The three heavens

Heaven seems to be a rather neglected subject today. But what do we mean by ‘heaven’? People sometimes say that deceased Christians have ‘gone to heaven’ to be with the Lord (1 Th. 4:17). That heaven is not a created place, yet the Bible’s opening verse states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1ESV).

This blogpost comes from an article by Philip Bell of Creation Ministries International.

Obviously, we cannot see the glorious place where God dwells with our physical eyes. Nevertheless, the Bible emphatically declares that “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1a). That can only refer to things we can see. Indeed, the rest of the verse confirms this with “… and the sky above proclaims His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1b). So, “the heavens” here mean the physical sky; we speak of the night sky. The psalm goes on say that the sun rules the day sky (vs. 4-6; c.f. Gen. 1:16). Prominent on a cloudless night are the countless stars, and usually the moon too (Gen. 1:16). Since the beginning, people have gazed up at the starry heavens and contemplated their smallness but have also heard the “voice” (vs. 3-4) of the Creator. At least, that is, those who have not closed their minds to the truth (see Ps. 53:1; compare Rom. 1:20). The “knowledge” of the heavens ‘speaks’ eloquently (Ps. 19:2) of the greatness and majesty of their Creator. Thus, Scripture refers to heaven in different ways, both the visible heavens and that which is unseen.

The third heaven

There are three heavens mentioned in Scripture. We have certain testimony of this from the Apostle Paul. Writing in the third person, Paul says he was once “caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows” (2 Cor. 12:2). And a third heaven clearly implies that there are first and second heavens.

This “third heaven”, Paul goes on to say is “paradise”, the abode of God Himself (12:3-4). Paradise was the destination of the repentant sinner who was crucified next to Christ. When, by faith, he called out to the Lord Jesus at the crucifixion, Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). This “paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7) is also the destination of all true Christians.

Clearly, the “third heaven” is the abode of God, but also of all His people who, at death are translated there from this world. This is the blessed hope of all Christian believers: upon their decease, their corruptible bodies return to the dust but, wonderfully, “the spirit returns to God who gave it” in the first place (Eccl. 12:7). From the perspective of the loved ones they have left behind, they are now “away [absent] from the body” but are nevertheless “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8)—and that home is heaven, specifically the third heaven.

The unbelieving quip that this promised eternal reward in the presence of the Savior is just “pie in the sky when you die.” But it is no empty promise (2 Cor. 1:20). Indeed, Christians remember God’s abode every time they pray: “Our Father in heaven … (Mt. 6:9). This is to help remind us that the God whom we worship is eternal, infinite, and transcendent—far beyond space and time itself. As wise king Solomon exclaimed while worshipping God: “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You” (1 Ki. 8:27).

That there is more than one heaven seems also consistent with Moses’ intriguing words: “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God” (Dt. 10:14). In this verse, “heaven” likely means the immediate environment of earth, the atmosphere (see below) and the “highest heavens” includes the starry cosmos and, beyond that (in another dimension), the abode of God.

The first heaven

The first heaven, then, is the atmospheric heaven, in which unnumerable living creatures swarm and fly, and in which over 100,000 aircraft travel daily. In biblical times it would have been associated with the wind, clouds, rain and snow coming from the sky above the earth.

Today we know that Earth’s atmosphere is unique in our Solar System, especially suited to support life. For one thing, it has just the right mix and proportions of atmospheric gases; for example, oxygen (21%) is vital for air-breathing organisms, while carbon dioxide (0.042%) is plant food, essential for photosynthesis.

Other planetary atmospheres differ greatly; all utterly toxic to life as we know it. For example, Venus has a very dense atmosphere with 96.5% carbon dioxide, thick clouds of sulphuric acid, and a surface temperature of 467⁰C! Moreover, no other planet has a multi-layered atmosphere anything like Earth’s—only Earth’s atmosphere is designed for life. Moving up and away from the earth’s surface, we encounter different atmospheric levels. Briefly:

• Troposphere (sea level to 6—20 km high)—this contains most of the atmosphere by mass, the crucial-for-life gases mentioned earlier. Nearly all ‘weather’ occurs here.
• Stratosphere (top of the troposphere to 50 km)— this contains most of the ozone (O₃, as opposed to normal oxygen, O₂), which protects life by absorbing much dangerous UV radiation.
• Mesosphere (50-85 km)—the air is extremely thin and cold (-90⁰C), It offers vital protection against asteroids and meteors on a collision course with Earth; most of them burn up in this region of the atmosphere.
• Thermosphere (85-690 km) — so-called because the temperature ranges from 200⁰C to well over 2,000⁰ C! The aurorae (northern and southern lights) mostly occur here. The ionosphere (about 48-965 km high) overlaps the thermosphere and is so-called because the atoms and molecules are ionised by solar radiation, creating free electrons which refract or bend High Frequency (HE) signals around the world This layer protects us against the sun’s harmful X-rays.
• Exosphere (out to about 10,000 km)—this helps shield the Earth against harmful solar radiation by absorbing and deflecting the ‘solar wind,’ mostly high-speed electrons and protons from the Sun’s own outer atmosphere (corona). The influence of the magnetosphere is most important here. This magnetic field shields all life from the very high-energy particles in the solar wind that would otherwise mean a dangerously high dose of radiation!

In this short list of just some of our atmosphere’s features, we can see design and purpose in the make-up and structure of Earth’s atmosphere, this first heaven that God created. There is also great beauty in the colours of the sky, sunsets, rainbows, and aurorae. And we have barely mentioned the weather systems, studied by meteorologists, which can teach us spiritual lessons. For example, “For as the rain and the snow come down from [the atmospheric] heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11).

Secular scientists who disregard Scripture have tried to explain how the atmosphere arose over millions of years of deep time, starting with an allegedly more ‘primitive’ atmosphere, but such ideas are sheer imagination.

The second heaven

Moving beyond the earth’s immediate vicinity, we have the astronomical heavens—the incomprehensibly vast cosmos with an estimated two trillion galaxies, each containing a vast number of stars, often numbering one hundred billion or more. In biblical times it would have been associated with the sun, moon, planets and stars that were visible in the sky by natural eyesight.

We read about this second heaven during Creation week. And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years … and God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars (Gen. 1:14, 16).

In this article, there is no space (pun intended) to explore the cosmos further but see my recent article, “Stars, their purpose, and people“, which explores the countless stars, constellations, and galaxies, outlining biblical, astronomical truths that were understood long before the advent of modern astronomy. It is not surprising that nonbelievers who conduct their astrophysics and astronomy without God remain profoundly ignorant of some key mysteries about the cosmos. How much better to do astronomy to the glory of God!

The myriad of heavenly lights in the night sky (the second heaven) shouts out that there is a glorious God worthy of our praise as we reflected earlier (Ps. 19:1). While the third heaven, as the abode of God, was not part of the physical creation, the second heaven (and the first heaven) are God’s handiwork—they were created by Him.

So where does this leave you and me?

In the light of our contemplation of heaven, and the overwhelming evidence for our Creator God, it is a travesty that so many deny Him. Creation witnesses against atheism. Even though most people would not deny God’s existence outright, they are ‘practical atheists’ who live day to day with no thought of God, or their accountability to Him (see Ps. 10:4).

Yet, to contemplate the greatness of the Being who made all things—who is logically omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient—is to recognise God’s kingly rule: “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven” (Ps. 11:4). And that means He has the right to govern our lives: “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all” (Ps. 103:19). True, we all fall far short of His glory (Rom. 3:23) but God has wonderfully made Himself known in the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life as a ransom for desperately needy sinners. Let us be sure not to neglect such great mercy (Heb. 2:1-3).

Finally, remember that, while the first and second heavens were originally perfect (Gen. 1:31), they are so no longer. Unlike the perfection of the heaven of heavens, God’s dwelling place, the first and second heavens were corrupted along with all the created order, when our first parents rebelled in Eden (Gen. 3). “Behold, the heavens are not pure in His [God’s] sight” (Job 15:15). But, praise God, Christians eagerly anticipate Jesus’ second coming and the creation of “new heavens” along with a “new earth” (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pt. 3:3; Rev. 21:1)!

Acknowledgement

This blogpost comes from an article by Philip Bell of Creation Ministries International.

Posted, January 2026

Also see: I have heard there are seven heavens. How many are there, and which one is Jesus in?