The way to heaven

Most people want to go to heaven. Do we all go there automatically? How can we know the way to heaven? A map or a GPS App can show us many ways to a destination. How many ways are there to heaven?

What is heaven?

Heaven is where God lives and reigns and governs (Appendix A). Jesus told His followers, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven …” (Matthew 6:9NLT).

As heaven existed before the universe began, it is not in the physical universe. But its location has not been revealed to us. Heaven is a spiritual realm outside the physical world which we cannot see.

God is preparing heaven for His followers (John 14:2). It is a place where “there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 20:4).

Who is God?

In the beginning of time, God created the universe and all that is in it. The Bible says, ”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). He also created the first people, Adam and Eve. As God didn’t have a beginning, He is eternal.

So, God is a powerful creator. We can learn more about God (like His love and mercy) by reading the Bible, which is God’s message to us.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is God (see Appendix B). He proved this by coming to earth and doing miracles and by rising from death never to die again. He is unique – no one else resurrected and didn’t die again.

We can learn more about Jesus by reading the Bible.

How do we live?

Since the times of Adam and Eve, each of us lives our lives our way rather than God’s way – we live for ourselves (Romans 2:8). This disobedience, indifference, and rebellion (sin) towards God keeps us away from God, and out of heaven. Because you have to be absolutely perfect to go to heaven. God doesn’t welcome disobedient, indifferent and rebellious people into His presence. Instead, they are destined to hell.

Isuzu say they are helping people to “find the freedom to go their own way”. They use the song “Go you own way” to advertise the Isuzu ute (pickup truck) in Australia. Wisdom Homes use the slogan “Live your own way”. And Frank Sinatra sang “I did it my way”. Unfortunately, our way of living (without any consideration of what Jesus has done) is the way to hell, not to heaven.

What is hell?

Hell is a real spiritual place. It is the opposite of heaven – a place where people are punished and tormented (Luke 16:28), and “forever separated from the Lord [Jesus]” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

What did Jesus do?

Jesus came to earth so people could enter heaven and be with God. The only way into Heaven is through Jesus – He said, “No one can come to the Father [God] except through me” (John 14:6). That’s amazing! Despite our disobedience, indifference, and rebellion (sin) towards God, He has provided us with a way to heaven.

How did Jesus break the barrier between us and God? When He died, He took the penalty for our disobedience and rebellion. Because Jesus was absolutely perfect, He made a way for us to spend eternity in heaven.

The Bible says, “this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son [Jesus], so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish (in hell) but have eternal life (in heaven) (John 3:16).

How to go to heaven

God reveals Himself to each person (Romans 1:18). And He gave everyone a conscience in order to know right from wrong (Romans 2:15).

To go to heaven instead of hell after death, we need to accept three things: who Jesus is, our dire situation and what Jesus has done.
Who Jesus is – Jesus is the God who made the universe.
Our dire situation – We are unable to go to heaven because of our disobedience, indifference and rebellion (sin) in going our way in life rather than God’s way. “We all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom. 3:23). You don’t go to heaven if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. No one is good enough to go to heaven.
What Jesus has done – When He died, He took the penalty that we deserve so that we can be accepted by God into heaven. Those who accept Jesus’ sacrifice as the payment for their sins and who believe in His resurrection are going to heaven.

And then we need to change from living our ungodly way to living God’s way.
Change from our way to God’s way – If we trust that Jesus is God and can rescue us from our dire situation of being unable to go to heaven, we can change direction (repent) by deciding to accept God’s way (given in the Bible) instead of our way. Pray to God. Acknowledge your shortcomings (sins). Seek God’s forgiveness. Trust in Jesus to forgive your shortcomings (sins) and take you to heaven. Trust that everything the Bible says about Jesus Christ is true. And become a follower of Jesus by living as a Christian.

Conclusion

According to the Bible, there is only one way to heaven. And everyone doesn’t automatically go to heaven.

Appendix A: “Heaven” in the Bible

In the Bible, the words translated as “heaven” or “heavens” can have three possible meanings. They can mean either:
– The earth’s atmosphere,
– The universe of stars and galaxies, or
– The dwelling place of God and the angels.

The meaning in each instance can be determined from the context.

Today, we mainly use the word “heaven” for God’s dwelling place.

Appendix B: The trinity

The Bible teaches that God the Father is God, and Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

Postscript

Here is a simplified version of this post: “Finding the way to heaven”.

Written, November 2023