Revelation 21:1-8
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
What makes heaven, heaven? The first thing that makes heaven, heaven is that God is there. Heaven will be a place where all separation from the fullness of the presence of God will be removed. Heaven will be filled with the glory of God and it will be a place where His people will live with Him for all of eternity. When the new heaven and earth come, along with the New Jerusalem, this current order will have “passed away.” God will have made “all things new.” There are three more things in this new order that will make heaven what it is.
First, heaven will be heaven because the curse will be removed. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, a curse was placed upon the entire creation. Paul describes this in Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Several things accompanied this curse for the human experience: tears, death, sorrow, crying, and pain. These are all an accepted, normal part of human existence, but in God’s original design and creation, these things were not present. When sin entered the world, all of these things became a part of human existence.
Heaven will be a place where all tears are wiped away by God Himself. There will be no more death because Christ abolished death at the cross and cast it into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14). There will be no more sorrow or crying because there will be no reason to be sad in heaven. We will be consumed with the goodness and majesty of our God and the joy of knowing Him. Lastly, there will be no more pain. There will be no more hurting or suffering, either emotional or physical. Our bodies that break down and fail will be new glorified bodies fit for eternity. Heaven will be absolutely absent of all of the things that make this life unpleasant. The curse will be removed.
Second, heave will be heaven because our salvation will be completed. Our salvation was accomplished and settled by Jesus on the cross. All that was needed to save us was accomplished 2000 years ago when He shed His blood for our sins. We can know and be assured of our salvation today by faith in Him and His work (1 John 5:13). When we believe, God begins a work in our lives and sanctifies us until He takes us home to heaven. One day we will be raised from the dead with a glorified body and we will spend eternity with Him. When we get to heaven, our salvation will be complete. Heaven will be about us enjoying the completion of our salvation and enjoying the relationship we have with our God forever.
Third, heaven will be heaven because sin will be no more. Imagine if sin were still around when we went to heaven. Things would be messed up all over again. Jesus dealt with the sin issue on the cross and will judge sin at the Great White Throne Judgment. Jesus atoned for sin on the cross, but the lost world who rejected His saving grace will be judged for their sin and be eternally condemned to the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). There will be no more sin in heaven. Every heart there will have bowed the knee to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Sin will be no more. Eternity in heaven will be a reality without evil and wickedness of any kind. We have never known life this way. Imagine a world without evil. Imagine living life without constantly being tempted by evil. Imagine being completely free from sin in us and around us. That is what heaven will be like.
Are you going to heaven? The Bible teaches us that we can know that we have eternal life because we have placed our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). He has made all the provision needed for you to spend eternity with Him there. All you have to do is trust in Him. Do you long to be free from sin? Jesus came to set sinners free. “ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).