Today we’re sharing an excerpt from Lifeway Women’s new Bible study Heaven by Jennifer Rothschild. Learn more about this impactful new Bible study!
Every time I visit my dad’s grave, nestled under a sleepy oak tree draped with hanging moss flowers in a place called the “Garden of the Apostles,” I wonder, Dad, what are you doing right now? Have you reunited with Mama and Papa? Did you meet Hosea, Haggai, or Amos? What about the sweet baby I miscarried? Do you know her? Can you see me, Mom, and all our family?
Have you wondered those kinds of things? Not only about the people who already died, but what it will be like for you when you die?
Lots of questions come up when we think of death and going to Heaven, right? There is so much we want to know, but there is so much we just can’t know. The good news is that we will have a much clearer understanding when we see Jesus face to face and “shall know fully, even as [we are] fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).
For me, one of the most powerful truths and comforting realities about Heaven is this: We will always be with the Lord. (1 Thess. 4:13-17) The how, what, and when don’t matter as much to me as the who! I know for certain the “who” of Heaven and that I’ll be with Him. That is enough for me.
Let’s deal with one question you might have about Heaven though: Is the present Heaven a real place or just a spiritual concept?
In Acts 7:54-60 is the account of the stoning of Stephen, a leader in the early church who became the first martyr.
Specifically, in verses 55-56 (NIV), Scripture says, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Wow. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, “looked intently into” (NASB) the present Heaven. He saw the glory of God and Jesus standing right there. Stephen saw clearly into a spiritual dimension that fully existed. It was existing in a reality Stephen’s eyes had never been opened to see before. But other human eyes had seen this invisible realm.
In 2 Kings 6:17, Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant “so that he may see” the powerful reality of the spiritual realm all around them. Scripture says, “Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Can you accept that there is a spiritual realm that presently exists beyond your ability to see and perhaps even comprehend?
It’s so hard to wrap our finite, earth-bound minds around something so abstract, that just beyond your ability to see is a bright, present reality of Heaven where God dwells.
I think blindness has helped me accept this truth. Here’s why: I have blind eyes that cannot see what is right in front of me, yet my inability to see what is before me does not mean it does not exist. The point: there can be a very present reality beyond your ability to see, and proof of its existence is not affirmed by sight. Proof is affirmed by faith.
Heaven exists. Jesus is there. My dad is there. Your loved one who died in Christ is there. It is the place where God dwells.
Want to learn more about the Heaven Bible study? Watch the short video below or view a free sample and teaching video clips at lifeway.com/heaven.
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