Is heaven real?
John 14:2“There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?”
2 Corinthians 5:1We know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
Not only is a heaven real, but Jesus is making preparations for our arrival. Heaven is described most often in terms of being our eternal home. It is not a paradise that we will simply visit on vacation but an eternal dwelling place where we will live in joyful fellowship with our heavenly Father and the rest of his people.
Ecclesiastes 3:11God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
God created us with an instinct for heaven, an inner longing to live forever. This is not wishful thinking; it reflects God’s intended purpose for us.
1 Corinthians 15:20But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
Jesus’ resurrection gives us the promise and assurance of our own resurrection to eternal life.
Genesis 1:1, 9, 11, 20, 24, 27, 31In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . . Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. . . . Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. . . . Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” . . . Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. . . . So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. . . . Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
2 Peter 3:13We are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
Revelation 21:1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
Not only is heaven real, but God will restore its relationship with the earth and make earth perfect and heavenly once more. Eternity will not be a featureless, abstract, “spiritual” experience. It will be an even more vivid and tangible life than the one we live now.
Revelation 21:3-4I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
The promise of Scripture is that God will remove all the sin and struggles of this fallen world and create a new heaven and new earth. The best this world has to offer can’t even compare with the glory to come!
