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Friday, September 30, 2011

A personal Tour of Heaven

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John

Heaven's Featured Attraction
Out of all the books in the Bible, none gives us a more detailed picture of the reality of heaven than the book of Revelation.  Only the Bible can give you accurate, true descriptions of this place.  As wonderful as it is, and as true as it is that it is the destination of those who have by grace alone through faith alone trusted in Christ alone, the place is not the focus.  If anything, the Person of Christ occupies the central theme of Heaven.  Jesus Christ is indeed the darling of Heaven. 

With that said, I would like to take the next several blogs to explore Heaven, and understand how the Bible communicates the glory of God through the visions of John in Revelation.  My prayer is that you, dear believer, will find encouragement and hope as we look together at these exquisite chapters of God's word.  If you are reading this blog, and have never experienced salvation through Jesus Christ, my prayer would be that the Holy Spirit would so move in your heart to receive and embrace Heaven's treasure - Christ Jesus.

How Revelation Communicates the Reality of Heaven
Five chapters in Revelation deal with the subject and reality of Heaven.  In giving a broad sweeping glance of Revelation 1, 4, 5, 7, 21 and 22, we can note the following observations about Heaven:

1. Heaven is God centered.  Revelation 1 alone mentions some 40 names or descriptions of Jesus Christ.  In Revelation 4 and 5 we find the throne of God, and the Lamb, dominating the scene.  Revelation 7 depicts God being surrounded by His saints, and the angels, praising Him for salvation.  Then in Revelation 21 and 22 we see the new Heavens and the New earth, centralized around the uncreated glory of God.

2. Heaven's Glory is Jesus Christ.  In Revelation 21:23 we discover that the glory of God is the light of the Heavenly reality to come, and that Christ is described as the lamp. 

3. Heaven's pleasure is God's people enjoying their God.  In Revelation 4 and 5 we see the 24 elders, representative of the Saints of all ages, casting their crowns at the Savior's feet.  Throughout Revelation we find the saints of God singing songs of praise, doxologies, to the glory of God.  Heaven is far from boring.  It is unendingly joyful.  For the people of God, beholding one another, behold the glory of God in and through and among them. 

4. Heaven is a real place.  Heaven is not an ethereal dreamscape, floating on clouds.  It is a real place, being built by Jesus Himself (John 14:1-6).  The New Heavenly Jerusalem, described in Revelation 21-22, is enormous.  As it comes out of Heaven, its boundaries would be large enough to cover almost all of North America, however its height, 1500 miles, would extend out into space.  There is enough square footage in the New Jerusalem to hold literally billions of people.  And that's just the city, not counting what will be the New earth!

Tomorrow we will continue with our tour of Heaven.  May the Lord bless you dear reader this day.