Understanding Heaven
As a Christian you know you want to go to Heaven. Even people who don’t believe in God think they can go to Heaven. Yet most Christians would not be able to describe Heaven to someone or don’t have a clear understanding of it themselves.
If someone asked you “So what will Heaven be like?” could you answer them?
In this sermon series we will look at Heaven and answer these questions.
Why should we want to go there?
What are the 3 different types of Heaven?
Who will be going there?
How do we get there?
Where else can we go?
What will it look like?
Who and what will we see there?
Because the language of the Bible can sometimes be confusing when describing sizes or amounts we will use the Contemporary English Version for ease of understanding in this sermon unless noted.
Time Magazine Article March of 1997 “Does Heaven Exist?”
“Do you believe in Heaven?” 81% yes 13% no 6% not sure
“Where will you go when you die?” 68% Heaven 3% Hell 29% not sure
These statistics show a failure of some churches to educate their congregation about Heaven. If 81% said they believed, 81% should have known they were going there when they die.
Why should we want to go there?
1 Corinthians 2:9
9 But it is just as the Scriptures say,
“What God has planned
for people who love him
is more than eyes have seen
or ears have heard.
It has never even
entered our minds!”
The human mind cannot conceive or visualize what the true Heaven will be like.
Most of the descriptions of heaven are in the Book of Revelation Chapters 21&22..
God told John The Revelator to write down what he saw and not to keep it a secret. Why? So that we would know what to look forward to and to hope for.
Colossians 3:1,2
3 You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God’s right side. 2 Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth.
If you are a Christian, your destiny is be in Heaven with Christ! Don’t focus on what life is like here but look forward to life up there!
Going to Heaven should be the most important thing we hope to accomplish.
Matthew 13:45
45 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. 46 After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.
It does not matter what we have to endure, give up, or sacrifice. Nothing we can accomplish on Earth can compare to what we will have in Heaven.
What are the 3 different types of Heaven?
HEAVEN — a word that expresses several distinct concepts in the Bible:
1. As used in a physical sense, heaven is the expanse over the earth.
1 Natural Heavens-the sky and the heavens
1. The Atmospheric Heavens(The Sky)
Genesis 1:6-8
6 God said, “I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it.” 7 And that’s what happened. God made the dome 8 and named it “Sky.” Evening came and then morning—that was the second day.
Isaiah 42:5
I am the Lord God. I created the heavens like an open tent above. I made the earth and everything that grows on it. I am the source of life for all who live on this earth, so listen to what I say.
Spread Out
Jeremiah. 10:12
W ith your wisdom and power you created the earth and spread out the heavens.
2. The Stellar Heavens(The Stars)
Genesis. 1:14; 26:4
14 God said, “I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. 4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,
Both were created by God
Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Both will be destroyed
Hebrews 1:10–12
10 The Scriptures also say, “In the beginning, Lord, you were the one who laid the foundation of the earth and created the heavens. 11 They will all disappear and wear out like clothes, but you will last forever. 12 You will roll them uplike a robe and change them like a garment. But you are always the same, and you will live forever.”
2 Peter 3:10
10 The day of the Lord’s return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.
Purposes of:
To declare God’s glory
Psalm 19:1
1 The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done.
To declare God’s righteousness
Psalm 50:6
6 The heavens announce, “God is the judge, and he is always honest.”
To manifest God’s wisdom
Proverbs 8:27
27 I was there when the Lord put the heavens in place and stretched the sky over the surface of the sea.
3. The Divine Heavens
This Heaven is the dwelling place of God
Genesis 28:17
7 Then Jacob became frightened and said, “This is a fearsome place! It must be the house of God and the ladder to heaven.”
Because of the work of Christ on the Cross, God, Jesus Christ, and heaven is, in part, present with believers on earth as they obey God’s commands
John 14:23
23 Jesus replied:
If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them.
When we have the Holy Spirit with us, we have “Heaven on Earth”.
The Heaven that will be our final dwelling place is not finished yet.
John 14:2
2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. 3 After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together.
Why?-New Heavens to follow
Isaiah. 65:17
17 I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten.
2 Peter. 3:13
13 But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to that!
We will explore this later when we discuss “The New Heavens&New Jerusalem-The Heavenly City”
Heaven is the source of the New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:1,2,10
I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea. 2 Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband. 10 Then with the help of the Spirit, he took me to the top of a very high mountain. There he showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down from God in heaven.
At the end of time a new heaven will be created to surround the new earth. This new heaven will be the place of God’s perfect presence. Then there will be a literal fulfillment of heaven on earth.
Isaiah 65:17
17 I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten.
The New Heavens will be the permanent dwelling place of believers
Isaiah 66:22
22 I also promise that you will always have descendants and will never be forgotten, just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will last forever.
2 THE NEW HEAVENS
a term that, when used with “new earth,” refers to the perfected state of the created universe and the final dwelling place of the righteous and resurrected people. We have seen these verse references so far in Isaiah 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13, and in a slightly modified form in Revelation 21:1.
Rooted deep in Jewish thought was the dream of a new heaven and a new earth, a re-creation of the universe that would occur following the Day of the Lord
Isaiah 13:10–13
10 Light will disappear from the stars in the sky; the dawning sun will turn dark, and the moon will lose its glow. 11 I will punish this evil world and its people because of their sins. I will crush the horrible pride of those who are cruel. 12 Survivors will be harder to find than the purest gold. 13 I, the Lord All-Powerful, am terribly angry—I will make the sky tremble and the earth shake loose.
Joel 2:1–2, 30–31
Sound the trumpet on Zion, the Lord’s sacred hill. Warn everyone to tremble! The judgment day of the Lord is coming soon. 2 It will be dark and gloomy
with storm clouds overhead. Troops will cover the mountains like thunderclouds. No army this powerful has ever been gathered before or will ever be again. 30 I will work wonders in the sky above and on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 31 The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before that great and terrible day when I appear.
These same images are found in Revelation.
“Great and Terrible”
It will be great because it announces the return of Jesus.
Terrible for those who are here to witness it.
The concept of a re-created universe is closely related to the biblical account of the Creation and the Fall and the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1–3). Because of their sin, “the creation was subjected to futility . . . [and] the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:19, 21)
Why would God need to make a new heaven and earth?
The need for a new heaven and a new earth arises from human sin and God’s judgment, not from some deficiency or evil in the universe
Genesis. 3:17
17 The Lord said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree. And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food.
Hebrews 6:7,8
7 A field is useful to farmers, if there is enough rain to make good crops grow. In fact, God will bless that field. 8 But land that produces only thornbushes is worthless. It is likely to fall under God’s curse, and in the end it will be set on fire.
God will create a dwelling place for his chosen people (those who are saved) that will
be a worthy reward for their faith and sacrifice.
The apostle Paul referred to the Old Testament doctrine of the Day of the Lord and applied it to the events that will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. When Christ returns, this present evil age will give way to the age to come. The universe will be purified and cleansed by the power of God. This will be reminiscent of the purging of the earth in the days of Noah, but on a universal scale.
Right now, the Earth produces more thornbushes than fruitful trees.
THE HEAVENLY CITY
the city prepared and built by God for those who are faithful to Him
Hebrews 11:10, 16
10 Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city that God had planned and built. 16 But they were looking forward to a better home in heaven.
Known as the heavenly Jerusalem
Hebrews 12:22
22 You have now come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the city of the living God, where thousands and thousands of angels have come to celebrate. 23 Here you will find all of God’s dearest children, whose names are written in heaven. And you will find God himself, who judges everyone. Here also are the spirits of those good people who have been made perfect.
This is the city that is to come
Hebrews 13:14
14 On this earth we don’t have a city that lasts forever, but we are waiting for such a city.
These references in Hebrews find their fulfillment in Revelation 21–22. The New Jerusalem is illuminated by the glory of God. It serves as the dwelling place of God among His redeemed forever.
We have now looked at why we should want to go to Heaven and the 3 types of Heaven.
In our next section we will look at who will be going there and how we will get there.
