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through me”. This word is fulfilled in heaven. Only
those people who have been saved by the Lord
Jesus will reach heaven (John 3:36; 1 John 5:13).
In the ten points which follow we will look at the
nature of heaven in more detail.
1 Heaven is the place where we will be
perfectly happy
The French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau
(1712 – 1778) does not get at the heart of the
meaning of happiness when he remarks that
“happiness is having a healthy bank account,
a good cook and excellent digestion.” Voltaire
(1694 – 1778) states that “total happiness cannot
be known, it is not created for man.” This
philosopher is also wrong. Jesus can make us
really happy. When Jesus talks about being
happy, or blessed, it means much more than
what we understand by the word ’happy’ today.
The eternal component is important. Jesus saw
his main task as saving humans (Matt 18:11).
Those who are saved are happy because they are
given the glory of heaven. This supreme happiness
begins here on earth and will be perfected
in heaven: “Therefore he is able to save completely
those who come to God through him”
(Hebr 7:25). Only those who are saved know real
joy and happiness.
In heaven, the place without sin, happiness will
be perfect and everlasting, for none of the negative
aspects of this world will tarnish life there.
Many people must bear unspeakable suffering on
this earth. The bookshelves of the world are full
of accounts of suffering and innumerable questions
as to why an almighty and loving God can
allow them to happen.
Ever since the Flood, humanity has not remained
immune to catastrophes, large and small. On the
first of November 1755, an earthquake in Portugal
turned Lisbon into a pile of rubble. Sixty
thousand people died. This event did not fit into
the view of the world held by most people at the
time. Greatly moved and critical, the German
author Goethe wrote, “God the Creator and
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Keeper of Heaven and Earth did not show himself
to be fatherly in his punishment of both the
righteous and unrighteous.”
There is no shortage of accounts of terrible suffering.
The high number of victims does not matter,
whether six million or sixty thousand. The
death of even one person is enough for us to ask:
“How could God allow this to happen?” In the life
after death, all traces of suffering will be erased.
There, nothing will remind us of pain, war, hate
or death. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying
or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away” (Rev 21:4).
Our body will then be freed from all disease and
frailty. It will never have to fight with germs,
viruses, infections, diseases of the heart or lungs.
There will be no such things as hospitals or prisons.
There will be no more need for doctors,
nurses, police officers, prison wardens or
gravediggers.
Once we are in heaven, nobody will want to
return to earth. The time of burdens and worries
will be over forever.
The Prussian king Frederick the Great (1712 – 1786)
named his castle in the city of Potsdam near Berlin
Sanssoussi (without worries) but led a life full of
worries. Sanssoussi would only be a correct
description of heaven. Heaven is the only place
where there is no fighting, no war, no hate, no
unfaithfulness, no worries and no broken hearts.
2 Heaven is a place of pleasure for the senses
We humans pay a lot of money just to be able to
see or hear something special.
– Outrageous prices are paid to be at the opening
ceremonies of the Olympics, for example. At
the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, tickets
cost over one thousand dollars each, not to
mention the even more inflated prices of the
ticket scalpers.
– The concerts of famous conductors are popular
among those who wish to treat their ears to