2.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• Heaven is a real and wonderful place.
• God created heaven so that we can have a place to stay with him.
• Heaven is a place where God rules in glory.
• Heaven is a place where there is perfect peace.
• In heaven God is worshipped…
  - by his whole creation, and
  - by his whole church.

2.2 Revelation 4:1–11←⤒🔗

^4:1 After these things I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said: 'Come up here so that I can show you what must happen after these things.'

^4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and a throne was standing in heaven with someone seated on it!

^4:3 And the one seated on it was like jasper and carnelian in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald encircled the throne.

^4:4 In a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on those thrones were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white clothing and had golden crowns on their heads.

^4:5 From the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring and crashes of thunder. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne

^4:6 and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. In the middle of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

^4:7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like an ox, the third creature had a face like a man’s, and the fourth creature looked like an eagle flying.

^4:8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings and was full of eyes all around and inside. They never rest day or night, saying: 'Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, Who was and who is, and who is still to come!'

^4:9 And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

^4:10 the twenty-four elders throw themselves to the ground before the one who sits on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever, and they offer their crowns before his throne, saying:

^4:11 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, since you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created!'

© NET Bible

2.3 Heaven: What is it?←⤒🔗

Heaven. What is it? From the Bible we know that it is a real place. And it is a wonderful place! Human words do not have the power to describe heaven.

Jesus Christ gave a vision of heaven to his apostle John. In Revelation 4 John tells us what he saw in heaven. But John does not really have words to describe it. He can only compare heaven to the things that we know here on earth. For example: in heaven there is something “like a sea of glass” (verse 6). And there are creatures “like a lion… like an ox… [with] a face like a man’s… like an eagle flying” (verse 7).

One day (when we die or when Jesus comes again) we as believers will see heaven. Until then we can only know some things about heaven. God has revealed these things to us in the Bible. He wants us to know these things now, so that we can live our lives with hope.

2.4 A dwelling that God made for himself←⤒🔗

The first thing we must understand about heaven is that it was created by God. It was not always there. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

When the Bible speaks of “the heavens,” it can mean the heavens above us: the sky, the clouds, the sun, and the stars. But the Bible also tells us about the highest heaven. This is a place that God created for himself, to live in. It is there where his thousands of angels are worshipping him. We cannot see the highest heaven, just as we cannot see the angels.

Why did God create the highest heaven? It is not because he needed a place to stay. He is everywhere! As King Solomon said to God, “The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27, NIV).

But God created heaven out of love for us! Heaven is a place where God wants to stay with us. When a believer dies, he (or she) has a home. She has a place where she can go, to live with God! God created heaven because he wants to be our God who lives with us.

Through the Holy Spirit God is already living with us. But when we go to heaven, we will enjoy the fullness of God’s presence. That is why John says that he saw seven lamps before the throne, which are the “seven spirits” (Revelation 4:5). This does not mean that there are seven Holy Spirits. The number seven is a number of fullness. In heaven we will enjoy the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

2.5 A place of God’s glory and rule←⤒🔗

Heaven is a place where God makes his glory visible. It is also a place from which he rules over his creation. John saw a throne in heaven. On this throne the glory of God was shining like bright precious stones. Around the throne there was something like a bright rainbow (Revelation 4:3). There were flames and flashes of lightning (Revelation 4:5). All these things tell us that God is the glorious King!

John also saw that God is “sitting” on his throne (Revelation 4:2). This shows us that God is in full control. He does not have to run around. He is the King who rules with all power and authority.

2.6 A place of God’s peace←⤒🔗

When you look at the ocean (or a lake), you will always see movement in the water. But in heaven John sees a sea that is so still that it looks like glass! It is beautiful and clear like a crystal (Revelation 4:6). This shows something of the peace that is found in heaven. Because God is there, there is no trouble. There is nothing that disturbs.

Here on earth there are still many enemies of God. Nations rebel against him. They are restless like “the sea’s waves” (Isaiah 17:12). But in heaven there is no rebellion and no sin. There is perfect peace. In heaven the people of God will finally find rest.

2.7 A place of worship←⤒🔗

What will we do when we are in heaven? The short and simple answer is: We will worship God. When we see God’s glory and experience his peace, we will give him all the worship of our hearts.

John saw how God’s whole creation worships him. The four creatures (lion, ox, human, and eagle) are a picture of God’s whole creation. In heaven God’s creation praises him. They say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8, NIV).

John also saw how God’s whole church is worshipping him. The twenty-four elders. are a picture of God’s whole church. (Twenty-four is twelve plus twelve. This makes us think of the twelve tribes of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New Testament.)

John saw the twenty-four elders sitting on thrones, with crowns on their heads. This shows us that heaven is a place where the church rules together with God. But the church gives all the glory to God. In John’s vision the elders were falling down before the throne and laying their crowns before God’s feet.

This is a picture of the worship that we will give to God in heaven. It will be joyful, respectful worship that never stops!