Visions of Heaven
The Hebrews believed in at least three
heavens, and they pictured them layered one on top of the other. I agree with their assessment up to a point.
The first heaven is the blue sky above us with clouds and all the birds of the
air. The second heaven is the stars and all things big and small in the
universe. The third heaven is not a layer on top of that one. The Throne Room
of God is not just another layer on top of the universal layer. That heaven
exists outside of the physical universe where God lives outside of Time and
Space.
Now what got me thinking about all this is Jesus’
mention of many mansions in heaven. Of course, in the heavenly realm, there
could be as many mansions as God wanted there to be. And I hear people all the
time talking about living in one of those mansions for eternity. I always
caution them against that idea. If you died a believer anytime in the past or
between now and the Second Coming, you might get your mail in one of those
mansions for sure. But it’s not going to
be your permanent address.
You see in Revelations and elsewhere it
states that after the Millennium rule of Jesus here on Earth, the Earth will be
turned into a lake of fire, and then it will be destroyed after all the damned
souls perish there. All of Earth, and all the heavens, even all the elements will
melt in a fervent heat. And all we know of as reality right now will be destroyed.
And God will create a New Earth, A New Jerusalem, and New Heavens. So, included
in that destruction would be the old heaven with all those mansions. God’s
Throne will be moved to the New Earth and located in New Jerusalem.
Will there be mansions on the New Earth?
Possibly. Many will reside in New Jerusalem which is described in the Bible as
being a cube approximately 5,000 miles to a side. You could put a lot of people
in that kind of space. But it does not say how big the New Earth will be. It
does say there will be no oceans. Only land with rivers (at least one
mentioned) and lakes. Build me a cabin next to a river filled with rainbow
trout in a part of the land that looks like Tennessee, and I will be happy. No
mansion required.
Another thing the Bible does not tell us is
that we will be confined to New Earth. In our physical bodies, we haven’t been
able to get very far into the current Universe. But with indestructible, incorruptible
bodies and given eternity we could go a long way away from New Earth and
explore all the New Heavens (aka The New Universe). Don’t expect me to be home
much. Get in touch with me through an Angelic Messenger and I’ll meet you there
for some fly fishing. But otherwise, I will be exploring all the opportunities in
the great sea of the universe.
This brings up another question. Are there
other civilizations (aka aliens) in our current Universe? Would God create them
just to destroy them at the end of the millennium? Possibly. Many Christians
are inclined to believe that we are alone in this Universe. If not, it would
require that Jesus manifested himself to every other Civilization that might be
out there. And furthermore, that He would have to then die for their sins like he
did for ours. We would hope that He would not have to go through that repeatedly.
So, we shudder to think of other civilizations in our current Universe for that
reason. But I caution you not to jump on that bandwagon too soon. For you must
remember that with God, all things are possible.
And here is a final note to those who
currently don’t believe in any of this and think that it was all just one big
happy accident. And even if you think it’s all absurd and impossible, why would
you take that risk of ending in a lake of fire when you could have eternity in
a brand-new Universe? Being a believer, you have nothing to lose and everything
to gain. Being a non-believer, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
My friends, everything in science (even though scientists themselves are
science deniers) and everything in Nature points to a Divine Designer. Do your
own research and come to your own conclusions. Don’t let them spoon-feed you
into the second death. God loves you. And He does not want that to be your end.
Join me in worship and prayer, and maybe someday we will meet on the banks of
that river and do a little fly-fishing together. God and I both would like that
very much.
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