Where Is Heaven & Do Multiple Heavens Exist? | Heaven Series, Part 2

(Great Bay - New Hampshire) 

"Where is Heaven?"
This is a good place to continue our series here on the topic of Heaven.

Let me start off with some wisdom I received from a professor in graduate school.  Dr. Dillon once said to my class, "If Larry King were to ask you a question about Christianity in America, you should always start with the following phrase: 'Well Larry, it depends on what you mean by...' ."

Dr. Dillon was making the point that we need to define our terms when we are speaking because if we are beginning our conversation with a different definition of - in this case - Heaven, when we will may end up with significantly divergent views.

And so let's begin with the various terms about Heaven.  To do so I am going to offer a biblical but non-exhaustive (or non-exhausting) perspective.  I won't cover all the Hebrew and Greek words used for Heaven, but will focus more on the conceptions shared between the terms.

3 DEFINITIONS OF HEAVEN

1. Heaven as in 'heaven and earth.', the total of all creation.  This first definition we see in places like Genesis 1:1 (the Hebrew word shamayim) and Acts 17:24 (the Greek word ouranou) and it essentially refers to the entire universe - sometimes other than the earth, but the earth falls under this 'heaven'.  This term is used when we see something grand being described or the location of God's complete rule and reign, and as one would likely think, it is a broad notion.  It's less about a location found on a map or in a GPS and more about a universal region or umbrella under which human life occurs.  

2. Heaven as in the various locations of air, outer space, and the home of God.  The main reference that is helpful here is 2 Corinthians 12:2 where Paul writes about the third Heaven.  The idea is that the first heaven is the air, the second is outer space, and the third is the dwelling place of God.

3. Heaven as in the (current) home of God and His followers.  This third term will be our main focus in this and other posts, but it essentially refers to where God abides and where His people go after they die.  Some core references might be: the eternal Kingdom of 2 Peter 1:11, the better country of Hebrews 11, or the Kingdom of Heaven of Matthew 25:1.

     

(Newmarket, New Hampshire)

And so then - where is this place where God dwells and where His followers are...currently?

Let's start with the second half of the question and note that the current dwelling place of people like Moses and Elijah is not where they will be for all eternity.  Revelation 21 gives us a picture of what John the Apostle calls a 'new Heaven and a new earth."  Why new?  Because - according to John - in the future the old ones will have passed away in that Heaven and Earth are to be combined.  

Stop with me for a moment and ponder this truth.

In our first post we acknowledged that people sensed the brokenness of this world.
There was a longing for things to be made right, to be made whole.
And yet sometimes we see a picture of Earth being consumed and tossed out by God as it were.

Again, Revelation 21 speaks in very different terms about our planet.  When all is made right, Heaven and Earth are melded into one, and the dwelling place of God is with humanity (Revelation 21:3).  God will take the mess and make it as He intended.

We can dig into this idea more in the future, but the clear teaching of the Bible is that at the climax of God's redemptive work in our world, Heaven will not be 'out there', but instead will be right here as Heaven and Earth are wed together.  When Jesus returns, Heaven and Earth will become one. 

This means - logically - that if people like Moses and Elijah (as in Matthew 17:1-13) are not yet in the New Heaven (here on the future-restored earth), and yet we know they are among those who are very much alive after their physical death, then they must be somewhere?  So where are they?  And where are those faithful who die in Christ?

We will address that topic in our next post.
- tC    

Will What You Do Last?

Photo by Suat Eman - FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We live in a world that is always looking for the next best thing.

We live in a world where there always is the next best thing.

Haven't most of us spent time on the internet and then, thinking it was ten or fifteen minutes later, found out we had blown over an hour of time just surfing with no real purpose?  Social media makes its living based of that kind of behavior.

We can be easily caught up in things that don't really matter and that won't really last.  And while there are portions of our days that are filled with what we might call mundane tasks (filling the gas tank, paying the bills, doing laundry), the question I want to pose tonight is about how much of what we do actually has the potential to have an eternal impact?

Investing in the lives of people has an eternal impact.
Loving and knowing God has an eternal impact.
Sharing the Gospel with people has an eternal impact.
The study and application of God's Word has an eternal impact.
Loving the unlovely has an eternal impact.

Pause and reflect here.
One day we will all step from this life into the next and what will we bring with us?
Spoiler alert: Facebook, Twitter, and photos of what we had for dinner won't be there.
May we make investments today in things that will last forever.

- tC

Dealing With Trials: Eternity Changes Everything

(Photo by antibodyphoto - FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

If you look into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, you will see his assertion (which makes sense) that people have needs, and as you move up his pyramid of needs, the 'needs' start moving toward 'wants'.   The most basic needs are physiological - food, shelter, clothing, heat, etc.  Makes sense, right?  If I can't feed myself I'm likely to die, and therefore thinking a deeper issues of self-esteem and self-actualization don't really matter until my more basic needs are met.

Let's translate this to the place where I live - in the United States of America, in the seacoast of New Hampshire.  In my current location, the most basic needs are just assumed.  The vast majority of people in my area don't spent a lot of time thinking about if they will have food, clothing, and shelter tonight (yes some do - but proportionally very few).  How does this connect to dealing with trials? Well unfortunately, having our core needs met often makes eternity and Heaven fade from our minds.  And yet if we are able to gain an eternal perspective, all of our trials will change.

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul when he says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17).  This coming from the man who was beaten, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked and more.  But his perspective is this - today's trials and tomorrow's trials are a blip on the radar compared to what Heaven has for me.  It doesn't make the pain go away, but it does frame all of the trials through which we suffer.

I have a book in my office library called Whatever Happened To Heaven?  The title says it all - we, as American Christians, by-and-large have lost a solid and continual grasp on eternity.  We tend to want our daily trials to go away, but we often fail to think beyond the 'oh good - that trial is over' to the fact that 'trials just remind me that I have an inheritance in eternity with Christ waiting for me'
(1 Peter 1:4).

If I have faith in Christ and am redeemed by Him, all trials are momentary.  Even if I were to suffer all my life, it is still momentary compared to eternity.  Theologian R.C. Sproul once stated it this way - If I receive forgiveness of my sins and eternal life in Christ, and then for the rest of my earthly life I suffer terribly, I still make out like a bandit.

Trials become a totally different experience when they are re-framed in light of eternity.

- tC