Heaven: Questions People Ask
Common Questions People Ask about Heaven
There are many questions people ask about heaven. Some will not be answered until they get there. However, the Bible does provide answers to some of the questions people ask about heaven. Below are just a few of them.
Why do Christians look forward to going to heaven?
The answers to this question comprise three popular reasons.
- Many Christians look forward to being in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just to see Him face to face is what they anticipate. They look forward to talking to him, touching him, bowing in his presence and thanking him for dying for them.
- The reunion with a loved one is a reason for wanting to get to heaven.
- To serve the Lord all the time without interruptions of any kind will be pure joy for some people.
Will Jesus still have nail prints in his hands?
Yes, you will see that the scars from the nails that pierced His hands are still there. According to Acts 1:7, Jesus will return just as He left with nail prints and all.
Who resides in heaven now?
No one is in heaven now. When a believer dies, he goes to paradise, while an unbeliever goes to the place of torment. Heaven will not be our eternal home until the end of the age. All of us will go there together.
Will you look the same in heaven as you do on earth? The body that we will have will be a spiritual body. Jesus could go through a wall or walk right through a door, yet he had a physical body. We are going to be that way. Though our body will be a glorified physical body, it will also be a spiritual one.
Will there be marriages in heaven? For in the resurrection they (man and woman) neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (Matthew 22:30)
Angels are not sexual beings. They do not procreate. They do not share sexual intimacy, and neither will we in heaven. Marriage is a physical union and is terminated with the death of one spouse (Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39). Sexual intimacy will no longer be necessary for one’s knowledge and enjoyment of another. We will be able to love without physical intimacy. On earth, we love our parents, but we wouldn’t think of having a sexual encounter with them. A sexual relationship is not needed for us to express our love for them. There will be no marriage or physical sex in heaven. There will be no need for it.
Will families live together in heaven?
Our homes in heaven will differ just as they do on earth — some large, some small. Every person will be happy because of his ability to appreciate and respond and be sensitive to the grace of God. In heaven, we will all be one big family and enjoy being with one another.
Will we watch a videotape of all the wrong things we did on earth?
No. God has put all confessed sins in the sea of forgetfulness.
How will life on earth continue in heaven?
All Christians are going to still differ in heaven just as we do on earth.
Will we get fat in heaven?
In heaven, unlike on earth, you can eat all you want to and not get fat! The food we eat in heaven, however, will go into a resurrected, gloried body that has been raised on a higher level than our bodies are today. Our focus in heaven will not be on food but on Jesus, the Bread of Life. Eating will be possible, but feeding on the Word of God will satisfy our appetites in a more glorified way.
When I die how do I get to heaven?
When a believer dies an angel escorts him to heaven. The angel will guide and escort him and open the gate of heaven.
Do we go directly to heaven when we die?
At the time of death one goes to an intermediate state called “paradise” to await the resurrection of the body. When we die we go to paradise where we wait with Jesus for the resurrection of our glorified bodies, which will be given to us when Jesus come with His saints. We will be disembodies spirits when we die according to 2 Corinthians 5. We won’t have our glorified bodies, and we will not yet have received our rewards. Therefore, we are just in an intermediate state. At the coming of Christ when we get our new bodies, we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ to be given our rewards. It is only then that we enter into heaven.
After that intermediate state, we will then immediately be with Jesus.
Do people who commit suicide go to heaven?
Even though there has been much controversy about this, a good explanation has been given that a person can be sick in his soul as well as in his body. Anyone who commits suicide is desperately ill. God does not hate people who are sick. Since Jesus is the Great Physician, it is believed that Jesus will complete the healing of the body and the soul in heaven. The retarded will be retarded no more. The crippled will be crippled no more. The sick in mind or soul will be tortured no more. Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal Savior will go to heaven, even if he dies by his own hand.
Will sinners who have confessed Jesus as Lord go to heaven?
Heaven in a holy place adorned by the presence of our Savior himself. All sinners will experience a new birth and go to heaven, not as sinners but as redeemed sinners. Jesus is ready to accept anyone who calls upon him in repentance and faith (Romans 10:13).
Why does one fear death and going to heaven?
This is God’s way of keeping us at our assigned tasks in this present world and work. God gave us the desire to live, not to die. He put in us a fear of death in order that we would do our work in this life. Death, to some is a frightening enemy. Even God calls it an enemy. God did not create us to die. Death is an intruder. Death is a curse. There is good news, however. When Jesus died on the cross, he took the sting out of death. There is no need to fear. Those who die in the Lord enter into a new way of living — the glorified way. There is no need to be afraid. As Christians we should sing and praise God and look forward to seeing Jesus and experiencing the love of God expressed in the beautiful place we know as heaven.
How can people know for sure they are going to heaven?
You can know for sure that you are going to heaven. John 1 5:13 says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life."
Salvation is not something we get when we die. You get saved on earth. The ones who put their trust in the Lord Jesus have everlasting life now. We know we are going to heaven by taking God’s Word for it. He plainly said that He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son and whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life by believing and acting upon the promise of Romans 10:13 that says, "For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
No one is saved after death. As soon as you call on the name of the Lord while you are alive, you will be saved from that moment.
Conclusion
Heaven is the place where most people want to live at the end of this earthly life. God has prepared that very special place for each one of us who desires to spend eternity with Him. The Bible tells us how we can know with certainty that we have eternal life and a place in heaven with God.Those who trust Christ as their personal Savior will be admitted into heaven. Though broken by death here on earth, life continues unbroken in heaven.Heaven is the inheritance Jesus has bequeathed to us, in His loving grace and mercy, through His suffering and death. When we go to heaven, we receive all God has to offer us. We inherit the whole creation of the Lord, re-created and redeemed. In the heavenly city, we will have a home — a mansion that Jesus has prepared for us (John 14:1-3).
Heaven is a place where we all should long to go. It is beautiful with a perfect environment having nothing unclean; no disease, no death. All of eternity is in heaven for us to enjoy being in an everlasting kingdom. In heaven everything is perfect — perfect physical bodies and perfect fellowship with one another. In heaven we will be with our saved loved ones and with God. In heaven we will be given assignments similar to the work in the Lord we do on earth. We will be rewarded according to our works on earth (Matthew 16:27), according to our own labor (1 Corinthians 3:8), for diligently seeking God (Hebrews 11:6), for secretly fasting and praying (Matthew 6:6), for secretly giving alms (Matthew 6:4), for being a prophet (Matthew 10:41), and for giving up things and people to follow Jesus (Matthew 19:29).
As God’s people, we should long for heaven. This pleases our Lord who has prepared a place for us (Hebrews 11:13-16; 2 Corinthians 5:2). We should be ever motivated by the anticipation of heaven (Philippians 3:14; 2 Timothy 4:8).
To EVERYONE who has read this article, I pray that I will see you in our eternal home — HEAVEN!
—Reverend Margaret Minnicks
Minister of Christian Education
B.A., M.A, MDiv, COG
