Before you read: This article is part of a larger series that builds upon itself from the foundation up, with each study building on the last. If something in this article does not make sense to you or if you believe it to be incorrect, please ensure you have read the entire series before passing final judgment. Also, be sure to visit this page’s FAQ And Objections Page
A lot of people picture heaven as fluffy clouds where believers strum on harps all day. But that’s not the picture the Bible gives us at all. In fact, what if I told you the final home of the saints isn’t even in heaven?
Psalm 11:4
4 The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
2 Corinthians 5:6–8
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
As of right now, when believers die they do in fact go to heaven. That is currently where God’s throne is, and it is where the soul of a believer goes when they depart from the body.
2 Corinthians 12:2–4
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
The third heaven is above the sky (the first heaven) and beyond the black void of space (the second heaven). It is a place often called paradise, where Jesus told the thief next to Him they would be that very day (Luke 23:43).
Revelation 6:9
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Revelation 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
In this place called the third heaven and paradise, we find the souls of the saints. Notice it speaks of their souls, not their bodies. It’s because until the resurrection the souls of the dead are without physical bodies.
Luke 16:22–26
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
It may seem confusing when we read these passages that speak as if the people were in normal physical bodies when the ones before spoke of them as souls. But what we are seeing here is that the soul is not a cloud of energy and not a vague consciousness. It has form and location in the spiritual realm.
1 Corinthians 15:44
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
When a soul leaves the body, it doesn’t become nothing. It doesn’t float like mist. The soul has its own form—what Paul calls a spiritual body. Just as our earthly body fits this world, a spiritual body fits the spiritual world. That is why the rich man and Lazarus could see, speak, feel, and recognize. Their bodies matched the realm they were in.
The soul of the saint is in paradise, and the soul of the lost is in hell. Both are real places, both spiritually and physically. Between the two is a large gulf (chasm, or void). We explained that hell is under the earth in Unit 2:9. While the Bible doesn’t say it explicitly, we can infer that between the third heaven and hell is the second heaven—a void we call space.
At the resurrection, the spiritual body will join with the resurrected physical body, thus completing us as both spiritual and physical beings. This begins the final state of believers. It’s not in heaven as purely spiritual beings. It’s in both the spiritual and physical realms simultaneously.
At the Resurrection
Heaven, or paradise, is not the final home of the saints. What the Bible tells us is that this world and all of heaven will be changed.
Isaiah 24:19–20
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
2 Peter 3:10
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Revelation 21:5
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Revelation 5:10
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 21:1–3
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Revelation 21:10
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Revelation 21:22–26
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
At the end of all things we see a city built by God coming down from heaven onto a new earth. It is on the new earth that the saints shall live forever. They will dwell in the city with God Himself, and they will travel in and out of it at will.
So we aren’t going to be in heaven sitting on clouds. We will be on a renewed earth, able to come and go as we please into the city of God. We will have a new heaven and a new earth.
That’s a lot of exploring to do! And with new bodies, we will not be limited to life on earth. We can go anywhere in the new creation. Just as Jesus was able to go between heaven and earth at will.
What Is Heaven Like
Typically when people talk about “heaven,” they are actually talking about the new Earth. We are given only a glimpse of what it will be like in the new Earth. But there are a few things that we know will not be there.
Revelation 21:4
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 7:16
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Revelation 22:3–5
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Death, sorrow, crying, pain, and the curse will be a thing of the past.
It is a perfect place. Gone will be the hot summer day when we work and eat by the sweat of our brow. That was part of the curse from the fall of man. That curse will be gone.
There will be no hunger, no thirst, and no sunburns at the beach. Nighttime doesn’t exist in this place. The sun, which was made to rule the day in Genesis, will hand over that position to Jesus, who is the very source of light Himself.
This is the place that Christians will spend eternity. It’s on Earth with God.
But what does the Bible talk about when it mentions rewards and reigning with Christ? What are these rewards, and what do we rule over? Exactly what will we be doing in this new world? That is the topic for the next study.
Continue To Unit 6:5 – What Are the Rewards in Heaven OR
Return To Christianity 101 Unit 6 – The Resurrection & the Big Picture