“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1–3
Professing Christians generally agree that Heaven is a real place prepared for God’s people. After that, ideas about what it’s like can vary greatly. But Heaven is unchanged from what Scripture has always said. Misconceptions can be cleared up by simply looking at what God tells us in His Word.
Many believe that we’ll spend eternity flying around with harps. When a child dies it’s often said that God must have needed another angel. There’s no scriptural basis for thinking that people become angels but that believers will be transformed to be like Jesus (Philippians 3:20-21).
Others believe that Heaven contains all the world’s pleasures and luxuries without Hell’s consequences. According to Revelation 21 and 22, Heaven is a beautiful and bountiful uncorrupted paradise—not because our flesh is indulged but because our faith is made sight (Luke 23:43). Without sin’s curse, death and disease don’t exist (Revelation 22:3). So, there’s no need for hospitals and cemeteries in Heaven. Revelation 21:4 even says that tears of pain and grief will cease to exist.
There are also no strangers in Heaven. When 1 Corinthians 13 says that we will “know fully just as [we] also have been fully known,” that includes knowledge of believers through the ages. In Heaven we’ll enjoy relationships without jealousy or strife. People will live together in peace and contentment.
But foremost, Heaven is the place where Jesus is, which means it is a place of worship. Some people imagine eternity as one long, boring church service, but nothing could be further from the truth! In the Bible, Jesus was the person everyone wanted to be around; the guest who attracted all other guests. In Heaven, life and unmarred worship of the Lord Jesus Christ will finally be synonymous. Revelation 22 describes this constant state of worship in the presence of His glory, which illuminates Heaven continually.
Yes, Heaven is a place the Lord has prepared, but we must be prepared in order to go there. You cannot enter God’s uncorrupted paradise in your sin. You must be born again. All the progressive thinking in the world cannot change the truth. All that’s required to enter, is to simply allow God to change you.
Read the previous devotion in this series: The Lord’s Promise to Return is Unchanged