Where is heaven?

In the first place, the Bible teaches that heaven is not only a state of glory, but it is a particular place in the universe. Whoever is there, will experience eternal glory.

In the second place the Bible teaches that heaven did not always exist, but that God created it “in the beginning,” in the same way that he created the earth (Genesis 1:1). Just like the earth, heaven therefor is a specific heavenly body or a place in the large and infinite creation of God. Scripture often depicts heaven as a city, a dwelling place, a community, a state, a kingdom, where God and his angels live forever, and where his children will also have everlasting communion with Him and with one another.

But where is heaven in this great universe? Some people think that heaven is very near to us. When we die, we will immediately live in this new condition, that spiritual world which has ever been around us, but which we could not see. Others believe that heaven is very far from the earth, far beyond the most distant stars. But speculation about these things is to no purpose. Our honest answer is: we do not know where heaven is, simply because this is not revealed to us in the Bible.

The word “heaven” has three meanings in Scripture:

1. The part of heaven where the clouds are, in other words the atmosphere nearest to us; the blue sky;

2. The stars we see at night, which are outside earth’s atmosphere;

3. The place where God lives.

Eventually heaven and earth will become one, as we read in Revelation 21:1-4.

The important question is therefore not: where is heaven? for heaven is at the end of a Christian’s life, but rather: Am I on the way to heaven? This important question can only be answered by those who put their trust in Christ and His Word. Without Christ there is no hope of heaven (1 John 5:10-13).