HEAVEN: A STATE OF BEING

Monday 14 April

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. John 1:18 (NIV)

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:13 (NKJV)

Did you know there is not one scripture that talks about us going to a place called heaven when we die? You might be a little shocked by that thought so let’s dig a little deeper and see what the Word of God actually has to say.

The Bible talks specifically about 2 different heavens. The first time heaven is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’ This particular heaven is not a physical one but is actually a prophetic description of the new creation in Christ. The believer is the ‘heaven and earth of God’ in the world today.

In Genesis1:6-8 ‘And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.’ And God called the firmament HEAVEN. And the evening and the morning were the second day.’

So God called everything under the firmament heaven. Let’s call this FIRST heaven.

In 2 Corinthians 12:2 Paul says, ‘I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the THIRD heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.’ A lot of people think that this heaven is where God dwells. Having said that, a lot of folks think God lived in heaven before creation with the angels which is not true.

When He created the heavens and the earth, where was the Father? ‘Living in unapproachable light that no one has seen or can see’. (1 Timothy 6:16) Where? The Bible does not say. What about Jesus? Did He come from heaven. Doesn’t the Bible say He lives in a place called heaven? We’ll come to that soon.

There is no direct reference made to SECOND heaven but it seems to make sense that if there is a first heaven and a third heaven there must be a second heaven. Some say it is the starry or planetary heaven while others believe it is where angels and demons interact from the story in Daniel 10. In Isaiah 13:10 there is a reference to the stars and their constellations being in the realm of outer space. This is what many believe is second heaven.

What we can see from this is the term heaven can refer to all three realms and more. The definition of heaven in Hebrew is Shamayim and Epouranios in Greek. Shamayim means heavens, sky, abode of the stars, the visible universe, atmosphere the abode of God. Epouranios means existing in heaven, things that take place in heaven, the heavenly regions

the lower heavens, the heavens, of the clouds, of heavenly origin or nature.

Let’s come back to our question. Did Jesus come from the Father in heaven? If He did then why does it say he was ‘seen of angels in 1 Timothy 3:16? This tells us two things There are no angels in THIRD heaven and that the angels saw Jesus on earth and not before because He came from the Father.

Now let’s look at the concept of heaven in the light of Christ. When the Bible says that Jesus is seated at God’s right hand it is not so much a geographical location as a state of being. Why? Because He lives in the believer and we live in Him.

Rather than thinking of going to heaven, for the new creation it is about heaven in us because Jesus lives in us by the Holy Spirit. Christ in you in heaven in you. Remember, you are the heaven and earth of God as He intended back in Genesis 1:1. Jesus said in John 14:2 says ‘In my Father’s household are many dwelling places’. Further confirmation that Christ in us is a ‘change of state’.

2 Corinthians 5:8b says, ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’. What this shows is our physical body is the limiting factor from us being fully aware of the the environment of Christ that we were born into and currently live in. When we drop our bodies we will realise the reality of where we actually live. In the Spirit.

The Bible says ‘if we live in the Spirit, we should also walk in the Spirit’. You live in the spiritual atmosphere of heaven now if you are a believer. You’re not trying to get somewhere, you have already arrived at your destination which is Christ. Christianity is heaven at first not at last.

APPLICATION

Recognise that there are different revelations before Christ and after Christ and be aware that He is God who came from the Father and wherever Jesus is, heaven is.