Walking on clouds. Baby angels flying around. Golden roads. Personal mansions. Constant singing.
 
The world has spun a very cartoonish, yet vivid picture of heaven that many people carry today. You could probably ask 100 people what they imagine heaven to be like, and you’d get 100 different answers! And although we can trace some aspects of culture’s image of Heaven from the Bible, the most important aspect of Heaven is often missed: the perfect presence of God and our unhindered relationship with Him there. Heaven is our ultimate home.
 
Before you brush this subject off, consider this: our view of Heaven is super important for us as Christians. Why? Our understanding of Heaven is tied directly to our understanding of salvation.
 
Without Jesus, death is the end. (Romans 5:12)
Without Jesus, we are spiritually dead. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
Without Jesus, access to Heaven is impossible. (John 14:6)
 
But God sent Jesus to live the life we cannot live (sinless and perfect) and to experience the death that we deserved to die (Romans 5:6-8). Because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, He conquered death and gave us access to eternal life with Him – which we experience in Heaven! Heaven is our ultimate home.
 
And being saved means that we can see death differently now. Death is no longer the end when we believe in Jesus. With Jesus, death is just the beginning! We can now see death as bittersweet: it may be the end of our earthly life, but it is the start of our heavenly one. We can grieve in sorrow and worship in joy all at the same time because of Heaven.
 
So as Christians, what should Heaven mean to us? If nothing else, Heaven should be a great comfort for our souls. Perfect community with God. No death. No sin. No temptation. No sickness. No depression. No anxiety. No fear. No pain.
 
Yes, it can be easy to get caught up in all the details and want to know exactly what Heaven is like… but the bottom line is this: we can look forward to Heaven because we will be with Jesus there. O Death, where is your sting? Defeated through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Heaven is our ultimate home.