Not Simply a Destination
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 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? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” - (John 14:1–3)
Warren Wiersbe said, “For the Christian, heaven isn’t simply a destination; it’s a motivation.”
We need to stop thinking of heaven in a mystical way, in sort of the cartoon version that has been handed down to us through numerous movies, books, and commercials, where people are lying around on clouds, strumming on harps.
The Bible does speak of music and worship in heaven, but heaven is an actual place; it is not a mere state of mind. Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:2–3).
In fact, the Bible describes heaven as “a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God” (Hebrews 11:10). Cities are places. Cities have buildings. They have culture. They have art. They have music. They have goods. They have services. I am not going to be sitting around on a cloud in heaven; I am going to be in heaven in a city. That is what the Bible promises.
Heaven is also described in the Bible as a country: “But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).
Paul used the word “paradise” to describe heaven (see 2 Corinthians 12:2–4). So heaven is a paradise. It is a city. It is a country. It is a place. And when we get to heaven, we are going to receive new bodies. The blueprints of our glorified body are in the bodies we now possess.
So what is heaven? Heaven is a place. And heaven is the earthly life of the believer, glorified and perfected.
Copyright © 2012 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
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“True riches, according to the Bible, are secured in heaven, where moth and rust can’t destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal. True riches are found in Jesus Christ.” --Greg
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