The Bible speaks of heaven with at least three different points of reference. Heaven can refer to the atmosphere just above the earth’s surface, as in Acts 14:17 when it speaks of God giving us rain from heaven or in Psalm 104:12 that refers to the birds of the heavens. Heaven can speak of the firmament or outer space where the sun, moon and stars are located, as in 2 Kings 23:5 that speaks of idolatrous priests who burned incense to Baal “to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.” However, our focus this week is on the ultimate meaning of heaven as the Bible’s way of speaking about the eternal abode of God.
Dwelling place
Jesus Himself began the model prayer by instructing us to say, “Our Father which art in heaven” (Luke 11:2). As God’s dwelling place, we understand the Bible to promise that heaven also will be the eternal abode of the people of God in the presence of God and with the whole company of the redeemed. The phrase “the heaven of heavens” is one way the Bible refers to heaven as God’s dwelling place, used by Solomon in his dedicatory prayer for the newly built temple, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You” (2 Chron. 6:18).
The Bible presents heaven as the counterpart of hell, which is the eternal abode of the condemned. By contrast, heaven is the eternal abode of the redeemed, who in resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and dwell forever with the Lord.
Since our human perspective is of the earth, the Bible uses earthly images and references to depict what is otherworldly, where God’s will is done perpetually, perfectly and without exception. For example to describe the beauty and perfection of heaven, the Bible uses earthly images of streets paved with gold, light that is not dependent on a rising sun, music that is sung by an angelic choir or structures composed of the most precious of earthly materials and jewels. The impression that we take away from such descriptions is that heaven will be not only beautiful and perfect, but also desirable, different and permanent.
‘My Father’s house’
Most famously, Jesus spoke of heaven using earthly terms. He called it “My Father’s house” (John 14:2). We recall that He elaborated by saying the Father’s house has many rooms. Many of us are familiar with the King James Version rendering that reads “many mansions.” The term “mansions” conjures up for us the picture of a large, stately dwelling such as only the extremely rich might afford. The word Jesus used did not create such a mental image with the disciples. Jesus’ word was a common, down-to-earth one that meant simply “many rooms” or “many dwelling places.”
The idea we take from His description is that heaven, as the Father’s house, will amply accommodate all who choose to accept God’s invitation into His family. Jesus assured the disciples, and us, that the Father’s house would be totally prepared for all those prepared to enter it. In short, spaciousness and preparedness combine to further describe heaven.
Our best thoughts about heaven might be expressed by importing the words of 1 Corinthians 2:9: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
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