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Is Heaven real to you?
Do you really believe in the existence of Heaven as God’s
promise of a holy city?Are you absolutely certain that you
will enter Heaven after this life?
‘Heaven’ is the word used for God’s abiding place. It is
neither an atmospheric heaven that is above the earth and
waters nor a mere celestial heaven that is scientifically
referred to as outer space. We are talking about God’s
habitation, where the apostle Paul, in his epistle to the
Corinthian church, mentioned of having a glimpse of this
paradise (2 Cor 12:1-5).
This is where we long to see, not by naked eye, but by faith
and through faith in the person of God’s Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Although Karl Marx said that “man makes religion,
religion does not make man”, we know that it is by God’s
Word that such wonderful revelation regarding heaven, the
paradise of God, is given to us. Heaven is God’s promise to
His children, the true believers in His Son, Jesus Christ.
God is so immense that even the heaven of heavens cannot
contain Him. There is no place in the domain of the whole
universe that the presence of God is not. He is the
omnipresent God. How wonderful that our God is the God of
all presence!
As God’s children, we have to come to God in faith. In the
days of the Patriarchs, Abraham, by faith, obeyed God’s call
to sojourn in the land of promise, going from city to city
to look for “a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God” (Heb 11:10). His faith and trust in God
rest upon God’s promise of this city. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
and others before us have “all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and
were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb
11:13). They desired a better country that God has prepared
for them, a fairer place of perfection.
There is no intermediate state between our life on earth and
in heaven. True believers will go straight to heaven after
this life, the place that is prepared by our Lord Jesus
Christ for His people. This is what our Lord Jesus promised
the thief who believed in Him, that “today shalt thou be
with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43).
Heaven is a wonderful, God-created city, made of such
splendid materials that we can only imagine (Rev 21:1–22:5).
In heaven, there shall be no night, and no need for the sun
and moon, as the glory of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, will
light up Heaven (Rev 21:23). In heaven, “there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”
(Rev 21:4). In heaven, God will abolish sin and implement
joy and peace, uniting His people together.
Dearly beloved, do you yearn for heaven? What preoccupies
your mind while you are on this pilgrim journey in this
world? Are you living for God as a heaven-bound pilgrim or
as an earth-bound person? Even as we are sojourning on
earth, as God’s people, we must have a deep conviction of
His truth about heaven. We must bear in mind and heart that
the Gospel is not for speculation. All earthly things will
cease, but heaven is eternal. We should labour towards the
city of God, while sitting loosely upon the things of this
world. Only by setting our sights on heaven will we be able
to resist the temptations we face today. Let us all
remember that whoever believes in Christ and does the will
of God shall abide forever. |
