Is Heaven a Real Place?
Is Heaven a Real Place
Is “heaven” just a state of mind or is heaven a real place? We use the word heaven to refer to the stars and sky. It is used to describe something as good and pleasant like “that tasted heavenly”, but the scriptures clearly present and use the word heaven to refer to a “real tangible place”. So, the question is, “Is heaven a real place? Does heaven really exist?
Many struggle with believing in a real heaven because they can’t physically see it. However, just because you cannot see something does not prove it doesn’t exist. There a number of things we’ve never seen, like air, wind, electricity, love, and gravity, yet we believe in them.
Heaven is a Real Place
Even though no one has seen heaven it’s existence is more real than the wind or air we breath. There have been numerous stories, books, reports, and movies depicting someone’s personal experience of going to a actual place called heaven. While all of these may provide proof of a real heaven the clearest and only reliable argument for the reality of heaven is the testimony of Scripture. Heaven is a major and significant subject in the Bible.
Heaven is mentioned over 600 times and appears from the very first book of Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)—to the last book of Revelation, “and (He) showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. ”. (Revelation 21:10-11) Heaven is mentioned in fifty-four of the sixty- six books in the Bible. Heaven is compared to a city. (Hebrews 11:10) John in Revelation describes heaven as a place with streets, walls, gates, and trees. Heaven has actual people in it. God would not go to that kind of detail and dedicate that much of His Word to talk about some fantasy land or imaginary world or the figment of someones imagination, but rather to reveal to us the realty of a place called heaven. Heaven is a real place.
Jesus Talked About Heaven as an Actual Place
Jesus is a real historical person and He talked about heaven as an actual place. He came from heaven and returned to heaven after His resurrection as witnessed by thousands and documented in several historical writings by such men as, Cornelius Tacitus “the greatest historian” of ancient Rome, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, chief secretary of Emperor Hadrian, and Flavius Josephus, court historian for Emperor Vespasian and it is recorded in Mark 16:19, 1 Corinthians 15:6, and Acts 7:55-56. Jesus said there are many dwellings in heaven and that He is has gone there to prepare a place for us and one day He will return to take us to where He is in heaven (John 14:1-4). Jesus mentions heaven over sixty times in the book of Matthew alone. Jesus talked about and shared how a person can get to heaven in John 14:6. Yes heaven is an actual place!
Obviously each person can and will choose to believe what they want. I will be sharing in my next two posts – Where is Heaven? & What is Heaven Like?
In the mean time if you want to know more about how to get to heaven and receive my free book – “What’s Next” click here for a short video.
