Jun. 07, 2026

Heaven - Your Eternal Home

Introduction- This lesson is the last in a short series on end-time events.  My goal was to acquaint you with several major events we frequently talk about, but don’t explain in any detail.  They were: the Rapture, The Millennium, the Second Coming, and Heaven.  

Heaven is the abode of God, and the permanent, eternal home of three notable groups of people:  1) the resurrected saints of the Old Testament, 2) The resurrected and translated saints of the church age, and 3) the resurrected saints of the Tribulation.  The resurrection of the OT saints and saints of the Tribulation occurs at the second coming of Jesus.  The resurrection of all saints of the church age takes place when the rapture occurs, during which dead saints are resurrected and living saints are translated into glorified bodies.  The only way to get into heaven is through resurrection or translation. 

What is it like?

Heaven is described a s spacious city: 1500 hundred miles long wide and high.  The wall is 72 yards thick.

Revelation 21:10-27 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. 17And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. 18The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

Revelation 22:1-5 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. NASB

In the New Jerusalem, According to the Scripture, there are layers, or plains, that make up this huge cubic area in space.  There are at least 7, if you place credence in the Aramaic Plain Speech Bible’s version of the Scripture:

Revelation 10:4. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was ready to write, and I heard a voice from The Seventh Heaven, which said, “Seal that which the seven thunders spoke and do not write it.” Aramaic Plain Speech Bible

Each plain, according to testimonies of NDErs, is filled with cities of the most beautiful architecture and function imaginable.  There are large institutions dedicated to the raising of aborted babies and those who died prematurely.  Angels provide this service.  There are no waste treatment plants because there is no waste.  

The city descends from heaven two times: Once at the beginning of the Millennium right after Jesus’ 2nd Coming.  It is moved away 1,000 years later as God destroys the old earth and creates a new earth with its surrounding atmosphere and new “heavens.”  The heavenly city then descends for all of time to come and assumes a position relative to the New Earth.  

The thing we don’t comprehend is that this is a huge cubic area, with a vertical dimension, not just a flat length and width layout like the cities we are used to.  According to the multitudinous testimonies, Each level  is entered according to what you have done with your life here on earth.  If you have lived for yourself and done nothing for the Lord, except had faith to be saved at the last minute, you’ll still be in heaven.  Nothing in heaven will be disappointing! 

Your life in heaven

Let’s talk about what it will be like the moment you arrive:  You are met by a group of familiar faces, surrounded by loved ones you’ve longed to see and people you’ve helped in the course of your life.  There will be relatives you never met and you’ll know them like old friends.  You’ll have perfect understanding of each person’s life and the part they played in getting you to heaven. Immediately, without realizing it, you get a new body, not subject to any earthly limitations like maintenance, rest, repair.  You won’t have to eat or sleep.  It will be a glorified body, not yet ready to do work on earth, but completely fabulous otherwise.   At the rapture, all Christians will be given earth-capable bodies because of the resurrection and translation which takes place then.  Your old body will be recreated, repurposed.  People will recognize you because you were who God intended you to be: uniquely beautiful or handsome.  You will soon be talking to the ultimate lover of your soul, the Lord Jesus!  He’ll know all about you.  No sin will be discussed, because it doesn’t exist anymore.  He will be welcoming you, loving you, explaining what He has in mind for you in the years ahead.  

Emotionally, You’ll lose the preoccupation with yourself and your interests and be completely excited about filling out Jesus’ dreams for what you’re to do in His universe.  You’ll immediately be fulled with the lasting joy which Jesus brings when He wipes away every tear.  You’ll have no shortcomings or jealousies over parts of your body which didn’t grow properly.  You’ll be glorious, with all the beauty and handsomeness you’ll ever need because you’ll be God’s perfect design for you, made in his image.  Some parts you won’t even need, because there’s no marriage in heaven. 

Abundant life will fill you and consume you.  You’ve had a taste of it here on earth when you’ve exercised faith and led a prayer or laid hands on somebody, or spoken publicly or had courage to step out and lead a branch group, or start a church.  God has in mind for you a partnership with him in his biggest ventures yet to come, probably creating more worlds and universes.  Heaven will not be a place of idleness and boredom.  It will be life like Adam and Eve had at the beginning:  meaningful responsibilities for them which would be a joy to do and face to face fellowship with their Creator at each day’s end.  

Familiar earthly joys will not be discontinued.  Birds (eagles) are noted in heaven.  Horses are obviously there.  Gardens with brooks with abundant floral life are plentiful.  Think of it, How happy would you be if you and your beloved Fido got to live on forever! No more rabies shots or hip replacements.  It would be just like our gracious Father to make this happen!

Clothing will probably be what you were used to wearing in your earthly life.  It would be interesting seeing Samson fitting into a polo shirt or Moses being comfortable in a leather jacket.  We will all be perfect at receiving each other up there, and will probably enjoy the rich differences people wore.  Many NDErs’ have reported that the people they met wore the same colored tribal clothes that they wore on earth.  The biblical descriptions of white robes probably were earthly perceptions of what the yet-to-be-resurrected bodies of those in heaven looked like, which are frequently described as luminous or having a slight glow. One pilot who died temporarily in a plane crash said that he could see through his legs to some beautiful white flowers behind him.  He watched his body pass through plants which were in his path.  

These comments are  taken from Near Death Experiences (NDE’s) of many hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.  Two notable writers of the Bible saw heaven:  

2 Cor 12:2 I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 5In behalf of such a man I will boast; but in my own behalf I will not boast, except regarding my weaknesses.    NASB

Revelation 1:9-11 I, John, your brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11saying, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” NASB

Conclusion:  What you do now really affects your standing concerning  where on the scale of development, you start your life in heaven.  A common fallacy emphasized in church life is “there’s nothing for your to do —Jesus did it all,”  implying that we have millions years of nothing to do to look forward to.  To be sure, there is nothing you can do to achieve justification.  It is only secured by faith in Jesus’ work.  By contrast, our status in heaven is reliant upon what we did here while in our bodies.  Several parables encourage us to be industrious for the Lord now, rather than working to build our own comfort and security. God is trying to teach all of us to prioritize His interests and He will take care of ours.  His rewards are relative: from those to whom much is  given will much be required.  He doesn’t require us to do things for which we are not given any ability. It’s your future.  The knowledge in this short lesson is something most people don’t know.  Why not start building your future now? Get involved in His Kingdom!