Heaven is Real: Understanding Our Heavenly Citizenship

When we explore the reality of heaven, we must engage our God-given intellect and reasoning. God created us in His image, with intrinsic value from the very beginning. Understanding heaven's reality is essential to our faith journey and shapes how we live our lives today.

What does the Bible tell us about heaven and paradise?

In Genesis 2, God placed humanity in the Garden of Eden—a paradise on earth filled with everything pleasant to the eye. It's important to note that when mankind sinned, we didn't fall from heaven; we fell from paradise on earth. This perfect garden that God planted specifically for us was beyond beautiful, filled with fascinating plants, trees, and amazing animals.

Over thousands of years, much of this original beauty has disintegrated due to what Romans 7 calls "the law of sin and death." Everything moves toward entropy, disorder, and decay.

How does God restore us rather than replace us?

This is essential to understanding God's character: When God saves us from sin, He doesn't replace us—He redeems us. He restores us while keeping our original design intact. God never changes His approach. As Malachi 3:6 states, "I, the Lord do not change," and Hebrews 13:8 confirms that "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

God is a redeemer, not a replacer. Never believe the lie that His unfailing love for you could somehow give up and decide to replace you. You are irreplaceable to Him.

Why is the concept of heaven so important to our faith?

Without a vertical perspective—a heaven-is-real consciousness—heavenly downloads can't reach us. Heaven is creation central. Even your identity is written down in heaven. The blueprints for all of life are stored in the banks of heaven.

James 1:17 reminds us that "every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning." This reflects God's unchanging character and methodology.

How do we gain heavenly citizenship?

Heavenly citizenship is guaranteed for all who believe in Jesus. It's the ultimate inclusion meets the ultimate exclusion: God so loved the world (inclusion) that He gave His only begotten Son—one way for all through Jesus (exclusion).

This convergence of extremes showcases the power and authenticity of God's amazing grace. It makes heavenly citizenship and child-of-God identity the authentic passport for all of life.

Only you have the authority to accept Jesus' sacrifice for you. God will never force heavenly citizenship upon you. You can reject Jesus—it's your choice. But as C.S. Lewis wisely noted, "The safest road to hell is the gradual one. The gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

What happens when we die? Are we just ghosts in heaven?

We need to expose the lie of "ghost theology." Some people, even Christians, have bought into the unbiblical idea that in heaven we're all just floating ghosts. This misconception makes the concept of heaven less appealing—nobody wants to be a ghost.

Jesus directly addressed this in Luke 24:39 when He said, "Look at my hands and my feet. It's really me. Touch me and see. For a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones like you see I have." He even ate fish to prove He was physical!

First Corinthians 15:52 tells us that "the dead in Christ shall be raised imperishable and completely transformed"—not as ghosts, but as glorified physical beings.

What will our resurrected bodies be like?

In His resurrected state, Jesus walked through walls, ate food, wore clothes, and appeared and disappeared at will. He had complete mastery over space, matter, time, and energy. This gives us a glimpse of what our glorified state will be like.

Philippians 3:20-21 explains that Jesus "will not only transform but completely refashion our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body."

The physical and material are not intrinsically evil. Jesus came to earth to redeem us along with all of creation. Colossians 1:20 tells us that through Christ, God reconciles "all things to Himself...whether things on earth or things in heaven."

Is heaven more real than earth?

Hebrews 9:23 refers to "earthly copies of the heavenly things." This suggests that heaven is the original, and earth is the copy! Heaven is more real than the earth you're standing on. Earth has beauty instilled by God the Creator, but it's still just a copy compared to the original.

James 4:14 describes this mortal life as "a wisp of vapor, a puff of smoke, a mist that is visible for a while and then disappears." It's this life that's the vapor, not heaven.

When Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you," did you think it would be a step down from the best here on earth? Absolutely not! The Lord is preparing something far more tangible, beautiful, and substantive than anything mankind has ever known or imagined.

What does it mean to have our names written in heaven?

Luke 10:20 records Jesus saying, "Rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Philippians 4:3 mentions "fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life." And Revelation 21:27 states that only those "whose names have been written in the Lamb's book of life" will be admitted to the New Jerusalem.

At the moment of salvation, your true identity is documented in heaven. This heavenly record is your real passport—one that angels and devils tremble over.

Is heaven exclusive?

Yes, heaven is exclusive—exclusively for you and for everyone who calls on Jesus. Exclusively for God's children. No demons, sickness, disease, or poverty are allowed in heaven.

Some religious intellectuals judge God as being more loving if He were to provide multiple ways to heaven—a buffet of saviors to suit everyone's preferences. But this is the epitome of arrogance: a condemned person telling God they need options on how to be saved.

There's only one Savior who descended into hell for us—Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. He alone died in our place for our sin and was raised to reign at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.

Life Application

Heaven is command central, where our commander Jesus reigns. He alone is the King of all kings, reigning from the highest, most elevated place. Our hope is real because Jesus our Savior is alive, victorious, and seated on the throne above every other throne.

Consider these questions this week:

• How does knowing that heaven is real change how I approach my daily challenges?
• Am I living with a vertical perspective that acknowledges heaven's reality, or am I stuck in horizontal, worldly thinking?
• What would change in my life if I truly embraced my identity as a citizen of heaven?
• How can I use my heavenly citizenship to make a difference on earth this week? 

This week, commit to living as a heavenly ambassador on earth. Make decisions with eternity in mind. Remember that you're not just passing through this world—you're here on assignment from the King of Kings. Live to glorify God with the vertical God-perspective and heaven in your peripheral vision. Your heavenly citizenship is the real passport to abundant life.