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11/1/2020
The doctrine of the week for this Sunday, before we go to prayer, is heaven. As Jesus was hanging on the cross, you may remember that one of the thieves who was crucified with him said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
And Jesus said to him, today, you will be with me in paradise. And in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, the apostle Paul refers to paradise as the third heaven. So heaven is where the redeemed of God go when they die and to be absent from the body we know is to be present with the Lord, 2nd Corinthians 5, 8.
So heaven is a real place. Remember what Jesus said in John 14, verse 2, behold, I go to prepare a place for you. So heaven is not a concept or a state of mind, or if your life is really great here on earth as some people would teach.
Heaven is also the dwelling place of God. Now it's true, Christians will use the word heaven as an all encompassing term. There are differences between heaven, what theologians call the intermediate state.
And then of course, there is the new heaven and the new earth and eternity. So there are differences, but whatever the term that we use, heaven, paradise, the heavenly city, new Jerusalem. One thing we know for sure is that if a person places their personal trust in Jesus Christ, as Paul said in Philippians 3 .20, our citizenship is in heaven.
