What is Heaven’s like?  The Bible tells us much about Heaven.  For one, it is where God is.  Isaiah 66:1 declares, “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.”  And Jesus Our Lord teaches His disciples to address God as, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). Not only Heaven is a place where God is, but it’s also a place where God governs as king; hence, it is called the Kingdom of Heaven.  In Gethsemane Jesus rebuked Peter, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once send Me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53).  There are many more references to Heaven but suffice to say that Heaven is real.

On Thursday, forty days after Easter, the Resurrection Day, was the Ascension Day, the day when Jesus Our Lord ascended to Heaven.  The Book of Acts (1:9-11) tells us what happened on that glorious day, “After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.  They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”  We will go to Heaven, but Jesus did not go to Heaven. He returned to Heaven, where He came from. 

Now let’s ask, “Where is Heaven?”  The answer might surprise you: Farther and closer than we think!  In the story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31), Abraham said to the rich man that there was “a great chasm” between Lazarus, who’s in Heaven and the rich man, who was in hell.  So, for those who are already in spiritual hell, Heaven is far, but for those who are already in spiritual Heaven, it’s so close that it only took seconds for Jesus to be in literal Heaven.

Pastor Paul