Eternity

The word “heaven” (Hebrew: “shamayim”; Greek: “ouranos”) is used 421 times in the Hebrew Bible and 278 times in the Christian New Testament. The word has been used in the scriptures to refer to the sky and everything above it. There are at least four divisions or strata of heaven which have been identified by teachers of the Bible: 

There is what they call the “first heaven” which is the surrounding atmosphere above the earth’s surface in which the “birds of heaven” fly (1 Kings 21:24). It is within this first heaven, which is usually called the sky, that the earth’s weather, including rain, snow, dew, frost, wind, clouds, thunder, etc. forms (2 Chron. 7:13; Acts 14:17; Isa. 55:10; Dan. 4:23; Job 38:29; Ps. 135:6-7; 147:8; etc.). 

Beyond the first heaven is the planetary system or the celestial heaven which they also call the “second heaven.” This second heaven houses the planets – the sun, the moon and the stars (Gen.1:14-16; Ps. 8:3; Deut. 17:3; Jer. 8:2; Matt. 24:29). This second heaven is often called outer space in the modern world. 

There is another realm which Apostle Paul referred to as the “third heaven” which he also called “Paradise” in 2 Cor. 12:2-4. Paradise was believed to be a part of Hades where the righteous dead go to await the first resurrection. This is the place Jesus Christ promised the criminal who was said to be penitent on the day they were crucified (Luke 23:43). It is also called the “bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22). Paradise is not the highest heaven where God dwells. After Christ’s resurrection, He told Mary Magdalene not to cling to Him because He was yet to ascend to the Father (John 20:17). But on the day of His crucifixion, Luke said He went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Therefore, we can see from these two passages that Paradise where He spent three days and nights of His death was not the heaven where the Father is, Paradise cannot be the realm where God has His throne. 

Beyond these “three heavens” is the invisible realm where God dwells with the Lord Jesus Christ, together with the angels and other spirit beings like the cherubim and the seraphim. It is called the throne of God (Isa. 66:1; Acts 7:48-50; Rev. 4: 1-2). God has been called “the Highest” (Luke 1:32,35,76; 6:35). The realm where He dwells is also called the “highest”. Some versions of the English Bible make it very clear by calling it the “highest heaven” (Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10; Luke 2:14; 19:38). Jesus Christ taught emphatically that no human being has ascended to this heaven where God dwells except the Son of God [Jesus] who came from there to the earth (John 3:13). Apostle Paul calls this heaven where God dwells “unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16, emphases added throughout). 

Although all these regions or realms are called “heaven,” the context in which the word is used determines which of the heavens is meant by the writer. For example, on the day Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, His disciples continued gazing into the sky after He had been shut from their sight by the cloud. Then two angels suddenly appeared before them. Hear what they said: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11, ESV).  

Here, we can see that the first use of the word is in reference to the sky while the second and third can mean no other place than the “highest heaven” where God dwells. Compare this with the heaven which  Stephen saw on the day of his martyrdom (Acts 7:55-56) which evidently was the throne of God or the highest heaven. The same heaven was what John saw in Revelation 4:1-2. They were divinely enabled to see the highest heaven by the spirit of God which filled them at the times. They were given spiritual eyes to see the throne of God at such times. 

The Kingdom of Heaven  

The “kingdom of God” is also known as the “kingdom of heaven”. Only in Matthew is the phrase “kingdom of heaven” used 33 times. In the other Gospels as well as in the epistles, “kingdom of God” is used 65 times. This phrase is also used five times by Matthew. No other New Testament writer used the phrase “kingdom of heaven” besides Matthew. The two phrases mean the same thing – a kingdom owned and ruled by God. The kingdom will effectively commence at the second coming of Christ to the earth.

Many people erroneously think that the phrase “kingdom of heaven” is synonymous with “going to heaven” but what we have learnt from the Bible is that the kingdom of God will be established by Jesus Christ here on earth when He returns to the earth. The kingdoms of this world will be taken over by God and will become the kingdom of our Lord [God] and of His Christ and He will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15).

We know that the kingdom of God does not mean the kingdom is located inside God but that it belongs to God. In the same way, the “kingdom of heaven” does not mean that the kingdom is located inside heaven. Matthew’s terminology can be taken to mean a kingdom ruled from heaven or by Heaven, “Heaven” being a metonymy for God. 

When Jesus Christ started His earthly ministry, His teachings were centered on the kingdom of God. He called for repentance from sins and belief in the Good News preached by Him as necessary steps that must be taken to enter into the heavenly kingdom which He said was yet to come. Jesus Christ never called on anyone to take these steps in order to go into heaven where God dwells. 

The common teaching in Christendom is that all faithful and righteous people of God who believe in Jesus Christ will “go to heaven” when they die and live with God throughout eternity. But this teaching is borne out of lack of proper insight into the scriptures. Shortly, I will explain some of the New Testament scriptures that have been misunderstood by many Christians. In the meantime, let us examine what some Bible passages say on heaven. 

A wise man, Agur, asked, “who has ascended into heaven or descended?” (Prob. 30:4). Our Lord Jesus Christ gave an answer to the question when He first came to this earth. He said, “No one has ascended into heaven except He [Jesus] who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13, word in square brackets added by me).

Did Jesus Christ mean that Enoch and Elijah did not go to heaven where God dwells? Well, Jesus is the embodiment of truth. He says nothing but the absolute truth. Moreover, He had just come down from heaven. If the duo had gone to the highest heaven, He would have said so. In fact, there are biblical proofs that Enoch and Elijah were taken through the sky, also known as heaven by the Bible writers, to some unknown places on this earth where they lived the rest of their lives until their death. 

In the course of his Pentecostal message, Peter made a quotation from Psalm 16:8-11 which was written by David. Peter made it known to the Jews on that day that the passage was written about Jesus Christ (Acts 2:25-28). He made it known that David was not writing of himself when he wrote, “You [God] will make me full of joy in Your presence [in heaven]”. Peter made this known when he said, “For it was not David who ascended into heaven” (Acts 2:34, NASB).  

Paul later wrote in Hebrews 9:24, “For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf” (NLT). 

These scriptures affirm the statement of Jesus Christ that the only one who has entered into heaven is Christ Himself. No other person has left this earth and is now in the highest heaven where God dwells. All human beings who have ever lived and died are in their graves, to be resurrected by God in two separate resurrections (Dan. 12:2; 1 Cor. 15:20-23; Rev. 20:5). 

During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ told the Pharisees, the chief priests, and His disciples that they cannot come to where He is [in heaven]. See John 7:34-36; 8:21-24; 13:33. Did He contradict Himself by His statement in John 14:2-3 where He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (NKJV)? There is no contradiction in Christ’s teachings. Here in John 14:2-3, He said He will come again to receive His own to Himself so that they’ll live with Him, here on earth. His taking them to be with Him is predicated on His coming again. He didn’t in any way infer that He will take His saints to heaven to go and live with God for eternity.  

New Heavens and The New Earth  

The present earth in which we live is one of the numerous planets God created in the beginning which are called “the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). The word translated “heaven” in the KJV is the Hebrew word “shamayim” which is plural. The “im” at the end of the word turns it to a plural noun like “Elohim” (Gods), “cherubim” (cherubs), “seraphim” (seraphs), et alia. The use of a singular noun, “heaven”, in the KJV is an unfortunate error as it has misled many people to think that the heaven mentioned is the transcendent, ethereal, holy, perfect and eternal realm in which the eternal God has been dwelling, which is called the highest heaven (Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10; Luke 2:14; 19:38). This realm is not part of the heavens God created in the beginning. The heaven where God dwells has been from eternity and it will remain the abode of God forever. 

The “heavens and the earth” in Genesis are the earth and the other planets – the sun, moon and the others which are collectively called “stars”. Anyone who likes can call the “heavens and the earth” the universe.  

God made it known through the prophets that He will replace the “heavens and the earth” with new ones. Isaiah called them “new heavens and the new earth” (Isa. 65:17; 66:22). The Psalmist said that the “earth and the heavens” will perish because God is going to change them just as a man changes his worn-out clothes and discard them (Ps. 102:25-26). It is clear from Old Testament scriptures that God will create “new heavens and a new earth” in which righteousness dwells. Apostle Peter affirmed this truth in 2 Peter 3:10-13 where he exhorted the believers to live godly, righteous and holy lives in view of this change that will take place. 

As part of the series of visions which God made John see was “a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea” (Rev. 21:1). There is a subtle difference between “new heavens” in Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13 and “a new heaven” used here in Rev. 21:1. In the absence of any contradiction, I believe the same things are referred to in all the four places which is the future universe. The highest heaven in which God has His throne is not the one referred to in Rev. 21:1 because that realm existed before the creation and is perfect and unchangeable. 

In Rev. 21:3 we read, “… Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God” (ESV).  

Many teachers have literally translated this verse to mean that the invisible God will cohabit with the saints in the new heaven and the new earth or the New Jerusalem. This can only be if the Almighty Father will demote Himself by divesting Himself of His excellent glory so as to become accessible by His glorified people. I have not seen any biblical support for this. The following points are, worthy of note:  

The first time Jesus Christ came into the world as a human being, God’s angel said He should be called Emmanuel which means God with us. Indeed, God was with us as long as His only begotten Son was here with us. Jesus Christ once told Philip that it was pointless to ask to see the Father when He, the visible representation of the Father was with them (John 14:8-10). See also Heb. 1:3 where Jesus is called the exact representation of God. In other words, the invisible God dwells with His people through His Son who will dwell with them in the eternal kingdom here on earth. 

The New Jerusalem will be the capital city of the new earth. Jesus Christ will live in it with the righteous people of God. Sinners and every unclean things will not be found in it. Therefore when we read that “God is among men, and He will dwell among them” (Rev. 21:3), we should understand this to mean that God dwells with men through His Son who will physically dwell with men in the holy city, the New Jerusalem. No scripture is found which says that God will cease to “dwell in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). There is also no scriptural text that says the highest heaven in which God dwells will cease to exist after the new heavens and the new earth have been created by God. 

Misunderstood Scriptures  

The general or common belief is that the people of God will, at death, go to heaven to live with God for eternity. This belief has caused many teachers of the Bible to misinterpret many scriptures in the Bible. I don’t have an exhaustive list of such scriptures; only a few of them that I know are given herein. 

1.      Reward in Heaven  

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:11-12a, NIV). 

So many people have taken these words of the Lord Jesus Christ to mean that the saints of God will receive their reward of service and faithfulness in heaven. This is not correct. But before giving the answer, let us consider two related passages: 

“Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-4, ESV). 

“In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. You have this faith and love because of your hope, and what you hope for is kept safe for you in heaven” (Col. 1:3-5a, NCV). 

God’s inheritance and rewards for faithful service are kept in heaven for faithful believers. But does it automatically mean that we will go to heaven to receive the inheritance and rewards we hope for? The answer is straight No! Consider these facts:  

Jesus Christ instructed us to lay up our treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:20) but we do not go to heaven to deposit them; the treasures are deposited in heaven while we are here on the earth (Matt. 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22).  

Jesus Christ told His disciples that they should rejoice because their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). We know that the names of the saints get written in the book of life in heaven while we are still on the earth, not when we “get to heaven”.  

Jesus also told His disciples, “the Son of Man will come again with His Father’s glory and with His angels. And He will reward everyone for what they have done” (Matt. 16:27, ERV).   

To a leader of the Pharisees He said, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14 NIV). By “resurrection of the righteous” He meant the resurrection of the saints – those who are Christ’s at His coming (1 Cor. 15:23).

It is at the second coming of Christ that the righteous will be rewarded here on earth. See also Matt. 19:28-30.  

The lyrics of the song of the four living beings and the 24 elders reads, “Worthy are You to take the book [scroll] and to break its seals, for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth” (Rev. 5:9-10, NASB). 

These scriptures, among many, have shown that we will be rewarded here on earth when Jesus returns to establish God’s kingdom. No one is going to heaven to get his reward. For the avoidance of doubt, consider the following message from the Lord Jesus Christ:  

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:12-13, NIV). 

The summary of these scriptures is that although our rewards are kept safe in heaven, they are kept there until the day of Christ’s second coming when He will bring the rewards from heaven to give to the faithful ones what each person deserves. Apostle Paul said he will be presented with a crown of righteousness on that day, the day of His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8). The NLT renders it the day of His return. Nobody is going to heaven to be presented with his or her reward. 

2.      John 14:2-3  

“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. 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” (John 14:2-3, NASB). 

The mainstream interpretation of this promise is that the Master has promised to go and build “mansions” for us in heaven. After the construction is completed, He will come back to take us there to live with Him and God forevermore. But the scriptures have given us light that enables us know that such conclusion is very erroneous. Although the place is being built in heaven, the chosen ones are not going there to live in physical mansions in an ethereal heaven. We will live in the rooms or dwelling places on the earth. We will be with Him, here on earth, after He has “come again.” 

With His team of angelic engineers and builders, the Lord has been building that place since His ascension to heaven. That place is the New Jerusalem which, at God’s appointed time, will be brought down to the new earth (Rev. 21:2). That is the place where His faithful followers will spend eternity with Him after He has “come again“. That holy city whose streets are paved with gold and the gates made of pearls (Rev. 21:21) is the one promised by Jesus Christ in John 14:2-3. This city is the better place, the heavenly homeland which the heroes of faith longed for (Heb. 11:16). This city built by God (Heb. 11:10; 12:22) is the one Paul talked about in Heb. 13:14 where he said, “Here on earth we don’t have a city that lasts forever. But we are waiting for the city that we have in the future” (ERV). 

The Bible passages cited above have shown clearly that the hope or expectation of both Old and New Testament saints is not to spend eternity in heaven with the Almighty Father but to be citizens of His kingdom. The New Jerusalem is the final place where the faithful and true children of God will spend their eternity with Christ dwelling among them. That is the place Jesus Christ promised in John 14:2-3. 

3. Mansions in Heaven? 

I have heard a pastor say, “My mansion is waiting for me in heaven”. He is one of the many Christians who have been misled by the inappropriate, misleading interpretation of the Greek word “mone” as “mansion” in the KJV. A mansion is a large and impressive house, especially the type built by a wealthy person to showcase his wealth. The word mone is better interpreted as “room” or “dwelling place”. The word is used twice in the New Testament – here in John 14:2 and in John 14:23 where it is translated as “abode” in the same KJV.  

What Jesus Christ promised in John 14:2 are rooms, not mansions. There are enough rooms for as many as will be found qualified to enter into the holy city, the New Jerusalem.

4. Streets of Gold in Heaven? 

One popular idea that has long been sold into Christendom is that the streets of heaven are paved with gold. But no one has been given any picture of heaven where God dwells. What the Bible has informed us is that the streets of the New Jerusalem are made of gold and the twelve gates are made of pearls. The New Jerusalem is built in heaven and is yet to be brought down. It is not known whether it will come down literally like the huge sheet Peter saw in his vision being let down to the earth (Acts 10:11) or it will take place supernaturally without the physical eye seeing it while it is being brought down to the earth.

The new heavens and a new earth, whose capital city will be the New Jerusalem will not replace heaven where God has His eternal abode. They will only replace the present heavens and the earth. Neither Isaiah (Isa. 6) nor Stephen (Acts 7:55-56) gave any description of what heaven looks like. The same applies to Daniel (Dan. 7:9-14) and John (Rev. 4 – 22). None of them gave any picture regarding the splendour of heaven and there is no reason to speculate about it. I believe the attitude of everyone should be to ensure that we are found worthy by God to enter into that heavenly city built by Him through His Son. 

Renovation or Replacement? 

God made it explicitly known through Isaiah that He was going to make new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). Apostle Peter, while exhorting his audience on godly living (2 Pet. 3:1-18), made it known that his exhortation has been made more compelling by the knowledge of the fact that the present earth on which we live will be burned up (v. 10). 

There have been arguments among Bible scholars as to the manner in which the new heavens and the new earth will come into existence. Some scholars say the present universe (or heavens and the earth) will be renewed or renovated by God purifying them by having their surfaces burned by fire. Those who hold this view interpret 2 Peter 3:10-13 as the “renewal of all things” which Jesus Christ mentioned in Matt. 19:28. They then use Acts 3:21 to support their view. There, Peter said, “Heaven must receive Him [Jesus Christ] until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets”. These scholars therefore view Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:12b-13 as a purging of the present heavens and earth to form the promised heavens and the earth. 

Those who hold the replacement view say that the present heavens and the earth will be obliterated and be replaced with entirely new ones. They base their argument on scriptures such as Matt. 5:18 (Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17) where Jesus Christ said, “until heavens and earth pass away, not an iota nor a dot will pass from the Law until all is accomplished”. Psalms 102:25-26 says the [present] earth and the heavens “will perish … and will wear out like a garment; You will change them like a robe and they will pass away” (ESV). They cite 2 Peter 3:10-13 as another text that supports this view. Verse 10b reads “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works would be burned up” (NASB). A phrase in verse 11 reads, “all these things are to be destroyed” Verse 12b repeats what has been said in verse 10 – “the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat”.  

Those who hold the replacement view cite some other scriptures such as Isaiah 24:19-20; 51:6; Micah 1:4; 1 John 2:17; Isaiah 34:4; Rev. 20:11; etc. References are also made to apocryphal 1 Enoch 72:1; 83:3-5; Didache 10:6. 

It is difficult to fault any of the two views. But a true child of God need not be unduly engrossed on this debate. Whether the new heavens and the new earth are going to be made by God through renovation of the existing ones or by their replacement does not matter. What is important to anyone is to be totally obedient to the Lord and faithfully follow Him all the days of our lives so that we will be among those who will be found worthy of entry into eternal life in God’s kingdom (2 Thes. 1:5; Rev. 3:4). Presently, we have a duty of being spiritually awake at all times, endure persecutions, trials and temptations and pray for grace to stand strong in the faith so that we will not be ashamed on the day that the Lord comes again to the earth (Luke 21:36; 1 Cor. 1:8; 1 John 2:28; Col. 1:22; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Pet. 3:14). There is a sure promise that those who love Him and prepare for His second coming will be rewarded with eternal life, also known as salvation (2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 9:28) in the kingdom of God and of His Son Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:5; Rev. 11:15). 

Departure from The Truth  

It is evident from the pages of the New Testament that the first century Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, including the apostles, had the belief that Jesus Christ would return to establish the kingdom of God here on earth during their lifetime. It is possible that they had the wrong timing of what Jesus Christ said in John 14:18 when He said, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you”. Their belief that the kingdom was going to come during their lifetime was further strengthened by Christ’s statement to His disciples. He said, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:28, NIV). Parallel verses are Mark 9:1 and Luke 9:27.  

The belief that Jesus Christ would return within their own lifetime was what made Paul say, “we who are still alive” (1 Thes. 4:17, GWT). John said, “what we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is” (1 John 4:2, GWT).  

One thing that is very clear from the words of the Messiah and from the writings of His apostles is that He will come back to the earth again to establish the kingdom of God. But as years rolled into decades, and decades into centuries and millennia this belief gradually got changed by men into that of an immediate entry into heaven at the time of death.

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:  

“The 1^st century early Jewish Christians from whom Christianity developed as a Gentile religion, believed that the kingdom of God was coming to Earth within their own lifetimes, and looked forward to a divine future on Earth. According to Bart Ehrman, when the kingdom of God did not arrive, Christian’s beliefs gradually changed into the expectation of an immediate reward in heaven after death, rather than to a future divine kingdom on Earth, despite the churches’ continuing to use the major creeds’ statements of belief in a coming resurrection day and world to come.” 

If by the word “heaven” we mean the transcendent, non-physical and glorious realm in which the Almighty Father dwells with Jesus Christ and the holy angels, there is no biblical promise given humankind that we will dwell there with God forever. What the Bible has made known is that the faithful and true people of God will be ushered into the kingdom of God when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth wherein they will live forever the blissful life that God created for mankind in the beginning. 

The Garden of Eden (Hebrew: Gan Eden; Greek: Paradeisos, anglicized as Paradise) which the first Adam lost is what the last Adam [Jesus Christ] going to restore for the chosen people of God at the end of the age. The first garden of Eden which was meant to be the eternal abode of man was not the same place as where God dwells. The new Paradise will still not be the heaven where God has His throne. When Paradise gets restored by God through Jesus Christ, it will remain forever as a beloved, holy city, the eternal dwelling place of God’s people (Rev. 2:7; 20:9; Heb. 11:10, 16; 12:22-24; 13:14). Eternal life will be lived on the new earth.  

The now popular teaching of going to the very presence of God at death is a departure from biblical truth. The patriarchs, prophets and the first Christians did not have that belief and they did not teach it. 

We must always remind ourselves of the words of Apostle Peter. He said, “And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him – speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted [or misinterpreted] his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15,16, NLT).  

The problem of distortion of biblical truth has continued to grow worse to the extent that there is hardly one church in the world today where one will not find at least one glaringly false doctrine which is being authoritatively taught. Unfortunately, many “Christians” who pride themselves as knowing the truth are swimming in the pool of fictitious, fallacious or glaringly false doctrines. The weight of darkness in our churches today is very heavy. The founders and/or leaders of these different church groups blind the people to these false doctrines with their manipulative, repetitive and authoritative teaching of their errors and imaginations. Many of the teachings openly contradict the explicit words of the Master, Jesus Christ. Many of the teachers and their followers have become so strongly deluded in their falsehoods that they don’t listen to any correction from anyone.  

Conclusion  

Nowhere in the Bible are the faithful and righteous people of God promised entry into the highest heaven, the excellent realm which the Almighty uses as His dwelling place. What has been prepared by God and promised to us is entry into the “kingdom of God”, a kingdom owned and ruled by God and His Son Jesus Christ. This kingdom, also known as the “kingdom of heaven”, a term used only by Matthew, will start at the second coming of Christ to reign here on the earth. 

The heavens and the earth which will be replaced by God are those which were created at the beginning (Gen. 1:1). They are the planets, including the earth. There is no single mention in the Bible that God will change that eternal, excellent and invisible abode where He has ever dwelt right from the past eternity. The belief that the faithful and righteous people of God will go to the very “heaven” where God Himself dwells has been taught to Christendom out of men’s fantasies.  

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him and His only begotten Son are kept in heaven for them (1 Cor. 2:9; 1 Pet. 1:4), but these glorious blessings will be given to them, not in heaven but on earth when Christ returns to the earth (2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 9:28; Rev. 22:12). They will dwell with the Son of God forever on the new earth. That is the place God has prepared for His people to dwell throughout eternity.  God, that is the Father, dwells in a realm which Paul in the Spirit described as “unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16). No verse of the Bible has said that God will ever divest Himself of this excellent glory. In His kingdom, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ will dwell with his brethren whom He adopted for God with His own blood. And we need to show gratitude if we are among those who have been given grace to be among the faithful. At the appointed time we will be given immortal bodies to live forever in the eternal Kingdom.