Wondering About Heaven
A poll taken of the American people by Market Facts Telenation for US News & World Report appeared in the June 20, 1997 edition of USA TODAY. It stated that 67% of the adults polled are certain there is a heaven. Additionally, it reported that 88% of these same adults are certain they are going to heaven. Thus, eighty-eight percent of the adults in the US who were polled for this survey who believe there is a heaven also believe they will go to heaven.
Why do you think so may people believe they will go to Heaven? In my opinion, they base their belief on what they hope is true, not what they really know. People don't want to think they are not going to Heaven since this is such an important issue. It is for eternity. Down deep within, they know that there is a possibility it will either be Heaven or Hell!
In this letter I am going to share some thoughts with you about Heaven, as well as Hell. You may agree or disagree with any of my comments. Either way is okay. I have done some research on the subject to share information I believe will bless you. I do not share these comments on Heaven and Hell from an authoritative perspective, as I have never been to either place. However, I do think the descriptive phrases I share are in harmony with what the Bible says about Heaven and Hell. Regardless, you must understand these are things reported by man. It is impossible for human beings to be totally accurate because of our limited ability to describe these two places with human language. Heaven is so wonderful, so fantastic, and Hell is so horrible, so awful, that I believe it is actually beyond the human mind to fully comprehend either place.
It is the Lord's desire that every human being goes to Heaven. The Bible was written and has been preserved to show us the way so we won't miss Heaven. I certainly don't want to see anyone miss Heaven. I would never consider spending thousands of hours in teaching and writing if it weren't so important. I have not done it for financial gain, nor do I take monetary compensation for any thing I write or for any of my time spent in teaching. Not that it is wrong to do so, but the Lord has provided for my family's need through my employment.
I will say it as boldly as I can: You do not want to miss Heaven! Jesus placed a greater value on our going to Heaven than on our gaining the whole world. He knew how important it is. "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?..." (Matthew 16:26). The salvation of one soul is worth more than the value of all the things in the world. But the choice is ours. We must choose between Heaven or Hell. It is a decision all mankind must make while on this Earth. Heaven is a free gift from God, but He has set up some conditions. The conditions are simple. In fact, they are so simple it seems most people pass right over them. My desire is to help people understand why choosing Heaven over Hell is the most critical decision they will ever make in their life. Later in this letter I will review how a person can ensure that they do not miss Heaven.
Interesting Facts about Heaven
In the Bible the words "Heaven," "heavens," and "heavenly" occur 729 times; four hundreds thirty-four times in The Old Testament and two hundred ninety-five times in the New Testament. For most people, Heaven means one thing. It is the wonderful place where God centers His presence, where His throne is, where the holy angels are, where the "many mansions" of the "Father's house" are, and where the "redeemed of the Lord" will live in sinless joy forever.
Heaven is a spiritual place for our spiritual bodies, not a material place for our physical bodies. At present we can only attempt to understand Heaven through our physical senses because that is how we identify and define things. The Bible even helps our understanding of Heaven by using descriptive words and phrases of a material nature. This is to help us comprehend Heaven by giving us a more vivid picture of its reality.
Mankind once thought the Earth was the center of the universe. But our sun, with its nine planets as asteroids, is but a dwarf in the particular system to which it belongs. In relation to the whole universe, it is about as large comparatively as a single grain of sand in the Sahara desert.
So immense is the universe in which we live that it has to be measured in 'light years." Light, like electricity, travels at a velocity of 186,330 miles per second. One light year is about 6 trillion (6,000,000,000,000) miles. The nearest star to Earth is 25 trillion miles away. There are billions of stars in our universe, and it has been calculated that the cluster of stars in the constellation of Hercules is 36,000 light years away! That is approximately 216,000 trillion miles.