FromNowUntilForeverBook8.5x5.5 REV.indd

heaven.”As the group of reporters laughed, a serious Martin peered into their eyes and said, “What’s so funny about that? I do want above everything else to go to heaven.” 141 And who wouldn’t, based on everything the Bible tells us about how wonderful this “paradise” is going to be? Those commended for their faith in Hebrews 11 did not receive fulfillment of God’s promise to them while still alive because He “had provided something better for us, so that apartfrom us they would not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40, emphasisadded). That “something better” is heaven, which can first be described as a created place. Focusing on the word “created,” realize that there has never been a time that God wasn’t. He was, is, and always will be.TheWord says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), which clearly indicates that God was around before heaven ever came into being. Consider, too, the term “place.” Heaven is anything but some mist floating around in the clouds or among the stars. Just hours before His crucifixion, the Lord comforted His disciples by assuring them He was going to prepare a place for them (John 14:2). According to the Bible, special saints had the opportunity to gaze upon a portion of its mystery. Isaiah caught a vision of the Lord encircled by angels while being commissioned into prophetic service. Stephen saw heaven open and Jesus at the Father’s right hand just moments before his death. John the Revelator viewed and recorded evidence of a literal, observ- able, tangible location, as we’ll soon explore further. These and other Scriptures indicate also that heaven is the current home of God, His son Jesus, angels, and all believers who have died up to this point . God is spirit and does not need a specific place to dwell.Yet, accord-

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