“And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.”
– 1 Kings 8:30
If you were to take a survey of people on the streets, asking the questions “What is Heaven?” and “What is Hell?”, you would get a variety of answers. Some may say, “Heaven is a blissful state of mind.” “Hell is a state of mental torment.” “Heaven is a place on earth.” “Hell is ceasing to exist after death.” Others may respond with statements that Heaven and Hell are actual places (not on earth), among a variety of other answers. If you were to survey Christians in a variety of churches, undoubtedly, you would get a similar range of replies.
How would you answer these questions about Heaven and Hell? Do you know what they are? Can you support your position with Scripture? It may be true that though you talk about Heaven and Hell in conversations, when pressed by someone, you may not be confident about what the Bible teaches on the subject. I hope this devotion series on the subject is of good help, by God’s grace, in providing both refreshment and edification.
Let’s start with Heaven. What is Heaven? Scripture teaches us that it’s the dwelling place of God.
- We find this true in Solomon’s words in our focus text in 1 Kings 8 above. This truth is also clear in the psalmist’s words in Psa. 33:13-14, as well as Jesus’ words in the preface of the Lord’s Prayer in Matt. 6:9.
- It’s the seat of Christ’s kingdom, being high above the kingdoms of this world. We find this true in the Apostle Paul’s sermon to the disciples in Acts 14:22, as well as his words to the saints in Corinth regarding his vision of Paradise in 2 Cor. 12:2.
- In his Outlines of Theology, A.A. Hodge helpfully summarizes the three uses of the Greek word for heaven, “ouranos”. This word can refer to 1) the upper air where birds fly (Matt. 8:20; Matt. 24:30), 2) The region in which the stars revolve (Acts 7:42; Heb. 11:12), and 3) The abode of Christ’s human nature, the scene of the special manifestation of divine glory, and of the eternal blessedness of the saints (Heb. 9:24; 1 Pet. 3:22). This is sometimes called the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2). (Hodge, 577)
- Heaven is the third heaven, the place of God’s presence where Christ ascended to from earth (Acts 1:11) and is seated bodily at the right hand of His Father (1 Pet. 3:22). Further, Jesus will descend from heaven to earth to bring the final resurrection and judgment on the last Day (1 Thess. 4:16).
- It’s the place where the church militant and the church triumphant unite to worship God for all eternity (Heb. 12:22-25).
- God’s people are co-seated with Christ in the heavenly places in Him (Eph. 2:6).
- Heaven is the place where God’s people will be with Christ forever (John 17:5, John 17:24).
- The writer to the Hebrews describes Heaven as both a city (Heb. 11:10) and a country (Heb. 11:16).
- Heaven is the place of God’s rest (John 14:2), and will be the Christian’s eternal Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9).
Now, as Heaven is a place, another good and frequently asked question is, “Where is Heaven?” Again, a variety of answers usually follow this question. In my experience, the usual first answer is that Heaven is “up”. There is good reason for this, as we consider it being the “third heaven”, possibly above the other two noted above. Many may point to Christ’s ascension into the clouds in Acts 1 as another reason it’s considered to be “up” there somewhere. Still others may argue that though it may be beyond space, outside of God’s creation, it may also be veiled now, to be seen only when it’s revealed after death, as well as more generally after Christ’s return, the resurrection, and His making all things new. As is true for every doctrine, we once again need to discipline ourselves to go where Scripture goes and stop where Scripture stops.
A.A. Hodge once again is helpful, as he answers the question, “What is revealed with respect to heaven as a place?” He writes, “All the Scripture representations of heaven involve the idea of a definite place, as well as a state of blessedness. Of that place nothing more is revealed than that it is defined by the local presence of Christ’s finite soul and body, and that it is the scene of the pre-eminent manifestation of God’s glory (John 17:24, 2 Cor. 2:9, Rev. 5:6).
From such passages as Rom. 8:19-23, 2 Pet. 3:5-13, Rev. 21:1, it appears not improbable that after the general destruction of the present form of the world by fire, which shall accompany the judgment, this world will be reconstituted, and gloriously adapted to be the permanent residence of Christ and His church. As there is to be a “spiritual body”, there may be in the same sense a spiritual world, that is, a world adapted to be the theatre of the glorified spirits of the saints made perfect…” (Hodge 578)
I encourage you to look up the Scripture references and be blessed in good study. We will consider more in the next edition…
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Works Cited:
Hodge, A.A. Outlines of Theology. Banner of Truth Trust, 1999. pp. 577-578.