Heaven

Heaven

I Kings 8:27

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“Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee...”

—I Kings 8:27.

“…And hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place...”-I Kings 8:30.

There are three different heavens discussed in the Bible, First, there is the atmosphere just above the earth…air, clouds, etc. Second, there is the stellar heaven containing the stars and planets. Finally, we have what the Bible calls “the third heaven.” The third Heaven is where God’s throne is located. It is the place called Paradise, where the saints of God are waiting for the resurrection of their bodies.

Where is Heaven? How do you get there? What is it like?

Well, we don’t know all the answers, but we know that Heaven is always referred to as “up.” We know there’s no stairway leading there. We can only imagine some of the answers…we should take some time and just imagine…but the Bible tells us quite a bit as well:

There are windows in Heaven. The windows are always spoken of as being open to pour out things from God. Sometimes blessings are poured out (see Mal. 3:10; II Kings 7:2), sometimes curses (see Isa. 24:18), and sometimes the same thing that is a blessing to some is a curse to others (see Gen. 8:2).

Concerning the door in Heaven, John tells of his experience in Revelation. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” (Rev. 4:1).

The first thing he saw was a throne. This is God’s throne. He was sitting on His throne. It looked like a jasper, sardine stone, or an emerald. It is hard for the finite mind to grasp infinite things. We cannot imagine the beauty and radiance of God.

Consider the famous Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian. A thick, shatterproof glass wall and an armed guard protect it. {Kimberly has a “hope diamond” too…one she’s hoping for!} The many people that wait in line to see the Hope Diamond express an awe, and a feeling of rapture

seems to come over those who view it. A spirit of excitement is set off by the thought of the tremendous value.

But this is nothing, this is dirt compared to God.

The psalmist cried out, “The Lord is in his holy temple, the

Lord’s throne is in heaven...” (Ps. 11:4). Behind the throne was a sparkling rainbow. The twenty-four elders, clothed with glistening, white garments and pure gold crowns on their heads, were seated upon the twenty-four seats. Thunder and lightnings were proceeding out from the throne and voices could be heard. There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.

The Tree of Life was there. This same tree was in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. After the fall of man, an angel was posted at the gate with a revolving sword, to keep them away from this tree lest they should eat of it and live forever in their fallen state. On this tree grew twelve different kinds of fruit each month. The leaves were for the healing of the nations.

The beautiful River of Life was flowing out from under the throne and pure water of life was freely accessible. The streets were made of pure, transparent gold, suggesting the elimination of all impurities which cloud things on the earth.

As John continued to look, he saw twelve gates of pearl; three on the north, three on the south, three on the east and three on the west. Twelve angels stood at these twelve gates. But Jesus will be what makes it heaven for me!

Part of what will make it heaven is what won’t be there…

There will be no tears, no death, no sorrow, no crying, no pain, no night, no more curse, no hunger, no thirst or hundreds of other things that have plagued us here. The great host of angels, or messengers, will be busy serving God and carrying out every desire. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God sent a multitude of angels to earth to praise and cry out, “Glory to the Lord!” Surely, it must have been a great blessing for John to see all of this.

Stephen had been privileged to look on this scene, too. As he was dying, after being stoned, he spoke of seeing Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Before he could tell much of what he saw, God called him Home.

Paul the apostle got a glimpse of this on the Damascus Road. The vision was so bright, in contrast to his sin, that it blinded him. He later spoke to Herod Agrippa, saying, “Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). Later, Paul tells of an experience of ascending up to the third Heaven. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago. . .such an one caught up to the third heaven. . . How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (II Cor. 12:2,4).