It has been said that everyone thinks about heaven. However, some people say heaven isn’t a real place. Rather, it is a state of mind, a fancy, an abstraction, wishful thinking, a figure of speech, or a sentimental dream. Are these people right? Or is there something that awaits us in the hereafter?

When it comes to the truth about the reality of heaven and where it is, there is no greater authority than Jesus Christ. He came from heaven to earth and then returned to heaven, where He awaits the day when His bride, the church, shall join Him in the mansions He is preparing for her.

Bible Verse: John 14:2

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Heaven is a Real Place

Jesus taught that heaven is a real place. In John 14:2, Jesus told His disciples, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.” Jesus calls heaven “a house, a dwelling home.” It isn’t just an illusion. It’s as real as the home in which we live right now.

While the apostles were looking up into the sky following Jesus’ ascension, two angels appeared, saying, “Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Jesus obviously went somewhere when He ascended upward. The Scripture says that He went to heaven (1 Peter 3:22). Jesus went to a real place, an eternal home, not into a state of mind or an abstraction.

Jesus prayed, “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). He did not say “Our Father in a state of mind” or “… in an eternal illusion.” Our Father is in heaven, a real place. Luke 20:20 says we are to rejoice not because the spirits are subject to us but because our names are written in heaven.

The apostle Paul writes, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). One can only have citizenship in a real place. Therefore, heaven must truly exist.

All of these facts from Scripture make it clear that heaven is indeed a genuine place.

Heaven: A Home of Beauty

What a wonder heaven must be! In only six days the Lord created the universe, and yet He has been preparing the homes in heaven where we are going to live throughout eternity for two thousand years.

John describes our eternal home, as a city that is foursquare, 1,500 miles up, down, and across (Revelation 21:15-17). It is as large as from the most northern point of Maine to the most southern tip of Florida and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Each level arises above the other, mile after mile. The twelve gates are built upon twelve jeweled foundations proclaiming accessibility for all believers from every kindred, tribe, and nation (Revelation 21:14)

Paul wrote: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard. Nor have entered into the heart of man. The things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Closing Words

While many people think heaven is only a state of mind, or a mythological place, Scripture makes it clear that heaven is an actual place that exists. And it is the final destination for believers. Indeed, if you have placed your faith in Christ, you are heaven bound.