Gota Question?	What is Heaven? Complete Listing of Topics/Questions Is heaven a real place? If you are looking for a one word answer - Yes! How can we know this? If I were going to explain a place to you to which you had never been, I would use terminology with which you were familiar. At the same time, I would know that because of your limited knowledge and exposure, while you could gain a better understanding of what the place was like you would never have a full appreciation of what I had seen and experienced. Since none of us have been to heaven, Jesus used the same approach to give us some insight as to what heaven may be like. In so doing Jesus used a means of communication called parables. The Holman Bible Dictionary describes parables as "stories, especially those of Jesus, told to provide a vision of life, especially life in God's kingdom. Parable means a putting alongside for purposes of comparison and new understanding." So Jesus used parables to give us a better understanding of things we had not been exposed to and to correct our misguided perceptions. Jesus used the phrase "heaven is like". In fact He used that phrase eight times in the book of Matthew. You can check the verses and His sayings in chapters 13:31, 33, 44, 45, 47, 52; 20:1, and 22:1. In the same book at 4:17, He said "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In 5:48 He exhorts us to "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." (John 16:28). Jesus had a definite place in mind. I want to invite your attention to Matthew 22, in particular verses 26-32. The Saducees (a Jewish religious order of the day) did not believe in the resurrection (some say their unbelief is really what made them sad you see). So, they quarried Jesus with a hypothetical situation wherein seven brothers had died. In fulfillment of Jewish law, each of the brothers married the same woman in an effort to bring up children for the first deceased brother. Their question was; whose wife would she be in the resurrection? Jesus answered this question by saying that in the resurrection there would be no marrying but we would be as the angels. Notice that Jesus confirmed that there would be a resurrection. To be as the angles may be exciting but what followed in verse 32 is the most exciting and important part of the passage. Jesus said that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - not the God of the dead but of the living. This sheds light of Paul's writings in 2 Cor 5:8 where he said that he would rather be absent from the body and present with the Lord. It's the resurrection power of Christ that gave Paul his assurance that when he died he wasn't going to lie in a grave until the resurrection but he would immediately be with the Lord. You can read about the resurrection in 1Thes 4:13-18. If you have accepted Jesus as Savior you also have this same assurance. Notice this, to be with the Lord is to be with the Father and to be with the Father is to be "in heaven." Can we believe this? Each of us has our own thoughts and dreams about what heaven or the future may be like. Some may be terrified as to what awaits us in the future. Is there a heaven? Yes there is or Jesus would have told us differently. In John 14:2-3, Jesus tells us that In His Father's house, there are many mansions. He also said that if it were not so, then He would have told us. The wonderful news is that He said He was going to prepare a place for us that we could be there with Him. Imagine! Jesus is making Himself busy getting ready for a family gathering. I can really relate to His eagerness in the task because of my past experiences in the military and as a family man. I made a career of the military and during that period of my life I had to be separated from my family on many occasions. In each of my reassignments my driving priority was to find (prepare) a place so I could get my family back together. That is the same thing Jesus is doing right now. He is driven to get His family together. So maybe you wonder what heaven will be like. Think about this. If you take the best day that you have ever had, add to it the most pleasurable memory that you can recall, lace it with all the money that anyone could ever use, and top it off with impeccable health -- the Bible says that you ain't even close! The Bible says "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Cor 2:9). Do you love Him? Friend, we can't even imagine what heaven will be like. Until we get there we can only speculate about how wonderful it will be but I can promise you this - heaven is going to be absolutely wonderful. Jesus will be there! That is what makes it heaven. PASTOR DAVID L. EGGERS FAYETTEVILLE, NC	My WhataGod  Free Christian Email  Online Testimonies  Prayer Requests  Question & Answers  Bible Verse Search  Bible Word Search  Crossword Puzzles  Bible Trivia  Kids Bible Trivia  Christian Jokes  Christian Chat  Free Stuff  Heavenly Poetry  Search Our Site  Preacher's Link  Our Mission  Contact Us
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved! Romans 10:9		WWW.WHATAGOD.COM