What is Heaven?

Have you ever noticed that human beings have a relentless drive that there must be something better than what we have here? There have always been people coming up with plans for some kind of utopia on earth. The methods used range from politics to technology to religion.

If it is not coming up with a future utopia, it is the adoration of some kind of golden past. No matter how the world progresses, there are always those with a plan to make the world, or part of the world, what it really should be. No animals, as far as we can tell, have such an instinct.

The reason for this is simple. Human beings, at least in terms of spirit, were not designed for this world, it can never be "good enough" for us. We were designed to live in the presence of the God that created us, but we must go through a test by living in this world for a while. This test is both for us as individuals and to prove that the ways of God are correct and that Satan is wrong for his rebellion against God.

When Satan, who was once a high-ranking angel called Lucifer, rebelled against God to exalt himself to be at least equal with God, he got some of the angels to join him. God could have quickly and effortlessly destroyed them, but that would only prove that God was stronger than Satan. It would not necessarily prove that God's ways were absolutely right. That is where we come in as a testing ground. Evil must be allowed to exist for a short time and then Satan and his angels will be locked in Hell.

Our bodies are created for this earth but our spirits are not. That is why the Bible emphasizes that we are not to be "of the world". We are to live by the ways of God, which are completely different from the ways of the world. Since all of our memories are of the world, we do not really realize what "misfits" we are here.

We are really designed to live in Heaven, or at least our spirits are. This is a place that we cannot even imagine. It is the place that we were made for with a perfect fit. The most beautiful earthly palace would be considered as a hovel if it were in Heaven. The Book of Revelation details the twelve precious stones that the foundations of the city in Heaven, the New Jerusalem, is made of.

There will be no such thing as time. It is not so much that we will live for eternity in Heaven, it is that time will not exist. In mathematical terms, you will always be at the beginning of your "time" in Heaven, whether you have just arrived or have been there for a million years. God is always at the half-way point of his existence since he has existed for eternity past and will be with us for eternity future.

Heaven is the perfect place. That means that nothing can enter Heaven that is less than perfect. The very idea of perfection is that imperfection is utterly unacceptable. This presents an insurmountable obstacle for less-than-perfect human beings. If even a very good person entered Heaven who was less than perfect, it would render all of heaven as less then perfect.

Fortunately, this conundrum has been solved by Jesus, who was sent here by God. If a person repents and accepts Jesus as Savior (Saviour), when God judges that person, he looks not at the person, but at Jesus, since the person had accepted Jesus. Since Jesus did live a perfect life, the person is admitted to Heaven without compromising either God's Justice or Heaven's perfection.
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Heaven is the "real" place. It is the place that we were designed for. Upon arrival, we will wonder why anyone would want to live a long life on earth and then memories of earth will quickly fade. There will be nothing we could possibly want that will not be right in front of us. Every place in Heaven will be so beautiful that we will want to spend forever right there and will not wish to move on anywhere else.

Chapter four of the Book of Revelation describes how God appears but I believe this to have been done purposely for human beings. We will most likely live by a spiritual sense that will make seeing and hearing as we know it obsolete.

In Heaven, we will settle into a timeless existence with biblical figures such as Moses and Paul as friends. There will be no sense of self in the residents of Heaven. No sense of achievement or personal quality. We will be there only by the Grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. We did not "earn" our way there nor were capable of doing so. Our only labor (labour) will be to praise God and we will gladly spend forever doing so.