What Heaven Really Is

The typical (and mistaken) definition of heaven in American pop culture is “the place all good people go after they die to have an eternally good time.”

But the key element missing from flawed ideas of heaven is love. If love is the highest ethic, shouldn’t it be involved in reaching the highest place? Partying with periodic rests upon a cloud (secular Western heaven); “becoming one” with an impersonal, eternal force (Eastern mystical heaven); or spending eternity with 70 virgins (Islamic jihad heaven); have nothing to do with love, but are instead based on self reward.

Heaven is a place of joy, beauty, peace, and a sinless life (Rev. 21-22). But all of these benefits, although  spectacular, will be secondary to our fellowship with and worship of Christ who got us to heaven in the first place through His love and sacrifice for us (John 14:3, Rev. 7:9-12).