Christian/Muslim Threadsconcept of heaven in islamActually, I will have to respectfully disagree with some of my Christian brothers and sisters. Hindu_student, I believe that heaven is a literal place. Jesus promised in John 14:1-3 -- "Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." A very beautiful promise. And it sounds like a real place, not just a spiritual place, nor is it "in the middle of nowhere," as you say. Though a full description of heaven is not found in the Bible, because as many have already pointed out, heavenly things are infinitely beyond our imagination. There are many verses, which give us a little preview of what heaven will be like. Revelation 21 and 22 give a beautiful description of the holy city, New Jerusalem, which is sort of like the capital of the new heavens and the new earth. I believe that in this city are found the mansions that Jesus said He will prepare for us. (If you have a Bible, I invite you to read it. Or you can read it online at Biblegateway.com.) Hebrews 11: 16 tells us that God is preparing this city for us. "But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." It tells us in chapter 20 of Revelation, that after a 1,000 years of the saints reigning in heaven with Christ, this holy city will come down from heaven to become part of the earth made new by God. You will notice that the city is perfectly square and the circumference is 12,000 furlongs, or 1,500 miles. Since a furlong is one-eighth of a mile, this means the city is 375 miles on each side. Believe it or not, 450 New York Cities could be placed inside its gigantic walls. The streets are pure gold, and the gates of it are solid pearl - not merely composed of pearls, but actually made of one solid pearl. (http://www.amazingfacts.org/items/Read_ ... sp?ID=644#) You can also read how the foundations of the city are adorned with all sorts of precious stones, such as jasper, sapphire, and emerald, to name a few. Not only that, but the city itself is of "pure gold, like clear glass." And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22: 3-). It truly is a beautiful place that Jesus is preparing for us! As for your question on our physical self, I believe that we will have physical forms and attributes in heaven and in the new earth. In Philippians 3: 21, we can read how Jesus "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his ressurection, he showed them that He was flesh and bone (Luke 24), and then he ascended back to heaven in that same bodily form. Unlike our bodies now, however -- which are full of defects and disease -- our heavenly bodies will be perfect and immortal. God wants to restore things as it was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, before sin entered the world. I Corinthians 15: 51-53 -- Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Revelation 21: 4 -- And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. I can't wait to be in that perfect place with my loving God forever and ever! ***If you want more information on heaven in the Bible, go to the free online library of amazingfacts.com |
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