- 1 (often Heaven) a place regarded in various religions as the abode of God (or the gods) and the angels, and of the good after death, often traditionally depicted as being above the sky: those who practised good deeds would receive the reward of a place in heaven Juno, Queen of Heaven and wife of Jupiter
- God (or the gods): Constantine was persuaded that disunity in the Church was displeasing to heaven
- Theology a state of being eternally in the presence of God after death: the everlasting happiness with God that we call heaven
- used in various exclamations as a substitute for ‘God’: heaven knows! good heavens!
- 2 (also the heavens) literary the sky, especially perceived as a vault in which the sun, moon, stars, and planets are situated: Galileo used a telescope to observe the heavens
- 3 informal a place, state, or experience of supreme bliss: lying by the pool with a good book is my idea of heaven
Some of those definitions I agree with and some I do not. I do not think the dictionary checked with the bible when it thought of all these definitions. But then again, man wrote the dictionary and the Bible was inspired by God.
As death as been near to so many of us in our class, I started rereading the book "Heaven", by Randy Alcorn. It is by far one of the top books everyone should have in their library. It takes away the fear and wondering what heaven is going to be like. Brad preached week before last on what we are going to be like in heaven and I thought he followed the scripture accurately and wisely, allowing God to speak through him which gave excitement and hope for our home to be.
God did not create us to live as we are living, We did that to ourselves as sin entered into human beings through Adam in the book of Genesis. But because of Christ, we now GET to live in heaven forever if we have accepted Christ as our Savior. As Rich as been teaching in Romans, our "getting" to heaven has NOTHING to do with us. Absolutely NOTHING. It is ALL about Christ dying on the cross for our sins and raising himself up after three (3) days to defeat death. Death has NO HOLD over those who belong to Christ.
As I read through this book, if you do not mind, I would like to highlight some of what the book says. In part, as I want you to read the book for yourself, and in part so we can all be excited together. Have you ever heard the question? "Will we live in Heaven forever?" On page 42 of the book "Heaven" Randy Alcorn says the following. "When we die believers in Christ will not go to the Heaven where we'll live forever. Instead we will go to an intermediate Heaven. In the intermediate Heaven we will await the time of Christ's return to the earth, our bodily resurrection, the final judgment, and the creation of the new heavens and New Earth. If we fail to grasp this truth, we will fail to understand the biblical doctrine of Heaven"
According to the theologian Wayne Grudem, he says "The biblical teaching tells us that there will be new heavens and a new earth-an entirely renewed creation-and we will live with God there....There will also be a new kind of unifcation of heaven and earth....There will be a joining of heaven and earth in this new creation."
The book goes onto say that we will live with Christ and each other forever, not in the intermedidate Heaven, which we go to when our bodies die here on earth, but on the new Earth and God will live with us and will be at home with those of us that belong to Christ.
Having lost two (2) precious family members recently within two weeks of each other, my husband's father being close to death, members of our class that have recently lost parents, friends, and siblings, it is important that we understand that Heaven in a real place. A place we will worship God, fellowship together, eat meals together and the list goes on according to the prophets in the Old Testament and many scripture references in the New Testament.
My heart is beating with pleasure and excitement of being able to share glimpses with you as I read through this book. As always, please do not feel obligated in any way to read what I have written and by all means if you have questions, please let me know. Some members of our class have asked how to get the blog if I do not send it to you. If you will find on the blog an entry that says "Follow" and type your email address in there or follow whatever directions they give, then it comes to you each time I update something on it without me having to email address it to you. If that doesn't work then I'll have to get a computer guru to figure it out.
The lessons for Romans chapter 3 are coming soon. Rich is in meetings all day and as soon as I get them, I will forward them onto you. You are all the best!!!! Blessings to you on this day, Deb
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