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Get your Bibles out, because we’re going to take a look at a lot of Scripture, in order to get a true sense of God’s definition and depiction and explanation of heaven. My suggestion is that you have a pen & notebook handy, and that you read the entire context of each Scripture given. Prove the truth to yourself!
When you take the time to look at “heaven” in the Bible, you discover a wonderful truth. Heaven is not a place you go when you die! Heaven is the realm of the spirit. It can be used to mean a physical place above earth (either the sky, or outer space), and the context will make that clear.
God, Jesus’ Father, dwells in heaven
Ecclesiastes 5:2 Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you are upon earth…
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may … glorify our Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 6:9ff Our Father, Who art in heaven, holy be Your name… Matthew 18:35 (Jesus) …So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,… Matthew 5:34 …Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
God, Jesus’ Father…. was in heaven AND was in Jesus at the same time
John 8:29 And He that sent me is with me; the Father has not left me alone… John 10:38 But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works; that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him; John 14:10 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwells in me, He does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.
Heaven can be the physical place above earth
Matthew 13.25 ..and the powers of heaven shall be shaken
Mark 4;4 …and the fowls of the air (ouranos – heaven)…
Isaiah 55:8,9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Jesus came from heaven
John 6:33,38 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven ..For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will…
HOW did Jesus come from heaven?
Matthew 1:20 …for that which is conceived in her is of the holy spirit
Luke 1:35 …The holy spirit shall come upon (arrive at) you, and the power of the Highest shall…
We believers come from heaven too
John 3:3, 5 Except a man be born from above…
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven; from where also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ
Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling…
Mankind has dealings with heaven all the time
John 3:27 A man can receive nothing; except it be given him from heaven… (context)
I Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth…
II Corinthians 5:1,2 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven…
Ephesians 1:10 That in the administration of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him. Colossians 1:5 ...for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven…
Hebrews 9:23,24 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The devil and Satan dwell in the heavenly realm
Ephesians 6:12 For we grapple not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (realms).
Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known (by experience) by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers…
Earth=what is visible, measurable, physical Heaven=that which is invisible, spiritual
What’s Jesus up to right now?
John 6:51 ,56 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him…
John 14:23 …If a man love me… my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 16:14 He (holy spirit) shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
JOHn 17:21 That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us…
John 17:22,23 And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one…
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Romans 14:17,18 …For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the holy spirit. The kingdom of God is not physical, but is spiritual
Matthew 6:33 But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness…
Matthew21:43 …the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (of the kingdom of God – ie: fruit of the spirit…Galatians 5:22,23).
Luke 7:28 …he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist Luke 17:20, 21 …the kingdom of God doesn’t come with “watching closely with intent”. The kingdom of God does not come about as the result of a mental exercise.
Other verses for your consideration
I Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (dunamis) Acts 1:8 …ye shall receive (into use, or benefit) power (dunamis) after that the holy spirit is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses…
Colossians 1:13 …God delivered us from the authority (power = exousia) of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
I Thessalonians 2:12 …God… called us onto His kingdom & glory
John 14:2,3 …I go to prepare a place… What was the place Jesus was going to prepare? Physical… or spiritual?
John 16:5, 16, 28 But now I go my way to him that sent me; A little while, and you shall not see me; and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. Where the heck did Jesus go?
John 14:9-11, 20, 23, 28 John 16 27-30 John 17:3, 5, 8, 12,13, 18, 21-24
Now I know that the commonly held belief is that heaven is “out there” with God. But God is here, is He not? Right here. Right now.
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The book, Give Me Christ … Revelations of the Glorified Christ is now available on Amazon.
Other related studies are:
The Invisible Creation
What is Death and Hell?
Visiting Heaven
Your Spiritual Home
Hi Steve,
Thank you for what you are doing to help others better understand the Bible. I’d come to believe that Jesus was only tested by Satan in the desert, never tempted. He could not be tempted because he was fully God’s son, pure and holy in spirit.
I was taught that bibles who refer to Jesus being tempted, versus only tested, are mistranslating. I noticed in your post’s reference to Jesus 40 days/nights that you quoted verses using both.
I’m not near as advanced as you in my studies, so just asking for clarity on this point if you can provide some. I appreciate your work. Thank you.
So nice to get your comment.
The way man generally reads the Bible is this: He has (or gets) his understanding and beliefs concerning God from man… maybe his pastor, a trusted friend, a book he reads, or combinations thereof. For sure, hearing the Bible taught and interpreted by his pastor or other man of God quite often has a LOT to do with his beliefs. The Bible is usually involved, being used to back up or support these beliefs. Then when that person reads the Bible on his own, he interprets it to fit his existing understanding. This is very understandable, as very few have the ability or confidence to allow the Bible itself to provide their understanding and beliefs. In addition it is very easy for the Bible to appear to contradict itself, thus making our own interpretation very important to our understanding.
I don’t believe there exists any contradiction in the Bible, as long as it is understood according to God’s intent. THAT is what takes a lot of effort. There are so many things I do not (yet) understand, and being able to recognize and accept that truth saves me a lot of trouble. It’s also very uplifting when, having come to a place where I acknowledge that I have no idea what something means, I give it to the Father, and realize that if He doesn’t tell me what it means, I’ll just have to be in the dark regarding that verse (or subject). More than once, God has then enlightened my understanding, so that it fits with everything else I understand in the Bible, and I am once again in awe at the wisdom of God. But this attitude I have toward the Word of God also gives me extreme confidence in the understanding God has given me, despite it being different from the rest of Christianity (at times). Whether or not something agrees with the majority of Christianity, to me, is not a place I’m even looking for.
To test and to tempt have the same meaning, in the Greek. We have different nuances of understanding of those two words in English, “tempt” being more associated with wrong, or sinful behavior. “I was tempted to eat the whole container of ice cream.” Whereas “test” carries with it no such connotation. “My endurance was tested.” Man distinguishes between these words in the Bible, but God does not. Yes, there are nuances of meaning, but they must be discerned from context. The word “test” is not found in the Bible (in the King James Version anyway). In the New Testament, only one single word is used (along with a version of it which carries a unique prefix). So whoever has decided that it means “test” here, but “tempt” there is doing so out of his own understanding and interpretation. I’m not saying he’s wrong, just that the Bible itself does not make any distinction.
Hebrews 4:15 makes it quite clear that however we are tempted, so was Jesus. “…touched with the feeling of our infirmities” is an important phrase in that verse, as is “like as we are, yet without sin.” These indicate that Jesus’ experience was the same as our own experiences, as regards temptation. “Yet without sin” indicates specifically that Jesus was led in the direction of sin by this “tempting” or “testing,” but that he never allowed it to take him completely there.
James 1:12-15 has a few things to say re: temptation. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (vs. 14). Some people think God is testing us; others that the devil is tempting us. The concept is describing the exact same experience. I myself believe vs. 13, that God never tests, or tempts man. But I do believe the devil does. God wants to make it as easy as possible for us to walk in His ways and to avoid the devil’s ways — testing or tempting is not God’s way.
Many have the idea that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, that merely meant the devil was talking to him. But no, the Word of God says that he was tempted to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple in order to test God (KJV says “tempt” – Luke 4:12). He was actually tempted (it looked good, it looked like it might bring good results) to have all the kingdoms of the world bow to him… all for a good reason of course! The way to convert everyone might actually be to feed them, so that they would come to him and receive from him because he was supplying their physical needs. (he also had many other temptations during that time – these are the specific ones mentioned).
Yes Jesus was “pure and holy in spirit.” He also had the will of his flesh, which is why he could be man’s Savior. And his flesh got tempted by devilish thoughts, feelings and influences, just like you and I. He was drawn away (from God) by lust, and enticed (it looked and felt GOOD). The difference is that he never gave in to those feelings, having learned to discern and stand against them in the wilderness, and then staying true to those lessons throughout his earthly ministry.
I find this truth, that Jesus felt the touch of Satan’s temptations, very endearing and helps Jesus be very relatable to me.