Focusing on Heaven through Scripture – Part 2

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.

1 Peter 1:3-4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

Because God gave us a new birth into a new life in Christ we now have the promise of a wonderful inheritance in heaven. It is waiting in heaven for us. It is a gift that will remain as it is: imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

Revelation 4:1-11

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”

9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Here is the first vision the apostle John saw of heaven. As he looked into the open door of heaven he saw these things: a throne and One sitting on the throne; twenty-four thrones surrounding the central throne, and twenty-four elders sitting on those thrones; and four living creatures—probably cherubim angels, who were guardians of the throne of God. And John heard and saw them all fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne, no doubt the Almighty God.

We don’t know how much of this vision is realistic or more for our learning. It is certainly meant to persuade us of the glory and majesty of heaven.

From Revelation 21:1 to 22:5. (I will not record all these verses, but I invite you to read them from your bible.)

In chapter 21:1-8 John is given a vision of a new heaven (new universe) including a new earth. And he also saw a new Jerusalem—a very large, holy city that came down out of heaven from God (the third heaven). This is where you and me and all the saints will live with God (although I am convinced that we my venture out of it if we desire). And God will wipe all our tears away. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. And He spoke and said, “I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life.”

In 21:9-21 an angel describes the New Jerusalem in all her brilliance and glory, and even gives its measurements and describes all the costly materials.

In 21:22-27 there is a description of how the glory of God illumines the city and how all the nations (the people) of the earth will walk by its light.

In 22:1-5 there is a description of a river of the water of life coming from the throne of God; and there is also a description of the tree of life. Life in heaven will be abundant and satisfying.

Keeping Our Focus on Heaven through Scripture

Posted on November 12, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

If we maintain a pure life now we will see God though our faith “in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). And we will also see Him in His full glory in heaven.

John 14:1-4

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

We ought not to be troubled with our various problems in this life. If we believe in God and in His Son, we know that He (Christ) is preparing a wonderful place for us in the Father’s house in heaven. And He will very soon come to take us there.

Philippians 3:20-21

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory…

Because He has made us citizens of heaven we are eagerly waiting for Him to take us to heaven and to change our earthly bodies into bodies of glory just like His own.

Colossians 3:1-3

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

If we are believers in Christ and have our citizenship in heaven, we are not to be bogged down and worried over things of this world. Instead, we are to keep thinking about and have our mind set on heavenly things (things that matter to God). For our old life is gone and our new life is now in Christ. He will protect us from all our spiritual enemies that are always out to destroy us.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Here is probably the best, or most descriptive, passage on the Rapture of the church. It tells us plainly that when the Lord comes to take us to heaven, He will first take up (and transform) those believers who had died. I believe this includes the Old Testament as well as the New Testament believers, for they all died in Christ. Then, after the dead are risen, all those who are alive will be taken up (and transformed) with the first group; and they all will meet the Lord “in the air.” We don’t know exactly where in the air they will be, but from that point they will all be transported to heaven to the Father’s house. Now we don’t know where we will be when He comes, but we can be sure of this: we will either be one of the dead ones that are raised, or one of the living ones who are raptured alive. I hope that comforts you.

Hebrews 11:13-16

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

NIV

The people of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11 did not receive the promise of heaven before they died, but all their lives they remained strong in faith. For they were always looking for a better county than they left. They longed for the promised heavenly country that they knew God was preparing for them. If we want to remain faithful to God until the end, we must also as these did regard ourselves as strangers on earth—not really belonging to this world, rather having our citizenship in heaven.

Small Tastes Of Heaven

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

Though we aren’t in heaven yet, God will send us small tastes of heaven. The more you connect yourself with God through His Spirit by prayer and meditation on His word, and by your personal holiness and obedience, the more you will be blessed and will taste of all of the spiritual blessings He has given us (Eph. 1:3).

I love what Paul says in Colossians 3:1-3.

Let me go through this passage and comment briefly. In verse one Paul instructs the believer to “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” He is talking about heaven isn’t he? We are to “keep seeking” those things in heaven.

What does he mean by this? How are we to do it? Well, verse two gives us his answer. We are to set our mind on the things above (on heaven where Christ is) instead of on all the things down here on this earth.

In verse three Paul continues with this thought. He is giving us the reason why we are not to set our mind on things of this earth: it is because we have died to our old life and have been raised up with Christ to a new life with Him. Our real life now is in Christ in God. That is to say, everything that gives us real meaning in life is in the Christ life. Our real home now is with Christ in heaven.

So how do we actually taste of heaven? I would say anything that brings the life of Christ into us is how we taste of heaven—because heaven is really enjoying the life of Christ. Here are five ways that we can taste of heaven:

Obey Christ in everything. Remember that obeying Him is loving Him.
Pursue holiness. The more we stop sinning the more we will see God (Matt. 5:8).
Stay in prayer. Prayer is our connection to God.
Fellowship with other believers. The more we love and encourage them in the Lord the more He will bless us—satisfy us with His love.
Worship together. Praise to God is most blessed and satisfying when we do it together.

Strengthen Your Assurance Of Heaven

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

It seems that the older I get the more my mind is on heaven. This is true especially if we have been diligent to walk in holiness. Then whenever you feel the pains of your old life you may be reminded that the new life is ahead.

But our assurance of heaven should not only be based on how we feel or on how we regard our holiness. We should base our assurance mainly on the promises of God. In 1 Peter 1:3-5 Peter speaks of our heavenly inheritance as a living hope.

If you have been born again into a new life, your inheritance is heaven. It is God’s promise to you.

How To Keep Your Focus On God and Heaven

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

In order to live with a heavenly perspective, in holiness, it is important to keep our focus on God and heaven. I have five suggested ideas to do that. Here is the first idea.

Cultivate A Love For God And His Heaven

I think of cultivation as a farm word. It involves working the soil to promote the growth of whatever you are trying to grow. Love for God and His heaven grows best by working the ground of love—or by preparing the heart for love.

First of all, to do this the heart needs to be free of the weeds of the lust of the flesh and of the cares of this world (1Jn. 2:16). Then replace those thoughts with the thought that God has made us citizens of heaven and that He has paid for our citizenship with His own blood (Eph. 2:19).

Next, it would be good to do whatever you can to invest your time and money in heaven. That is, in bringing as many people into the kingdom of God as is possible; and then you will see your love for God and heaven grow. Then also, give your heart to worship and singing about heaven and your hope of heaven, and you will experience a great joy in the Lord.

Every Believer Is A Citizen Of Heaven

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

I like what John MacArthur said on this subject.

God has given us a down-payment on heaven. He has transferred our citizenship there. We ‘are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God’ (Eph. 2:19).3

In Philippians 3:20-21 Paul writes,

Again, in Ephesians 2:19-21 Paul writes,

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

It feels good to be a citizen of heaven. Here are seven blessings, and also responsibilities, that come from our heavenly citizenship.

As heavenly citizens we are welcome to sample all of the delights of heaven.
As citizens we are part of the family of God (Jn. 1:12; Eph. 2:19).
As citizens we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
As citizens we have new heavenly affections (Col. 3:1).
As citizens we are to be holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph. 1:4).
As citizens He has begun a good work in us (Phil. 1:6; Eph. 2:10).
As citizens He is conforming us to the image of His Son and making us fit for heaven (Rom. 8:30).

On a personal note, I like the idea of being a citizen of heaven because I feel that I am locked in—in a good way. I mean, nobody can take heaven away from me. I am a member. I am a legal citizen with full rights.

3 John MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1996), p. 64.

Every Believer Is Seated With Christ In Heavenly Places

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

The “heavenly places” are mentioned five times in the book of Ephesians. We will look at each of these passages, with my comments, and then I will make some concluding remarks.

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

The heavenly places (or Lit. “the heavenlies”) is a special place where we may receive spiritual blessings. I believe this place is the realm of God’s kingdom within each believer—a place where God rules and reigns; it is a place of His throne and holiness. It is also a place of fellowship with God where joy and peace and love are realized. It is where the Holy Spirit is always present and is producing His fruit of His Spirit.

Ephesians 1:18-21

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

According to this grand passage, this place, the heavenlies, is a place where Christ is seated in power at the right hand of God the Father. And Paul here prays that they (the Ephesians) would be enlightened so that they would know of His calling and of their inheritance and of His power toward all believers. This tells me that the heavenly places holds spiritual blessings for us that we may not be aware of unless we pray about it—that our eyes may be “enlightened” (v. 18).

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Here we read that every believer being once dead (an unbeliever) was raised up (resurrected to new life) with Christ and was seated with Him in the heavenly places. And here we sit with Christ; and we will be sitting with Him through all eternity, where He will show the riches of His grace to us forever. Yes, we have eternity to be blessed by Christ in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 3:8-10

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Apparently, it seems that the heavenly places, at least for now, does not rule out angels, both good and bad. And we the church have the calling of God to make known to them through our life all the mysteries of God.

Ephesians 6:10-12

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

For the believer, before we arrive at our home in heaven, with our new bodies, this place where God rules and reigns in us, the heavenlies, is not void of evil. All of God’s blessings to us are there, but so is all evil and the demons. Hence, it is a place of holiness and blessing with Christ and God; and it is also a place of demons, where we are to be on guard against them and have on the spiritual armor.

Concluding Remarks. So it is true that every believer is seated with Christ in the heavenly places; and so we are very blessed with all the blessings of Christ—if we take hold of those blessings; for we should know that Satan (with his demons) is lurking around and seeking to destroy us. Yes, the heavenly places is a wonderful place—a spiritual realm in God’s kingdom (within us) with every spiritual blessing available to us. But Satan and the demons are prowling around too, waiting to pounce on us and destroy us. So, what should we do? I would say that we should enjoy all the blessings of God, walk in Him, commune with Him, confess your sins and be right with Him; and constantly put off the old life and put on the new life. And always be aware of Satan and have on the spiritual armor. Be at prayer always. Be drawing near to God constantly. And enjoy your place at the throne, seated with Christ.

Every Believer Lives In The Kingdom Of God

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

Every believer when he is born again and is assured of an everlasting inheritance, is also miraculously, by the power of God, rescued from the domain of darkness and is transferred into the kingdom of God and of His Son. Paul in Colossians 1:13 writes, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

This kingdom, though it is grand and glorious, is not visible; it is a spiritual kingdom and it is within us—within every believer (Lu. 17:21). Christ sits on His throne in our hearts, and He will lead us and instruct us in right living; but only if we allow Him to. Hence, all who are obedient sons of God are led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14).

Now from time to time we will fall into sin; for we still have our sinful flesh. But we remain children of God who live in His kingdom, and because Christ has come into our heart and changed us—given us a new nature—we have His mind. Paul has written in 1 Corinthians 2:15-16,

But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

And with our new mind and by the powerful strength of God in us and around us we are protected from the devil and all evil—but only if we use that protection. Paul, in Ephesians 6, speaks of this Christian protection as the armor of God. It is available to us if we put it on every day. It is the Christian’s daily and life-long attire.

One of the most powerful pieces of armor available to us is prayer. Paul writes that we are to “pray at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 1:18). James also writes about prayer. He said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (Ja. 1:5). But then he goes on to say that we must ask in faith without any doubting. And this is the key to living victoriously in the kingdom of God—having faith in God and in Christ without doubting. It is a life of trust in Him.

Every Believer Inherits Eternal Life In Heaven

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Heaven: By Death or by Rapture

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Stephen Nielsen

We should know

that for the Christian there are two avenues to heaven: one is through death and the other is through the Rapture. And since death is what we see now, we will start there.

Entrance into heaven through death. Some would say that when the body dies the soul goes into a time of sleep until Jesus comes. They call if “soul sleep.” But that is a false teaching. In 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In death the body dies but the soul lives on in heaven with the Lord.

But what happens to the soul at death? Is there any need for a change to the soul? To make it pure and holy? Yes. Since the soul is the entire nature of man and is his entire personality, the soul as well as the body is sinful. When we are saved, salvation comes to our soul (Ja. 1:21), but even after our conversion, the soul is affected by sin the same as our body is. Hence, the soul of the righteous, entering heaven needs a full cleansing. According to the Westminster Confession of Faith,

The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls, (which neither die nor sleep,) having an immortal substance, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.”2

Now, there is also the question of the intermediate state, or the intermediate heaven.

The intermediate heaven. This state is the state of the soul without the body, from the time between the death of the body to the point at which the body is raised and transformed at the Rapture. There is much false teaching on this subject, such as soul sleep—as previously mentioned. And there is also the Catholic doctrine of purgatory: that after death the soul goes to a place to be purged from sins by much pain and suffering, so to be purified for heaven. But this is such a slam to God, teaching that the sufferings of Christ were not sufficient to atone for our sins, that we must add our own sufferings to His. Really, we can add nothing!

However, aside from false teaching, there are some things that we can consider a bit regarding the intermediate state. I say “a bit” because Scripture in not clear on the subject; and it gives us no definite teaching. Nonetheless, here are two passages we could examine for maybe a small bit of truth.

Luke 9:30-31. Here is the Mount of transfiguration, where while Jesus was praying (with Peter, James and John present), His face was changed and His clothing became white and gleaming. And then suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and they were talking to Jesus about His departure (His death). Now we know that both of these men died a long time before this; but here they stand in some kind of a glorified body. I would say that this is definitely an example of the intermediate state of heaven.

Here is what we may observe from this passage regarding what the intermediate state is.

It is having some kind of a glorified body.
It is being able to speak in a normal language. They did not use any kind of heavenly language.
It is having friendly communication with Jesus. They were talking with Jesus as a close friend; they were discussing His departure. This suggests that we may have regular communion with Jesus and will be discussing whatever is on our heart.

Revelation 6:9-11. Here is a passage revealed to us as the Lamb (Christ) broke the fifth seal during the Tribulation. It opens up to us the conversation of certain people who were martyrs for their faith. In verse ten we have a portion of that conversation—a prayer to God. They cried out to Him with a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

And then in verse eleven is the response by God. “There was given to each of them white robes and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer…”

Here is what we may observe from this passage regarding what the intermediate state is.

There will be prayer in the intermediate state. These martyred souls were waiting on God to avenge their blood and were crying out in prayer to Him. We may also conclude that there will be a sense of anticipation for God to make all things right.
They will know what is happening on earth. These martyrs seem to know what is happening on earth—that God was refraining from judging (v. 10). It may be this way for all who die before the Rapture.
They will have bodies that are able to wear clothing. They were given white robes.
They are holy and pure—cleansed from all sin. The white robes are symbolic of purity; Jesus will give them these garment to remind them of their holiness and of His shed blood for them.
We will be at rest in the Lord. They were told to rest for a while longer. This state of rest is confirmed to us in Revelation 14:13 of what this intermediate state basically is—that we will rest from our labors; the labor of keeping the commandments of God and having faith in Jesus. So, here in this state we will have glorified souls perfected in God, and we will no longer have a need to persevere in the faith. We will be at rest in the Lord and waiting for our new glorified body.

Entrance into heaven through the Rapture. When God sees that the time is right for the dead to be raised, and for their souls to be united with new bodies, and for the living to be rescued from what is to come on this earth, then He will…

descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

This passage (above) pretty much lays it out, but let me summarize it in chronological order.

1. All believers from all ages of history who have died, they will be raised up and their decayed bodies will be transformed into imperishable, new bodies (1Cor. 15:53-54).

2. And the souls of those resurrected dead will merge with their new transformed bodies, so they will at last be souls with new bodies. Hence, this will be the end of their intermediate state (as previously discussed).

3. Then those who are alive will be changed (transformed) very quickly— “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). And they will be caught up (snatched up) together with those previously dead.

4. And then we will all meet the Lord in the air; and we will from then on, and always, be with the Lord in heaven.

2 John MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1996), p. 71.

Stephen Nielsen

My life story, my work, my views, my interests, my writing, my struggles.

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