or in another physical dimension, it is an actual place where the righteous will "see his face" (Revelation 22:4).



The Final State of the Saved (Heaven) :Norman Gesiler


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