Heaven At Last: The Truth About Being In Heaven.

                           

The concept of Heaven has been so widely misunderstood even in theology that more than 90% of Christians have the wrong perception of it. They perceive heaven to be the final destination which every believer must work hard to arrive at. Most Christians live in fear of not making heaven and landing in hell. This is not so- at least not according to the bible. Let me not be misconstrued, I do NOT deny the existence of heaven and hell, I believe it with all my heart for it is true and it is truth; I only seek to point out the biblical concept of heaven.

This I will now begin to do.

John 3:13
"No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven."

The question is often asked: Are we (Christians) in heaven, or it's now going to be decided whether we will go to heaven or not? To answer the question, we would have to answer the question 'Where was Jesus when he made that statement, in heaven or on earth?' Surely He was on earth, but only physically- spiritually he was living in heaven. Heaven is not a physical place, heaven is a spiritual reality. That spiritual reality is the abode of every Christian. When you become a believer, you are no more of this world; you are born and reckoned to hail from heaven. A citizen of heaven.

Psalms 87:5-6Indeed, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her." The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: "This one was born in Zion."

When you were born into this world by your mother, you were born as a citizen of her country. In the same light, when God birthed you, in your second birth, you were born as a citizen of His COUNTRY! That is the fundamental truth of being BORN AGAIN (being born a second time, not by your mother this time but by God). Christians are citizens of heaven by birth, this is expressly written in scripture.

Philippians 3:20 (NLT) 

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

By this time, the question in my second paragraph is already answered- Christians are already spiritually in heaven, it is not going to be determined by a future judgment. We have already been judged as righteous when we received salvation. Now allow me to break that down for you. Let us first understand what is means to be saved/born again.

John 3:3-6
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

In these verses lies the whole explanation of being born again. Flesh births flesh, Spirit births spirit. The first birth was when you were born into the flesh by your mother, and the second birth is when you were born into the spirit by God. What does it mean when the bible says "flesh" in relation to "Spirit"?

Rom 7:5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

Romans 8:6
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:8
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The flesh in relation to the spirit is the sinful nature of man. The flesh contradicts the spirit. So to be born into flesh simply means to be born into sin. This was everyone's state when they were born into this world. However, when a person gets born again, he is born into the Spirit. He is no more under the flesh but of the spirit.

That is when he becomes a citizen of heaven. It is not now going to be decided if he will go to heaven or not by the life he lives, he is already there! Heaven is a spiritual realm. And that is the abode of your spirit as a believer. Should you die today, you will wake up there.

Do not let anyone scare you with the "Are you sure you'll go to heaven?" question. When they ask, tell them "I'm already there". God lives in you. And wherever God lives is called Heaven! We are in heaven on earth.

If you are a Christian, do not live in fear of missing heaven and landing in hell. No one in Christ is/will be condemned to hell unless he denounces the Faith. Christianity is the only faith which guarantees the believer a sure spot in heaven. All other religions only speak under the breath of an uncertain yet hopeful appearance in 'heaven' through extreme hard work.

Romans 8:1 (KJV)

​There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1 (BBE)
​For this cause those who are in Christ Jesus will not be judged as sinners.

John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but IS PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE.

If you are a believer, you have already passed from death into LIFE. There is no condemnation awaiting you. Do not live in fear. The NIV of that verse is even more interesting.

John 5:24 (NIV)

"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."

What! Did Jesus say believers will not be judged because they have passed from death into life? Well if He did not say that, it would not have been written. He did not mean, however, that there is no judgment for believers, Jesus was speaking of the judgment of heaven and hell- that judgement is already passed after He died and resurrected for all mankind.

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is APPOINTED unto men TO DIE ONCE, and after this the JUDGMENT.

Man must only die once and after that death comes the judgement. Everyone must satisfy that universal law, in fact, everyone has already satisfied that law. The Bible says We were DEAD in sin. And the Judgement was already passed- we were already hell bound. But this is the Gospel: Christ came to partake in our death so that we will partake in His life in resurrection!

Hebrews 9:27-28
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto SALVATION.

Col 2:13
And you, being dead through your sins and the evil condition of your flesh, to you, I say, he gave life together with him, and forgiveness of all our sins;

We were dead and Christ came to give us life. When the writer of Hebrews said man must die once, he was telling us that we had already satisfied that law when we were dead in sin. He went on to say that after man has died once, he is judged; we were judged and condemned to hell. But Jesus intercepted that condemnation by bringing us back to life through Salvation. Now the road is clear- no more death, and no more condemnation. So Jesus said ...

John 11:26
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

You may ask "Why do Christians die?"

Your view of death is what the problem is. What is death? We were alive and kicking when we were not saved, yet God reckoned us as dead. What is God's view of death? He told Adam "The day you eat of the tree, you will surely die", but Adam ate it and lived some 969 years on top. So what really is death?
Death is the state of a being when it gets disconnected from its source (God). Anyone who is not connected in spirit to the Father of all spirits is already dead. Death is a spiritual reality. When a person dies physically, it is not always called death, for some men do sleep and depart from the body to be with the Lord. This is why when a believer dies, the bible does not record it as death but it rather uses "sleep".

Christians don't die. They sleep. Even though physically the effect is the same, spiritually the experience is different. Physical things are not what defines reality. Reality is of the spirit. Christians do not die because they are reconciled back to God, not disconnected from Him. It is unbelievers who are already dead in reality.

John 11:11,13
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

Acts 13:36
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers..

1 Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

Know the truth and the truth shall set you free. The truth is you are alive in Christ not to be condemned anymore. But you are alive in Heaven. This is not a licence to live life any how we choose, I will post another blog on the reason for existence.

Peace be unto you all.