Heaven on Earth

What Is Heaven?

 By: Stephania Nerestant

Most people have thought of a place of peace, a place of rest, a place beautiful and sublime; Utopia. And very often we separate Heaven from Earth. We see Heaven as the place of God's dwelling and Earth as our dwelling place, two different places. However, we encounter these two very different places in The Garden of Eden. The garden was certainly a beautiful place, but I believe the beauty of the garden rested upon the fact that God would come there to communicate with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8). We can confidently conclude, that heaven is wherever God dwells. God is omnipresent, that is, He can be in multiple places at once (Psalm 139:7-8, Jeremiah 23:23-24). Imagine yourself in a beautiful place where God does not reign, it would not be long until chaos ensued.  

"....heaven is wherever God dwells"

In Heaven, there is justice and judgement. Heaven thus reflects the goodness of God. Lucifer lived in Heaven until he broke this rest, he caused a ruckus and God had to restore it by ejecting him and his angels (Revelation 12:7-9). God ejected him because he broke His perfect Sabbath (rest) in heaven and he will soon be completely destroyed by God from this Earth. God made us to live in harmony and in love with one another and He promises to restore this beautiful place to us (Revelation 21:3, Hebrews 4:9-11), be mindful however, we can start living that way now; Heaven is the place where God dwells, remember? The concept of Heaven on Earth is repeated, countless times, in the Bible (Exodus 33:14).  We can see throughout the Bible, that men would erect altars so that they can worship God, so that they could be in His Presence. God has even said in His words: "let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them"(Exodus 25:8). Since sin entered the world, the modes of communion with God changed, but He longs to restore Eden’s bliss in abundance, to give us the chance to spending eternity in His presence. In the meantime, we as Christians, can experience heaven on Earth. Some of the ways God wants to dwell with us includes:

Our Churches: 

       The same way that God's
presence was represented as the fire in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle, Jesus came and became the temple on Earth. Jesus is heaven on Earth. Let us continue to reflect on His Word. Instead of being about ourselves in church," let come into his house, gather in His name to worship HIM". (Isaiah 56:7, Matthew 21:13)
 

Our Homes: 

       Our homes are mini churches, mini tabernacles. If the Lord is not the builder of our homes, we have built in vain, because there's no such thing as an empty house. Either demons inhabit it or the Lord does (Psalms 127:1) 

Our Hearts:

       Our hearts are seen as homes/sanctuaries. If we are not inhabited by God's spirit, if we are not guided by HIS Word, we are inhabited by demons (Matthew 12:43-45). There may be all sorts of chaos and wars going around us, but He "will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him (you)" Isaiah 26:3. 

(2 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 3:16)

How Do We Obtain It?

       God instructed Moses how to build the temple, but what makes that more fascinating is how God taught Moses the sacredness of where He dwells before they could make the building. God instructed Moses to take off his sandals because where His Presence dwells is Holy Ground (Exodus 3:4-6). Our homes should always be reverent to God, our hearts should always be in obedience to Him, and our churches should reflect HIM. We are to stay in communion with God in prayer and supplication like Elijah (1 Kings 18:30-46) and David (Psalms 86:3, Acts 2:25). There is a chance at Heaven on Earth and it starts with you and me. Let us continue to pray that His Kingdom comes and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.