5 Important Things the Bible Teaches About Heaven That We Often Forget

Can you imagine what our first glimpse of heaven will be like? It will cause us to gasp with amazement and delight. That first gasp will likely be followed by many more as we continually encounter new sights in that endlessly wonderful place. We know from Scripture that Heaven is a real place. Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there. Though most of us are not in a hurry to pass away, we all have questions about it. The only things we can know for certain about heaven are things revealed in the Bible. Everything else is speculation and hearsay. While the Bible tells us everything we need to know about heaven, there are a number of things that we’ve been taught about heaven as believers that we don’t always focus on or remember when we should. Here are five important things the Bible teaches us about heaven that we often forget.

We Should Long for it

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The Bible tells us, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4). As God’s people, we should long for heaven. When we do, this pleases our Lord who has prepared a place there for us. We should be ever-motivated by the anticipation of heaven. Heaven and all that it represents should be a central object of our attention in this life. Our hearts and minds are to be continuously set on these “things above” where Christ is in heaven, not on “earthly things.”

Not Everyone Will Enter

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In the book of Matthew, Jesus reminds us that not everyone will enter heaven. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heave. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many might works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7: 21-23). We are taught in the Bible that in eternity many people will seek to enter heaven, but will be stopped and turned into hell instead. Most religious people die with an expectation of God letting them into heaven, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to enter into heaven God’s way, which is through Jesus Christ.