M-G: 5.2.15 // Heaven-Bent, Part 3

In our search for heaven, the Bible speaks of three heavens: sky, space, and God’s abode referred to as the third heaven by the Apostle Paul (2 Cor 12:2), even though the Scriptures do not describe the air that we breathe as “the first heaven” or the starry skies or celestial expanse as “the second heaven.” The context will indicate whether the writer is talking about

(1) our atmosphere of breathable air (Mt 6:26, “air,” Gk word ouranos, also translated “heaven” in Jas 5:18 and “sky” in Lk 12:56),

(2) outer space (ouranos refers to the stellar heaven, Deut 4:19; 10:14; Psa 148:4; in these OT passages ouranos is used in the LXX (Sept. = Septuagint) or the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, ca. 250 B.C.; Mt 24:29; Heb 11:12), or

(3) God’s abode (Psa 20:6; Mt 5:34, 45, 48; Acts 7:55; Heb 8:1; 9:24) when talking of an actual place. Sometimes it is used metonymically (2 Chron 32:20; Mt 21:25; Lk 15:18; Jn 3:27); ever use this clause, “He or she was heaven sent [for God sent]?” It is the same idea here. 

If we take a natural three-dimensional (LxWxH of all objects or x, y, and z axes respectively) and a time approach (space-time) to the physical world around us without considering theoretical extra dimensions or the speculations of a parallel universe, we would have to conclude that heaven is physically beyond space and time (creation), by the spatial and literal language used in Scripture:

• God looks down from heaven, Psa 53:2
• Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool, Isa 66:1
• Received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, Mk 16:19
• Ascended to heaven, Jn 3:13
• Came down from heaven, Jn 3:13
• Comes from above, Jn 3:31
• Comes from heaven, Jn 3:31 
• Comes down from heaven, Jn 6:33
• Not yet ascended, Jn 20:17
• This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven, Acts 1:11
• But he [Stephen], being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, Acts 7:55-56
• When He ascended on High, Eph 4:8
• He who descended, Eph 4:10
• Ascended far above all the heavens, Eph 4:10
• Caught up to the third heaven, 2 Cor 12:2
• Descend from heaven, 1 Thess 4:16
• Caught up, 1 Thess 4:17
• Seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, Heb 8:1
• For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us, Heb 9:24
• After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this. Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne, Rev 4:1-2
• The “New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,” Rev 21:2  

Based on the duh factor we can conclude that Heaven is “up there” somewhere in heaven in the realm of eternity, His dwelling (Isa 57:15); how is that for pinpointing its whereabouts?!  In fact, we are going to see that somewhere is a vast distance away from the Earth, another duh factor. The premise that there is nothing faster than light may prove to be inaccurate from a spiritual perspective given the great expanse that has to be bridged by angels between heaven and earth (cf. Jacob’s perspective, Gn 28:12; also see Job 1:6, 7).

When God dispatches His angelic host, it obviously doesn’t require billions of light years for His messengers to reach earth and return to heaven. Could they be using a shortcut via a wormhole, a theoretical passage between space-time, in going back and forth? Or do they have the capability of traveling at the speed of thought? Whatever the medium, they are carrying out God’s will speedily. Since God is everywhere present (omnipresent), immense distance is a zero issue.

Two things we do know about the unfallen angels in this matter of coming and going; the heavenly angels are performing God’s will (1) immediately and (2) completely. This is precisely the way we are to carry out God’s will for our lives in the here and now (cf. Mt 6:10). Yes, it will happen in the future when the kingdom comes, but do you think that God demands that His will for our lives be done immediately and completely in the here and now? See Josh 1:8; Psa 143:10; Rom 12:2; 2 Tim 3:16, 17; Col 1:9; 4:12; 1 Pet 4:2; 1 Jn 2:17. I think that this will most certainly happen in a glorified state, but until then sin and immaturity provide resistance, opposition, and push back from that happening. As a result, we struggle not only to know God’s will but to do His will; what an overt contrast to immediately and completely.

The angels are doing God’s will immediately and completely right now as you read this, and so are the believers in heaven. In spite of the flesh, the world system, or the devil, we are to be like Jesus in attitude and action toward the will of God, right (cf. Jn 4:34)? No one is born from above as a mature saint hitting the ground running unless he is akin to John the Baptist. For the rest of us we are babes in Christ at regeneration trying to wean off our thumb and solidify our intake. This is where faith and making the right choices in life come into play.

The challenge we all wrestle with is transformation to Christlikeness (Rom 12:1, 2; Eph 4:22-23, 24); our problem is sin and the ease of conformation to the world. Whenever we go worldly, doing God’s will “immediately and completely” is significantly reduced and decreases evidentially in our lives if we allow ourselves to continue to drift further away from Him. Instead of being full-throttled in growing spiritually, worshiping, and serving our Savior, we are delaying, excusing, hitting, and missing in the knowing and the doing of God’s will for our lives (cf. 2 Pet 3:18).

When we choose to remain in fellowship with God just the opposite happens; knowing and doing God’s will becomes healthier and more a reality in our lives as we spiritually gravitate towards those two powerful adverbs, immediately and completely (Gal 5:16; Eph 5:18). We begin to experience a quicker response time to the things of God and a stronger desire to see things through for the glory of God. This is such a great illustration of being heaven-bent: knowing and doing God’s will for our lives immediately and completely. Oh, if we had a heart so inclined (cf. Psa 119:133; Rom 6:12-13, 14)! The benchmark of being heaven-bent is our attitude toward God’s will.

Moving on, whenever you read or hear of others talking about extra dimensions beyond our 4-D world of space-time, these are just theories, much like evolution, speculative but unproven though they are espoused or supported by very learned men with advanced degrees. Bias and subjectivity do not recognize the difference between ignorant or educated men and women. What we can deal with on a practical and sensible level are the four dimensions referred to as space-time (LxWxH plus time), but unlike secular scientists, we are also to include a heavenly dimension, God’s abode in eternity. This is how we see and make sense of the world around us; the way God intended for us to see it: 3-D (physical), time (temporal), and eternity.

Let me share a quote with you on a definition of “dimension” and on some insight from the scientific community on extra dimensions. 

“The number of dimensions in spacetime is, roughly speaking, the number of coordinates required to specify a point in spacetime. According to this definition, there are exactly 4 dimensions that we know of: one of time and three of space…. Some speculative theories predict, require, or postulate additional dimensions, but their exact number and properties vary from theory to theory, and there is no proof that any of these theories are actually correct”b. 

Based on the authority of God’s Word, our faith would argue for the reality of the dimension of eternity as part of infinity. We will talk more about eternity later. In part 4 we will give some very large numbers in an attempt to help us appreciate how far heaven might be from earth, and how great God is as Creator. Are you bent in the right direction? Being grounded in the Word gets your mind airborne quicker than anything on earth. <><

To Part 4