Heaven

We discussed the topic of Heaven last evening.  While men have created their own version and image of Heaven, the Bible tells us a few truths about what Heaven will be like.  We looked at the Bible and found out that Heaven is a place Jesus is preparing for Christians and He will come back to take all Christians there.  Heaven is a place without sorrow, tears and pain.  We also discussed the fact that Christians will live with Jesus and God not just for a short or long period of time, but they will live forever in Heaven.

The notes from our discussion are as follows.

March 7, 2011

Heaven

Opening question: What extremely wonderful place have you visited recently?

There are many places on earth that men has made beautiful, with flowers, beaches, ski hills, hotels, swimming pools and other structures.  However, nothing that man can do completes with what the Heaven that God created.

What does the Bible say about Heaven?

1.         Heaven is a place Jesus has prepared for us

When people try to paint or describe a picture of heaven, they usually use familiar terms that bring to mind peace, joy, happiness.  They may be little children playing around in a beautiful field, with rainbows in the skies and green fields and waterfalls or rivers in the background, great landscapes. 

The Bible describes Heaven in terms that we can all understand.

In John 14, Jesus is talking to his disciples about Heaven.  In verses 1-7 we read:  1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”  5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”   6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

What do these verses teach us?

Jesus said in verse 3 that He will prepare a place for us and we will be with Him and God (since this is God’s house that Jesus is referring to).  So, in Heaven we are going to be with Jesus.  Through His sacrifice Jesus made possible for us to be able to get to Heaven, because we have the opportunity to be cleansed of all sin.

In verse 6-7, Jesus is saying that the way to go to Heaven is through Him.  So, in order to make it to Heaven, we need to follow Jesus and his instruction. 

Also, in Jesus we see God, we see his identical image, what God is, what characteristics he has (like love, peace, patient, kind, gentle, etc.)

These verses also teach us that Heaven will be a place of fellowship.  All people who follow Jesus and trust in Him all their lives will be in that place and be with Jesus and with God.

2.         Heaven is a place of joy, happiness, and of no trouble and sorrow

Heaven is a place of joy.  No more death or crying or pain.  In Revelation 21:1-4, the Apostle John tells us about the vision he saw of the Heaven: 1. Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

What do these verses teach us?

In verse 3, we read that in Heaven, God will live with the people and we will not be separated from Him anymore.  This means that we will need to be pure and holy, because God is pure and holy.  Here is where Jesus’ sacrifice comes into play, because if we follow Jesus our sins have been forgiven and God considers us as if we had not sinned.  Now we are considered pure and sanctified, so we can be with God.

In verse 4, we read that there will be no sorrows, no crying and no pain in Heaven.  Everyone will be happy and joyful in Heaven.  What a wonderful place to be just for that. 

Further in the same chapter, John describes Heaven as make of precious jewels and stones, where even streets are made of gold.  These terms convey to us the idea of beauty and perfection and truly in heaven everything will be great and perfect, like no other place that man can build.

What are we going to do in Heaven?

Well, we are going to be with God, so one of the things we are going to do is to continue to worship God as we have done with our lives.  Some people have described our life on earth as training for our life in Heaven.  If we are able to study and learn about God, accept Him as the Lord of our lives and try to do our best to live daily for Him and to serve Him, then, when we graduate to Heaven we will continue to worship him. 

Revelation 15:4 tells us about this:  Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

3.         Heaven will be forever

Perhaps the best thing about heaven is that it will last forever, for eternity.  Our minds cannot completely comprehend the concept of eternity, because everything we know, except for God, has a beginning and an end.  But in heaven, we will be there forever.

Jesus himself confirmed this in more than one occasion.  In John 5:24, He said: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. And in John 6:40, Jesus says again: 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Conclusions

Heaven is truly a wonderful place and we should do everything we can in order to ensure that we make it there.  By following the teachings of Jesus and by doing the will of the Father, as we learn more about what He wants us to do, we can get closer and closer to this perfect place waiting for us.

Campus Bible Talk 2011