What is Heaven?

How much do we really know about Heaven?

Yesterday, we opened by talking about the popular image of this famous celestial kingdom.

Clouds, angels, shiny gates…

But how much of that is accurate?

Well, today we’re going to find out.

Heavens in the Bible

The best source we have on Heaven is the Bible, God’s revealed Word. 

And, interestingly enough, in Scripture, the word heaven refers to more than one thing.

In Genesis 1:1, God creates the “heavens” and the Earth. Here, “heavens” describes the sky, atmosphere, and space around the planet.

But in 2 Corinthians 12:2, Paul writes of an experience in which he was taken up to the “third heaven.”

This heaven is beyond the second heaven of space and the first heaven of sky. In other words, it’s the “heaven” many of us think of when we hear the word.

Paul describes this realm as a paradise where God is encountered in a transcendent way, surpassing human means of expression (2 Corinthians 12:4).

Other parts of Scripture refer to it as a key location of God’s reign (Psalm 11:4; 103:19), while Deuteronomy 26:15 refers to it as the place God lives.

And, yes, it’s described as a place God’s people go after they die (Luke 23:42-45; John 14:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 3:17-21).

The Appearance of Heaven

But what does such a place look like?

Well, we don’t really know.

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, the third heaven is “inexpressible,” therefore, no accurate depiction of it can be given through earthly terms or methods.

So, all descriptions of Heaven are made using comparisons to earthly things, as opposed to direct depictions themselves.

In Revelation 4, John describes Heaven as a place filled with vibrant, shining gemstones and populated by supernatural creatures resembling multi-winged animals.

Hundreds of years prior, the prophet Isaiah described a similar scene in Isaiah 6, complete divine beings, God’s shining majesty, and a searing sense of purity (that is, absence of sin). 

Similar depictions appear in the works of other prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel, but this much is clear… they’re just comparisons.

Heaven is so majestic and beyond us that human words simply can’t do it justice.

And, if you’ve noticed, the popular image of Heaven we’re all used to doesn’t entirely line up with what one reads in the Bible. If anything, these depictions are more influenced by medieval Catholicism than Scripture.

That doesn’t mean they’re inherently bad; we just should just take them with a grain of salt, is all.

So, what is Heaven then?

It’s an ethereal realm beyond our own, a place where God dwells, and the destination for followers of Jesus after they die. 

We don’t actually know what it looks like or what it’s like to be there because it defies all human comprehension. The best we have are comparisons made by biblical writers.

But this just leads to a new question - why?

Why does such a place exist? And why is it necessary in the first place?

It’s to that we’ll turn tomorrow.

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

Theophilus Newsletter