4.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The word “heaven” has two meanings:
  1. The place where a believer’s soul goes after death.
  2. The new heaven and earth, where believers will live with resurrected bodies.
• Jesus uses different “pictures” to describe heaven:
  - A kingdom, where God is the King and we are his servants.
  - A table, where we will feast together with God and each other.
  - A house, where we will live together as God’s family.
• Heaven is for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

4.2 Matthew 8:11←⤒🔗

^8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven…

© NET Bible

4.3 Luke 22:29–30←⤒🔗

^22:29 Thus I grant to you a kingdom, just as my Father granted to me,

^22:30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

© NET Bible

4.4 John 3:13–18←⤒🔗

^3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven-the Son of Man.

^3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

^3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

^3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

^3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

^3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

© NET Bible

4.5 John 14:1–3←⤒🔗

^14:1 Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me.

^14:2 There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you.

^14:3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.

© NET Bible

4.6 The two meanings of “heaven”←⤒🔗

In this lesson we will look at Jesus’ own teachings about heaven. What did he say about it? And how did he say could it be entered?

Before we can answer these questions, we must firstly understand that the word “heaven” (or “highest heaven”) has two meanings:

1. The place where a believer’s soul goes after death←↰⤒🔗

When a believer dies, his body stays on earth but his soul goes to be with God. That is why a believer does not have to fear death. As Paul said, “I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23). But this kind of “heaven” is only the beginning. We are waiting for something even more wonderful…

2. The new heaven and earth←↰⤒🔗

On the day when Jesus Christ comes again, heaven will come down to earth. God will make his whole creation new. Our bodies will be resurrected from the grave and we will live forever with God on a new earth.

In this lesson, when we talk about heaven, you must think of both meanings. Both meanings are important. But the second meaning is the most important one. That is what all believers are waiting for. Even those believers who are already living with God in heaven, are waiting to get new bodies.

The new heaven and earth is God’s perfect plan for his creation!

4.7 Heaven: A kingdom←⤒🔗

When Jesus speaks about heaven, he uses different “pictures” to help us understand. Firstly, he uses the picture of a kingdom. A kingdom is a big place that is ruled by a king. In the kingdom of heaven, God is the King. We are his servants.

The kingdom of heaven is not only for one day when you die. Even in this world, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you are already God’s servant. You already belong to his kingdom.

In this world God’s kingdom still looks small. But you can see the kingdom when you look at the people of God¾the church. When you die and go to heaven, you will see much more of God’s kingdom. And when Jesus comes again, you will finally see the fullness of God’s kingdom!

4.8 Heaven: A table←⤒🔗

In Matthew 8 and Luke 22, Jesus speaks of a “table” (or a “banquet”) in God’s kingdom. Heaven is a place where we will enjoy a feast together with our King!

This feast is not just any feast. It is the wedding feast of Jesus Christ and his bride, the church. There we will sit at God’s table and enjoy his food and drink. We will enjoy God’s company and we will enjoy each other’s company.

There will be many kinds of people at this feast. We will come from all countries and places (Matt. 8:11). In this world many of us are poor and unimportant. All of us are sinful. But in heaven we will wear clean and beautiful clothes. We will all sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

4.9 Heaven: A house←⤒🔗

God is not only our King. He is also our Father. Heaven is like a house where we will stay forever with our Father. Jesus promised to prepare rooms in this house. There will be enough rooms for all of us (John 14:2).

What do you think about, when you hear the word “house”? A house is about safety, comfort, love, family. That is what heaven will be like.

4.10 How can you enter heaven?←⤒🔗

Through all these pictures, Jesus shows us that heaven is truly a wonderful place! Words cannot describe it. "Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9).

But how can you enter heaven? In John 3:15 Jesus gives a very clear answer to this question. He says that heaven is for “everyone who believes in him.”

You can never go to heaven through your own “good life.” That is what Jesus explained to people like the rich man in Matthew 19. This man thought that he was living a good life. But Jesus said that no-one is good except God (Matthew 19:17). None of us deserves heaven!

That is why God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Jesus lived a perfect life, and then he died for our sins.

God promises heaven to everyone who believes in his Son. It does not matter who you are or what you did. If you trust in Christ, you will have a place at God’s table. You will have a room in God’s house.