Today we begin our series on – “THE REALITY OF HEAVEN!” What is life like for a Christian when he steps out of this physical body and steps into the world beyond the veil of this planet?
Understanding the reality of Heaven will motivate you to fix your eyes on Jesus, and set your affections on things above.
Heaven is a literal place where the Born-Again believers will actually live an amazing life after they have departed from this world because they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Saviour while they were on earth. Here, the joy of His presence will overwhelm you. The joy in you will reach its maximum and explode.
For the believer – a person that accepted Christ as his/her Lord and personal Saviour while on earth, death means the beginning of eternal life with Jesus in Heaven. But for the unbeliever - a person that rejected Christ as his/her Lord and personal Saviour while on earth, death means the beginning of eternal life with Satan in hell.
Here is the big question:
1. Is there really a place called Heaven or is it just an illusion? Yes! Heaven is a real place. It is a real planet. The earth is only but a shadow or copy of the third Heaven just as your physical body is a copy of your spiritual body. The earth is made in the image of Heaven. In other words, most of what is here on earth already exist in Heaven.
2. God created Heaven. Thereafter, He created the earth in the image of Heaven. Heaven is a created planet (Gen. 1:1, Gen. 2:1; Ps. 8:3, Ps. 89:11).
The planet, Heaven, is the final destiny or the eternal home of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ and His grace.
The Bible talks of three heavens. Paul was caught up into the "Third Heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2). This implies there are at least two others:
i. The First Heaven: This is the atmospheric heaven. This is the realm in which the senses reign. You can see this heaven with your physical eyes. It is the clouds and sky. It is that heaven in which the birds fly, and where the weather is produced. It is that heaven closest to the earth. For the price of air plane ticket, you can fly up into the first heaven. This atmospheric heaven is immediately above the earth. It is where the birds fly, from which rain and snow fall, through which airplanes soar. The aerial heaven, then, is obviously the area just above us.
ii. The Second Heaven: This is the outer space. It is called the astronomical heaven. It is also called the starry heaven. It is the area above the atmospheric heaven. It is the realm of the firmaments of the earth – the stars, the moon, and the sun. This is the region, to which the psalmist refers when he was saying, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).
The eye of man can still penetrate this realm, and with the aid of the telescope, you can see that in size it is beyond our comprehension. It is a vast heaven filled with galaxies that may contain life such as ours, but it is not the dwelling place of God.
The second heaven is not a planet. It is just a space. It is the home of demons. It is totally dark because there is no light there at all. It is the domain of Satan and it takes up the space between earth’s atmosphere and the third Heaven where God lives.
It is the celestial realm of darkness where Satan and his demons inhabit for now. These beings are monstrous. The beings there include: Thunder cats, Power Rangers and caricatures from animations and horror movies in real life. These demons enter into children that watch these shows that depict them on TV, thereby causing them to be very rebellious to authority.
iii. The Third Heaven: This is the real Heaven, the dwelling place of God. It is a real literal planet like the earth. It is round like the earth, but infinitely bigger than the earth. The earth is only but a copy (shadow) of the third Heaven (Heb. 8:5, NLT). The Third Heaven is not a figment of someone’s imagination. It is a prepared place for a prepared people (Jn. 14:2-3).
There is a thin veil between this earth and the Third Heaven. Our loved ones that are in Heaven right now are more alive than we are here on this earth, and one day it will be revealed to those who believe.
Heaven is a literal (‘world’) planet. The size of Heaven is unknown. It is about millions of times the size of the earth. Remember that the copy of something will never be as good as the original (Job 22:14; Ps. 19:6, Eccl. 1:6; Isa. 40:22; Matt. 6:10; Matt. 18:18).
Heaven is not in outer space. It is far above the outer space. It is a place far above the stars. Between the stars and the third Heaven is a cloud. It is a planet infinitely above the second heaven.
This is the realm in which the Trinity resides. This is where the souls and spirits of the righteous go when they leave their physical body for the final time. It is the dwelling place of the holy angels; the place to which the righteous go immediately after death.
In Matthew 6:9 Jesus taught His disciples to pray saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”
In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
3. The third Heaven is the heaven where the throne of God is (Ps. 11:4).
The other two heavens can be studied by science, but the third Heaven can be known only by revelation.
4. The third Heaven is where the throne of God is. The earth in comparison to the third Heaven is just like a footstool (Isa. 61:1; Ps. 11:4).
5. It is from this planet that God speaks to men on earth (Heb. 12:25).
6. It is from this heaven that angels descend to earth on divine assignments [errands] (Lk 22:43).
7. It is from this heaven that Jesus came to redeem the world (Jn 6:38-40).
8. It was into this heaven that our Saviour ascended when His earthly mission was accomplished (Acts 1:11).
9. It was from this heaven that the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost to endue the church with mighty power (Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:8; Jn 16:7; Acts 2:2).
10. It is from this heaven that Jesus will soon descend to rapture the saints (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
11. It is in this heaven that the names of the redeemed are registered in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Lk 10:20).
12. It is in this heaven that the rewards of the righteous are specifically prepared (Matt. 5:12).
13. It is in this heaven that the eternal inheritance of the saints awaits them (1 Pet. 1:4-5).
14. Everything on earth is a copy of the original in Heaven. For instance, the grasses, the flowers, the trees, the skyscrapers etc. in the earth have their originals in Heaven.
Hebrews 8:5 talks about things on earth being a shadow and type of what is in Heaven. Hebrews 8:5 says, “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
All good ‘things’ created came down from the Father (Jam. 1:17). There are also many things in Heaven now that have not been invented here on earth yet.
Here on earth, we only use a small percentage of our brain power, but in Heaven we will be totally unhindered and creativity will be fantastic.
There are places in Heaven where we will actually learn to create. One of the places of education is called ‘Creation Lab.’
15.The earth and Heaven operate in two different realms. The earth operates in the physical realm. Here on earth you need a physical body in order to make contact with physical things. In Heaven you can see as you do in your physical body here on earth. Your physical body took the shape of your spiritual body. Your physical body is the house for your spirit-man in this material world.
Here is the point: When you die you will move out from this physical realm into the spiritual realm. Our natural (physical) eyes cannot see into the spirit realm unless God opens them. But the spirit realm can see everything in our physical world.
Inside your physical body is your spirit man (1 Thess. 5:23). It possesses a soul and operates in Heaven in the same manner as on earth. You can touch, taste and smell things just like on earth, only that in Heaven your senses are very much magnified.
16. Heaven is the highest planet. Heaven is the highest part of creation (Eph. 1:21, 4:10; Job 22:14).
17. Heaven has foundations. 2 Samuel 22:8 says, “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of (the third) heaven moved and shook, because He was wroth.”
18. Nothing that defiles (or impure) can enter Heaven to defile it like the devil entered into the earth and defiled it. Never! (Rev. 21:27).
19. Your name must be in the Lamb’s book of life for you to enter and have a place in Heaven. You are not going to enter Heaven because you are acting nice. You are not going to enter Heaven because your name is in a church register. You are not going to enter Heaven because you are a leader in the church. You will enter Heaven only on one condition: you MUST be Born Again (Jn 3:3).
Watch out for the next edition of Good news from the Pulpit!
Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Head Pastor) 28.08. 2022
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