Resources by Topic: Heaven

I shall rise from the dead.... I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines. John Donne

Certainly, the glorified Christ will be by far the most glorious being in Heaven. Yet, as we will see, Scripture indicates that we too, in a secondary and derivative way, will reflect God’s glory in physical brightness.

Yes, the place called heaven—our home—will be wildly wonderful.

Heaven is both a country (Luke 19:12; Heb. 11:14-16) and a city (Heb. 11:16; 12:22; 13:14; Rev. 21:12).

Rest from our labors on earth (Rev. 14:13). We will experience relaxation and leisure, freedom from the frustrations of tedious and burdensome labor.

Jesus spoke of Hell as a literal place, describing it in graphic term.

A close friend of mine, Greg, died when I was in high school. I was a brand new Christian and it affected me profoundly. Then after I’d been a pastor five years, my mother died in 1981.

Ancient theologians spoke of the “Beatific Vision,” which meant “a happy-making sight.”

Unlike God and the angels, who are in essence spirits (John 4:24; Hebrews 1:14), human beings are by nature both spiritual and physical (Genesis 2:7).

Death is not a hole; it’s a door. We don’t end; we relocate.

The biblical truth that we will live forever as resurrected beings in a society of resurrected beings, on a resurrected earth, with our resurrected Lord, has implications that invite speculation.

If salvation can be lost, this requires a reversal of regeneration.

I’m not sure of the rapture’s timing. I affirm the second coming of Christ and am premillennial, but depending on what Scriptures one goes to, a case can be made for pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib and various adaptations of those positions.

Our view of heaven is comparable to standing out in a hallway and staring past an open door into a dark room. Getting a grasp of the resurrection and the New Earth is like stepping in and flipping on a light switch. Suddenly the shadowy images become recognizable…while our eyes have to adjust to the light, everything starts to make sense.