When Ronald Reagan was running for Governor of California, a woman confronted him by his car one day and berated him severely. Finally she said, "I wouldn't vote for you if you were St. Peter." He smiled and replied, "No problem. If I were St. Peter, you wouldn't be living in my district." What do we know about "St. Peter's district"? We're all fascinated with the subject of heaven. We hope our loved ones who have died are there. We want to spend eternity there ourselves. So let's learn from God's word about his home.

First, heaven is real. It is certain--no figment of religious imagination, no superstition, no "opiate of the people" (Karl Marx). He revealed it to John: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1). According to God himself, heaven is real. Second, heaven is a place (vs. 1-2). John "saw" it. He didn't feel it, or dream of it, or hear about it. He saw it, and we only see things which are. Third, heaven is where God is (v. 3). John reveals, "Now the dwelling of God is with men." When we get to heaven, we get to God. Fourth, heaven is a blessed place (v. 4). Because God is there, all that is perfect is there as well. There will be no death in heaven, thus no mourning or crying or pain. Our greatest enemy will trouble us no more. It's a place of incredible joy.

What will we be like? First, let's set aside a popular misconception: in heaven, people are not angels. God created angels before he created us, and we are completely different. When Jesus said that people in heaven are "like the angels" (Luke 20:36), he meant that we never die, as they do not. Not that we have "wings and a halo" (they don't, either, by the way). We are not angels. But we do receive heavenly bodies: "The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53).

Will we recognize each other? I think so, for these reasons. Jesus said that in heaven we will take our places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 8:11), so clearly we will recognize them. On the Mount of Transfiguration the disciples easily recognized Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3-4). Paul promised that in heaven we will "know as we are known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). I like what one preacher said: "We won't really know each other until we get to heaven!"

For more on heaven, I invite you to the larger essay at godissues.com. For now, let's close with this advice from C. S. Lewis: aim at earth and you miss heaven; aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. Which describes your life today?

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