Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Selected Verses September 23, 2007

“Heaven – Part II”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

The word heaven conveys quite a few meanings. For religious people, it has been used to describe where people go after death. But it has carried other, less religious, meanings, too. There is a dessert called, “heavenly delight.” We say that something is “heavenly” if it is out-of-this-world wonderful! The cities of Nashville or Branson are called “country music heavens.” If you love Penn State then State College is “Penn State heaven.” If you love the Steelers, then Pittsburgh is “Steeler heaven.” People say, “O my heavens!” They say, “For heaven’s sake!” A vacation get-away spot, a secluded cabin in the woods, or a bungalow on the beach, can be a “little bit of heaven.” You get my drift. Obviously the word heaven carries enduring truth and power, or it wouldn’t be borrowed so much. So, because of its diverse uses, I believe it is important to clarify what we mean when we’re talking about heaven here in the context of worship in a Christian church.
The word heaven is in the Bible over 500 times. The Hebrew word usually translated heaven is shamayim. It is a plural noun form that literally means, “the heights.” The Greek word translated heaven is ouranos (the same word that inspired the name of the planet Uranus). Ouranos refers to that which is “raised up or lofty.” Both shamayim and ouranos are used in Scripture to refer to 3 different places.
First of all, there is the atmospheric heaven – in other words the sky around us – the region of breathable atmosphere that covers the earth. Genesis 7:11-12 says, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” On that day…the windows of the heavens were opened. Here is one place when the word heaven or heavens refers to this blanket of atmosphere around the world. Psalm 147:8 tells us that God, “covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills.” We read in Isaiah 55:9-10, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there empty…” In Genesis 1:20, we read, “And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” The first heaven, the atmospheric heaven, is the domain of clouds and birds; it is that heaven we see when we lift our eyes to the skies.
Next, there is the planetary heaven – the second heaven where the stars, the moon, and the planets are. We refer to this today as “outer space.” This is the place where our satellites roam and NASA sends our astronauts for exploration. Scripture uses the very same word from the first heaven to describe this second region. Genesis 1:14-17, “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 let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 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. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.” Now, you should know that I used the English Standard Version’s translation for that reading because the NRSV’s translation doesn’t use the word ‘heavens’ there. Neither does the NIV, which is a very popular translation these days. The NRSV uses the phrase, “the dome of the sky,” to describe this second heaven. The NIV uses the phrase, “the expanse of the sky.” The Hebrew is the same: shamayim; the translation is different in order to describe a different part of heaven. It’s like if we come to this church building, we all say we’re in church. But we might be in the sanctuary. We might be downstairs in the kitchen. We might be up in the nursery. But we’re all in the church. Biblical translators over the years have tried to give a more accurate picture of The Heavens by using different words or phrases to describe the different parts of heaven revealed in Scripture.
And so we have the atmospheric heaven where the birds and clouds reside. We have the planetary heaven where the stars, moon, sun, and planets reside. And, we have a third heaven that Paul speaks about in 2 Corinthians 12:2, “I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows.” It is assumed that this place is beyond the atmospheric and planetary heavens. This third heaven is revealed as the dwelling place of God.
Now some will say that God does not dwell in one place. According to many Scriptures, we know that God dwells in His people. We know that God is omnipresent. God is everywhere. 1 Kings 8:27 reveals Solomon praying at the great dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!” God cannot be contained in one place. The psalmist writes in Psalm 139, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” God is everywhere. He is right here with us. He is living within you and within me by the Holy Spirit. God is not contained in his heaven, but Scripture tells us that this third heaven is uniquely his home – his command center – the place where his throne resides.
Psalm 33:13, “The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind. From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth – he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.” Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 63:15, “Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation.” And from Isaiah 66:1, “Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.”
It seems clear that there are at least three different heavenly regions, all by God’s design, for we know from the very first words of the Bible that “God created the heavens and the earth.” If it were just one heaven, it would say, “God created the heaven and the earth.” If it were more than one earth it would have said, “God created the heavens and the earths.” What we can know is what is before us. God created the heavens and the earth. I think this shoots a bit of a hole in those cartoons that show saints in heaven sitting on clouds. If you’ve ever been on an airplane, you know that there comes a moment that plane breaks through the clouds, revealing a pristine expanse of sky that seems to go on forever and ever.
So, does this mean that the place that God dwells, the place we will go when we die, is “up?” Listen to these words from the apostle Paul from Ephesians 4:7-10, “But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”
(When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)” Ascended far above…
Let’s recall that when Jesus was taken into heaven (Acts 1:10-11), the disciples were gazing “up into heaven” where Jesus had gone. But, depending on where you’re standing on earth, “up” is a different direction, isn’t it? “Up” means perpendicular to the surface of the planet. In Isaiah 14:13, Satan is addressing God, saying, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” The ‘heights of Zaphon’ indicates the assembly in the far north. Does this indicate that God’s dwelling place is north? North is always north, no matter where you are. Astronomers tell us that the most northern part of outer space that they can see with their most powerful telescopes contains fewer stars and galaxies than other parts.
We don’t know where heaven is exactly.
But we do know it is a real place.

Knowing about the three heavens, and God’s creation of each one for its purposes, should have an impact on us today as we are gathered for worship. Knowing this should have an impact on our lives tomorrow and beyond tomorrow.
We worship a God is who is everywhere at all times, who knows all things, who holds all the power in his hands, who is all-loving, all-merciful, all-just, and all-good. His dwelling place is in the highest heaven, and yet he chose to come to us – he chose to send his own Son, a most precious part of himself, to earth. Listen to these words from the Gospel of John, chapter 6, beginning in verse 27, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”
82% of Americans believe there is a place called heaven, and 63% say they expect to go there when they die. But, how is it we think we get there? Many people choose to believe that IF there is a God who is truly good, kind, and loving, then that God surely will not keep good people out of heaven. Murderers, sexual predators, those kind of people shouldn’t get in, everyone agrees on that – but people who are “there for each other,” people who would “give you the shirt off their back,” people who would “be there in a heartbeat” if you’re in trouble, those people surely will be able to get into heaven even if they haven’t chosen to believe in Jesus as the Son of the most high God in the most high heaven. That’s how a lot of people think you know . . . most likely that’s how a number of people sitting right here in this sanctuary think about who gets in and who doesn’t get into heaven.
God chose to send his own Son to earth so that the way to get to heaven would be perfectly clear. It is not unloving because the way is so narrow; it is perfectly loving because the way is so perfectly clear. We don’t get to the heavenly dwelling place of God by being there for other people. We don’t get there by giving anyone the shirt off our backs. We don’t get there by being anywhere in a heartbeat. We don’t get to heaven by doing good works, by giving our money away to good causes, or by coming to church and singing the hymns. We get to heaven by the grace of God, by faith in Jesus Christ as the true bread of heaven. Jesus said, “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”
Jesus revealed to us the very heart of our Creator. His love for us is strong, and tender, and true. Heaven must be full of that. God’s love revealed in Jesus is both individual and all-encompassing at the same time. Heaven will be full of that. God’s love revealed in Jesus is healing. Heaven will be a place of complete health.
We have much to learn in these weeks together. I want to close this morning by sharing something I spoke about at Jim Smith’s funeral last Saturday. Dawn told me that when the new Pennsylvania license plates came out several years ago, Jim’s plate said, “yme.”
There are two ways to look at that. From an earthly perspective, we can all walk around in our times of trial & tribulation and ask, “why me?” “Why do bad things seem to happen to me?” “Why does my family keep getting hit with sorrow and suffering?” It’s okay to ask these questions. We are encouraged to ask God these questions, just as the psalmist asked similar questions. The problem comes when we refuse to stop with the questions, and continue in negative thoughts which lead to despair, which leads to a stagnating faith, which leads to a poor witness to resurrection hope. If we choose to take a heavenly perspective however, a biblical perspective, we can ask the same question, “why me?” with a sense of wonder and awe – the same sense King David had when he looked up to the heavens (Psalm 8):
O LORD, our LORD,
the majesty of your name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
You have taught children and
nursing infants to give you praise.
They silence your enemies
who were seeking revenge.
When I look at the night sky
and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you have set in place—
what are mortals that you should think of us,
mere humans that you should care for us?
For you made us only a little lower than God,
and you crowned us with glory and honor.
You put us in charge of everything you made,
giving us authority over all things—
the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
O LORD, our LORD,
the majesty of your name fills the earth!

Let us pray:
Why me, O God? Why would you choose me? Why would you choose us? Our sin is so great, and our lives so far from your standard for holiness. Thank you for choosing us out of love, to live with you in your dwelling place forever and ever. Thank you for your love that frees us to truly begin living when we die here on earth. Help us grasp more of your truth as these weeks progress and we turn our hearts toward heaven. Help us learn and lean in to hear the voices of the saints who have gone before. Touch us and heal us, and give us eyes to see and ears to hear that which you have prepared for us. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

09-23-2007