Topic of the Month

What the Bible Actually Says about. . .
Heaven

Bro. Don A. Raines
Quartz Hill church of Christ

Introduction: Many people are genuinely curious about what the Bible actually says about certain topics. Clearly, what people think about a certain topic, and what the Bible actually says about it, is not always the same. Among some of the topics that people are curious about are: heaven, hell, resurrection, judgment, and where the soul goes immediately after death. So what does the Bible actually say about heaven?

First of all, it says that it exists! The word heaven, in some form or another, appears over 700 times in the Bible. The fact that heaven exists is confirmed by our Lord many times, references about heaven were made by Jesus himself. Jesus is passed into the heavens. He is reigning in heaven.If we accept the existence of Jesus Christ by faith, we must also accept the existence of heaven, for it is by the same word we know about heaven. Jesus said , "…..man must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Secondly, we can know that heaven is eternal. Unlike the physical heaven of creation, which will perish at the coming of the Lord Jesus, heaven above is eternal. It is eternal because it is not of this world! (John 14:1-4) Jesus prepared a place in the presence of God. A place not of this world. All things in and of this world will perish! (1 John 2:17)

It is also eternal because we live there eternally. There will be no more death. It must be eternal in order to support eternal life (Revelation 21: 1-5). The Lord said of heaven in Matthew 25:34,

Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

From the beginning of the creation, heaven was eternal!

We can also know who is going to heaven. The Bible is very clear and specific as to who will go to heaven. Who are they? Those, whose names are written in the book of life, will go to heaven. When Moses interceded for Israel, because of their sin (golden calf), he offered to have his own name removed from the book on behalf of them. Exodus 32:30-33. God’s people are in the book of life: the record of all the faithful. Paul said in Philippians 4:3,

And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with others my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life.

The writer of Hebrews says that the names of the general assembly and church of the first born, are written in heaven (Hebrews 12: 23). Those, who are obedient to the Lord’s commandments will go to heaven (Matthew 7: 21-27). What does he command us to do?

• Believe (Hebrew 11:6);
• Repent, (Acts 2: 38; 17:30);
• Confess our faith in him; (Matthew 10: 32-33; Romans 10:10);
• Be Baptized, because those who have been born again will go to heaven (John 3: 3-5). This new birth is baptism. Therefore, those who have been baptized in water for the remission of sins will go to heaven, (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3: 20-21).

One of the reasons people are so curious about heaven is that they want to know if they will be able to recognize one another there. Will they continue their relationships that they had on earth? Well, we know that we will have a new body in heaven, though we do not know what it will be like (2 Corinthians 5: 1-8). However, this new body does not necessarily preclude our recognizing one another in the spiritual realm. According to Luke 16: 19-31, the rich man recognized Abraham and Lazarus although they never saw one another in life. As far as continuing in the relationship we had on earth, one thing will change… marriage. There will be no marriage in heaven Luke 20: 27-36. This is not to say that we will not have knowledge of what our relationships once were, but we will have no need of marriage. Marriage is a relationship that is peculiar to this life.

We can know how heaven is described in the Bible, but we cannot know what it literally looks like. One of the few descriptions of heaven is given in figurative language in Revelation 22. But we can know what eternal life will be like in heaven, Revelation 21: 1-5. It will be perfect and eternal.

CONCLUSION

People are genuinely curious about heaven. What they believe is not always what the Bible actually says. The Bible teaches that: Heaven exists. Heaven is eternal. We can know who will go there. We can know what relationship we will have with one another.

Based on what the Bible actually says. . .

• Will you go to heaven?
• Is your name written in the book of life?
• Have you been born again in baptism?

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