Where Is Heaven? A Christian Study

Where is heaven? It is up? Is it a place? It is a Person?

Where God Is

I believe that heaven is any place that God is for what can be more incredible than being in the presence of God? What can any place compare to being with God? Who is of more importance; the place of Heaven or the Creator of heaven? The Creator has more glory of course for it was God “who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever” (Psalm 146:6). It is obvious that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

Where Heaven Is

If you want to know more about heaven, then read the Book of Revelation because it has the word “heaven” in it 46 times, more than any of the other books in the Bible except for Matthew (75) and the Book of Psalms (76). That’s because heaven is a real place and heaven is where God dwells although He is also at the same time present everywhere (omnipresent). Before Jesus was about to go back to the Father, prior to Calvary, He said “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). Jesus talks as if they should have understood where this place was as He said “You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:4). The word “if” is understood to be “since” in the structure of this sentence and this entire paragraph so “since” Jesus is going to prepare a place for them; this “place” is a real, tangible location. The Greek word for “place” is “topos” which means “a place” or “an inhabited place, village,” or “district” so it is a literal place with an exact location and not just a “state of mind.” There is nothing in the Bible about Christians ever playing harps on the clouds for all time; instead there will be real princes, kings, and rulers who will reign in the kingdom with, but under Christ. There will be some rule over five or ten cities, maybe more (Luke 19:17-19) but for sure, God has called us to be “kings and priests” (Rev 1:6; 5:10). This was the plan from the very beginning with the nation Israel that “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6).

The New Jerusalem

Do we ascend up to heaven or are we simply in the presence of Christ after death? Paul said that to be away from the body is to be present with the Lord (2nd Cor 5:8) but are we going to heaven or will heaven come to us? The Apostle John “saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2) and “he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev 21:10). So heaven is where this New Jerusalem comes down from and that is where God is at but now but now God will dwell with us as it says, “a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:3-4).

The Heavenly Kingdom

Jesus is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:21-23). This is the goal of the believer in Christ; to seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness and God will add whatever else we need (Matt 6:33). Seeking first the kingdom means seeking first the King of that kingdom and that is Jesus Christ. He is the Head of the Church and we are His Body; we need to be working in unison and harmony with the Head in order for the Body to function better for the purpose of glorifying God. If the heavens were made to declare God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), then how much more should we seek to declare God’s glory?

Conclusion

Heaven comes down with God…God is not heaven but wherever God is, must be heaven. God is the One whom we seek first, not the place, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be living in a real, physical location. That New Jerusalem is the titanic city, the City of our God, which comes down out of heaven and God Himself will dwell with mankind. To me, if God is there, that makes it heaven, no matter where you are.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.