We have many ideas about Heaven that are quite wrong. We often tell jokes about St. Peter guarding Heaven's gate, and deciding who gets in. Lots of fun, but totally ridiculous. Also, we take highly figurative symbols about the city in the Book of Revelation called the New Jerusalem, and apply them to Heaven. That's where we get the idea that Heaven has streets that are paved with gold. Many people think that Heaven is someplace up in the sky, where God's people sit on clouds and play little harps for all eternity. These ideas are all wrong. What does the Bible say about Heaven, and about our eternal destiny?

THERE ARE THREE HEAVENS.

Paul wrote about his own vision of Heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4: "...above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell...) caught up to the third heaven...caught up into paradise."

The first heaven is our atmosphere, where the birds fly. The second heaven is outer space (Genesis 2:1) "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array." The third heaven is Paradise, the home of God and His angels. Moses and Solomon called this the "heaven of heavens" (Deuteronomy 10:14 and other verses)

This third Heaven, called Paradise, is the home of God, the angels, and the spirits of those who have died in the Lord. The old Greek translation of the Bible (used by the early Church) uses the word Paradise 46 times to describe the Garden of Eden, the well-watered plain of the Jordan River, and other beautiful places.

Jesus said to the thief on the Cross: "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

When the rich man and the beggar Lazarus died (Luke 16), the rich man went to Hell, and Lazarus went to Paradise (also called Abraham's side). Revelation 2:7 says that the Tree of Life is in Paradise.

When God's people die, they go to Paradise, just like the thief on the cross, just like Lazarus. They go to be with Jesus.

2 Cor 5:6-8 says, "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

I Thess. 4:13-14 says, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."

GOING TO BE WITH JESUS

So, when Christians die, they go to be with the Lord Jesus. And when Jesus returns to this earth, those who have died, and whose souls are with Him, will come back with Him. We know that those who have died in the Lord are conscious, and they are comforted. Jesus says in Luke 16 that some of them even want to leave Paradise and go to Hell to bring aid to those who are there, but God prevents them from leaving (see Luke 16:25-26).

It is not widely understood that living in Heaven is a temporary condition for God's people, whose bodies have not yet been raised from death.

When God made Adam, He made him out of dirt. And then breathed into Adam the breath of spiritual life. Angels are pure spirit, and are fitted to live in Heaven forever. Animals are purely of the flesh, and have no eternal spirit. Human beings are somewhere between angels and animals. We have eternal spirits, but we are also of the earth.

ETERNAL LIFE ON EARTH

When God made Adam and Eve, He fitted them for life on earth, in the Garden of Eden. This is the ideal place for man, and this is where we will spend eternity. This is symbolized in the book of Revelation by the New Jerusalem (a type of God's people, both Jew and Gentile) coming down out of Heaven to the New Earth (see Revelation 21:1-14).

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
(Revelation 21:1-14)

Life on the New Earth is described in the Old Testament, too.

Isaiah 65:17-25:

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."

BODY AND SOUL REUNITED

When a child of God dies now, our souls go to Paradise, to the presence of Jesus. There we are blessed and comforted. We meet again our loved ones who have gone before us. Later, God brings our bodies back to life, and puts us together again, complete human beings, body and soul.

Then God will create the New Earth, and His children will go there, and live there for all eternity. We will work, build houses, plant farms, and enjoy the fruits of our labor in peace and joy. We won’t be floating on clouds playing harps. We will be living then much as we do now, but without sin or hardship. And even as God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, even so we too will fellowship with God forever. Amen.