Heaven

Heaven isn’t really something we have a lot of information on.  The Bible mentions it, but there aren’t many specifics.  Jesus mentions why that it is when he speaks with Nicodemus in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Verses 12 and 13:

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

So, we know from these two verses that humans would have a hard time wrapping their heads around what Jesus could have told them about heaven.  Next, we know that at that point in time, people had not gone into heaven yet.  I’m not sure that the story about the Rich Man and Lazarus was meant to give a picture of the after-life as it was at that time, but this whole section of the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 16) does stress the validity of the Old Testament and the teachings of Moses and the prophets and the evil of loving material possessions.  Jesus does seem to legitimize the existence of Hades, a place for the dead to go until the end of days, in this story.  In the Rich Man and Lazarus story there is chasm separating two parts of Hades.  The Rich Man is in a place where he can see Lazarus and Abraham together, but he can’t get to them and they can’t get to him.  There is a separation between those who loved material possessions and those who had none.

Of course the main emphasis of the story is to love God and not money, but the setting does make sense with what Jesus says in the Gospel of John (Chapter 14) that he was going to prepare a place for his disciples and would be back for them.  Now, I’m not saying this is accurate, but it seems that we can deduce that prior to Jesus resurrection almost all people (with the known exceptions of Enoch and Elijah) who died went to Hades.  In the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus introduces a new feature to Hades.  Hades was considered a place where everyone went and spent a rather lethargic time awaiting the end of days.  Jesus introduces the idea that there is a separation between the just and unjust in Hades.  So, until Jesus went to prepare a place for his believers, there was nowhere for people to even go to in heaven.

It is interesting just how much influence Greek mythology had on how Christians see things.  As we saw from the Revelation 12 study, Satan was thrown out of heaven, but he has not yet been thrown into the Abyss.  That won’t happen, according to Revelation 20, until the beginning of Jesus’ millennial reign.  However, in many minds, Satan became the god Hades and ruled hell.  Dante’s Inferno sealed that into the world’s memory with the vision of the tortures with Satan himself chewing on some of the damned at the icy heart of hell.

According to Revelation, true hell has not yet held its first prisoner, but does that mean that no one has yet gone to heaven?  It does seem that he was telling his disciples that he would retrieve them on his return from heaven.  So does that mean that Hades has been rearranged as Jesus introduced in the Rich Man and Lazarus story with the saved going to a safe haven?

There are two places in the Gospels where I think there is an indication that there was a change that occurred during Jesus’ death and resurrection.  First is the exchange between Jesus and the thief on the cross.  Jesus told the thief that he would be with him in paradise that day.  This can be tied with the Gospel of John 1:51: He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

This verse is a direct reference to Jacob’s Ladder from Genesis.  Jesus is stating that he will become the way to and from heaven.  This way appears to open when he is crucified.  So, I do believe that the saved go to heaven when the physical body dies.

What is heaven like?  I don’t know.  Jesus said to the thief on the cross that he would be with him in paradise.  There’s not much more description than that in the Bible.  The visions from Revelation appear to be highly symbolic and not very paradise-like with the martyred being stored under an altar waiting for justice in the opening scenes and the New Jerusalem appearing to take place outside of time, in eternity.

I believe that there is a heaven in time from where the Word of God interacts with the physical universe.  I believe that it will be a wonderful and fascinating place.  In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus it seems that it is something the human mind can’t even fathom.

God bless!