HOW DOES GOD DESCRIBE HEAVEN IN THE BIBLE?

If you read my last blog post, you really need to know what Heaven is like. . .how God, Himself, describes it. God wants us to know! We’ll learn some things that exist there.

— A throne of God. (Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 66:1)

— A place where God will reward His people. (Matthew 5:12)

— There is safety from theft and destruction. (Matthew 6:20)

— It is a place of rejoicing. (Luke 15:7) This is the story of the lost sheep. The shepherd was herding 100 sheep. He noticed that one of his sheep had wandered off and was lost. The shepherd found the lost sheep and was rejoicing and asked his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. This is an illustration of how God reacts when one lost sinner comes to Him and repents and puts their faith in His Son, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by dying for mankind’s sins and their sins’ penalties. He rejoices and invites all of Heaven to rejoice with Him.

— It is a place where there will be no marriage. (Matthew 22:29-30) We will have a different life in Heaven from that on earth. We will be more like the angels. Marriage will be obsolete.

— It is a house with many rooms. (John 14:2) Jesus says that He is preparing a place for each of His true believing children. True believers are considered children of God or children of the King.

— It is a house of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13) After God destroys the current Heaven and Earth, He will make a new Heaven and Earth where righteousness lives.

— It is a garden paradise. (Revelation 2:7) In the Garden of Eden there was a tree with fruit from which Adam and Eve were not allowed. In the new Heaven, the tree of life will be available to all believers.

— It is a place where there is no hunger, thirst, tears, hot sun or scorching heat. (Revelation 7:16-17) Even though, here, John is referring to people who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation and are given white robes to wear because of the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), God stresses here how the people will no longer experience these things in Heaven that they so often experienced on Earth in the last days. All true believers will no longer experience these difficult things, as well.

— It is a place of victory and playing harps (Revelation 15:2) Again, this is about those who had rejected the beast and its image in the last days. God gives them harps to play and they also will sing the song of Moses and of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Personally, I am hoping there are also pianos in Heaven and God will enable me to play perfectly for Him!

— It is a city where God dwells with us (Revelation 21:2-3) This is the New Jerusalem that God places on the New Earth that He creates and then dwells in. God puts Heaven on earth so He can dwell with us–His new perfect children. He will be our God!

— It is a place with no sadness, tears, death, mourning or pain, (Revelation 21:4). All of those things will have passed away.

— It is a place that is brilliant with precious jewels, stones, pure gold and pearls (Revelation 21:11 and 18-21). It has 12 foundations–each is a precious stone. The street is pure gold and each of the 12 gates is a single pearl.

— Its light is the Glory of God. (Revelation 21:23)

— There is no night. (Revelation 21:25)

— It is a place where no impurity exists. (No sin!) (Revelation 21:27) Only those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will live there. There will be nothing shameful or deceitful there.

— It is a place of life and healing (Revelation 22:1-3) There will never be death or sickness again. It will be totally opposite from when we were on this earth. We will not only be healed physically, but also spiritually. There will never be sin in Heaven. We will be eternally healed from that. The Tree of Life will be there and will not only have fruit, but also leaves that nourish us. It will be a restoration of Eden!

— It is a place where God reigns forever (Revelation 22:5) And it says we will reign with Him!

— If you’re thinking that Heaven isn’t going to be any fun for you because you enjoy things on this earth and want them to continue, remember that your sinful soul will now be sinless, and you will long to worship and serve God. God will have designated things He’s chosen for each of us to do. We will worship Him by singing and by our service to Him.

I know this is not a complete list of things that we will see and experience, but it’s a good start.

— Two more things I want to mention and I think they are very important to each true child of God.

1. Every person that you knew on earth that is also a child of God, will be there for you to fellowship with and enjoy. We will recognize each other even though we will all have new, sinless bodies. Also, those that you witnessed to on the former earth that put their faith in Jesus, will be there and most likely thank you for telling them about Jesus and salvation. We will also see family members and friends again, who are true children, who had gone to Heaven before us. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing my mom, dad, brother, aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, great grandparents, and some I never met on earth, etc.

2. Now, this, I believe, is the MOST important fact about Heaven! This is what I’m most excited about!!! We will see Jesus!!!!!!! To look at Jesus face to face and see the nail scars in His hands and feet as part of what He endured for us to pay for our sins and their penalties, so we don’t have to pay for our own sins in eternal Hell. Jesus also endured terrible beatings and shed his blood and died on the cross for us and then rose again. I don’t know about you, but when I see Jesus, I’m going to bow on my knees (that will be by then, healed) or maybe even lie prostrate at His feet and worship Him. I also want to give Him the biggest HUG possible. What an unbelievable experience that will be. Even though there won’t be tears in Heaven, I’m hoping God will allow tears of Joy! Seeing Jesus, to me, will bring overwhelming praise to my lips. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty! Hallelujah to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and so much more!!!

The next blog post will be totally opposite from this one. It is going to be about Hell. That is where those who rejected Jesus will go for all of eternity because their sins were never forgiven by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. What an eternal loss!

Sharon