Imagine the prettiest place on earth, or somewhere that you fell in love on first sight; well, now imagine imagine somewhere far greater than anything you've ever seen in your life - that's Heaven.

 

However, as the scripture says, “What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

 

Heaven is the final destination for those who believe in Christ and do His Will. Heaven is God's everlasting Kingdom and is the pinnacle of all goodness and love. However, we can never fully understand the Kingdom of Heaven and where it is; all of that lies beyond our comprehension. Heaven is an overwhelming concept for many and there are a lot of different ideas around Heaven - what it is and what happens in Heaven. Some people think of boredom with the idea of "sitting in a pew" for eternity. Some people think of rainbows, and bouncing on clouds, and others may think of a life like what we have now, but just so much better. 

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Heaven in the teaching of the Church and in the Bible is life with God for all eternity. It is being in communion with God; the Trinity. Being in Heaven is being in the very life, very centre of God and being immersed in His divine love. Once in Heaven, there will be no barriers, nothing standing between us and God. His perfect Will that involves us will be completed. God came down from Heaven to us so that the faithful may go up to Heaven when the hour has come. We will share in God's goodness. 

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When Christ sacrificed Himself for us, He went down to the place of the dead (Sheol) to bring the faithful up and unlock the gates of Heaven. From the beginning of time God wanted us to be in communion with Him. He made us for that, to share his divine life and love with us. All the covenants, the commandments, everything that He made for us is for this moment, when we will all be united together in Heaven.

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"We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule." (Philippians 3:20-21)

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For many of us, we see life in Heaven in our earthly concept of time. Yes, Heaven is for all eternity, however, we can't begin to grasp the true essence of eternal life in Heaven. We will be made anew, and our worries and doubts will be gone when we enter Heaven, so in a way, I think we'll be so in love with God and distracted by all the goodness around us that we won't be looking at our watches. 

 

We notice that the Scriptures speak about Heaven from Genesis to Revelation. In the first verse of Genesis, we read that God created the Heavens and the Earth, and it is revealed that God dwells in Heaven with the Angels and Saints. The book of Revelation tells us the most about Heaven, through John's visions. Revelation speaks of the worship in Heaven; the everlasting hymns of Glory to God, the Angels and Saints, the supper of the Lamb, etc. Heaven is represented in the book of Revelation as a city and also as a wedding that is coming down to earth - the new Jerusalem to be exact. 

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"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

 

In Heaven, we are reunited with the Trinity, Mary, Saints and Angels, and all who walked in the way of Christ before us. The Earth will pass away with all in it, but Heaven will remain forever and ever. God the Father sent His very own son down to us, and that Son, Jesus suffered and died for us so we can enter His Kingdom when we die. (see John 3:15). Heaven is opened to all tribes, nations, races and languages. It is when we put our faith in Christ and follow His commandments that we are saved.

 

There is no more work to be done and Heaven is the final place of rest. Heaven is where perfection comes to life. 

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Heaven can have a lot of different perspectives for many different people, even in many secular ways. The unfortunate thing however is Heaven is a rather misunderstood destination that has exceeded the hopes of many. People too often see Heaven as a reward for getting through life or a place where "Good" people go after life. 

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God created Heaven. It is His dwelling place, and even though He doesn't mean to be picky, considering it is His home and Kingdom, it is fair for Him to decide who shall come into Heaven. As I will state in the following topics, He also gives us the choice to accept Him or reject Him, so therefore it is our choice as well if we shall want to enter the most perfect place. But lets be real, no one is perfect enough to go to Heaven, but the truth is it's not how many "good things" you've done on earth that determines if you go to Heaven or not, but overall what matters is your relationship with Jesus and how you've lived your life through that relationship. 

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“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do." (Matthew 7:21)

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It's important to know that we are not the judges of our salvation. We can't assume that even though we've acknowledge God once or twice in our lives that we will live with him for all eternity. It's like if you knew a guy named Mike who was getting married; you wouldn't assume that you would be invited to the wedding just because you know his name or once helped him with his biology test. To be invited to a wedding, you must generally be close to the bride or groom. Many times in the New Testament, Jesus uses the image of a wedding to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. 

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God wants us so desperately to enter into Heaven; although He will never force us. God will ultimately give us what we want after our life is over, so if we don't respect God or don't want a life with Him on earth, we don't have to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. 

 

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