Copyright Page
2022 by Robert Jeffress
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-5409-0176-7 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-4934-3408-4 (ebook)
Content in this book has been adapted from Robert Jeffress, A Place Called Heaven: 10 Surprising Truths about Your Eternal Home (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2017) and Robert Jeffress, A Place Called Heaven Devotional: 100 Days of Living in the Hope of Eternity (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2021).
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the (NASB) New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
All italics in Scripture quotations are the authors emphasis.
Published in association with Yates & Yates, www.yates2.com.
Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.
Epigraph
Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:12
Contents
Presentation Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Epigraph
1. What Difference Does a Future Heaven Make in My Life Today?
2. Is Heaven a Real Place or Is It a State of Mind?
3. Have Some People Already Visited Heaven?
4. Do Christians Immediately Go to Heaven When They Die?
5. What Will We Do in Heaven?
6. Do People in Heaven Know What Is Happening on Earth?
7. Will We Know One Another in Heaven?
8. Will Heaven Be the Same for Everyone?
9. Who Will Be in Heaven?
10. How Can I Prepare for My Journey to Heaven?
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
CHAPTER 1
What Difference Does a Future Heaven Make in My Life Today?
We all long
for our eternal home
that place called heaven.
M ost Christians dont spend a lot of time thinking about heaven. Thats understandable. The overwhelming responsibilities of this world often eclipse much thought about the next world. Heaven seems remote and irrelevant to our existence.
Yet we all yearn for a better world, especially when we experience disappointments, such as a bad report from the doctor, the betrayal of a friend, the breakup of an intimate relationship, a job loss or financial hardship, or the death of a loved one. At those times we want to believewe have to believethat there is a better place.
CHAPTER 2
Is Heaven a Real Place or Is It a State of Mind?
This Jesus, who has been taken up
from you into heaven, will come
in just the same way as you have
watched Him go into heaven.
Acts 1:11
A theists sometimes accuse Christians of living in a fantasylandof looking forward to a heaven that isnt real. If it cant be proven scientifically that heaven exists, then it must not exist, they argue.
Where do we go to find out if heaven is a real place or a figment of our imaginations? If heaven is where God dwells, then we can assume God is the one true expert on the subject. Therefore, if we want to know whether heaven is real or simply a state of mind, we should turn to Gods Book, the Bible, to answer that question.
Since the Bible is the inspired truth from God, Scripture is the place we turn to find out whether heaven is a real place or a state of mind.
CHAPTER 3
Have Some People Already Visited Heaven?
He has also set eternity
in [our] heart.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
H ave some people who are alive right now already visited heaven? Several bestsellers have been written by people who claim, We went to the other side, and weve come back to tell you about it.
Why are we fascinated by near-death experiences? Deep inside each of us is a longing for heaven. While there is much to love about earth, we instinctively know there must be something more, something better that awaits us on the other side of death.
God has set eternity in [our] heart (Eccles. 3:11), meaning we desire to know what God is preparing for us after we leave this earth. We know there is more to life than what we are experiencing right now.
CHAPTER
Do Christians Immediately Go to Heaven When They Die?
There is one fate,
but there are two
different destinations:
heaven and hell.
W hile there are certain things about the afterlife we cannot know for sure, one thing is clear: we are all going to die one day. As the old adage says, No one gets out of this world alive.
Why is death inevitable for every person? In Ecclesiastes 9:2, Solomon said, It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked. It does not matter whether you are good or bad, righteous or unrighteous, a believer or an unbeliever; there is one fate for everybody: death. We are all going to die. There is one fate, but there are two different destinations: heaven and hell.
CHAPTER 5
What Will We Do in Heaven?
In heaven, everything will be
eternally good, beautiful,
enjoyable, refreshing,
fascinating, and exciting.
M any people think heaven will be boring. But nothing could be further from the truth! People who believe heaven is boring have a flawed understanding of Satan and God.
Have you ever been seated at a dinner party next to a boring person? Minutes seem like hours, and it feels like the evening will never end. Satan is that kind of companion. Theres nothing interesting about him. He has never created anything in his entire existence. Who would want to be stuck with him for eternity?
But God is exceedingly fascinating: just look at the world He created for us to live in! In heaven, everything will be eternally good, beautiful, enjoyable, fascinating, and exciting because heavens Creator is all those things.
CHAPTER 6
Do People in Heaven Know What Is Happening on Earth?
There are some passages
in the Bible that indicate
people in heaven know what
is happening on earth.
C an residents of heaven watch what is taking place on earth? If so, could they be watching you right now?
There are some passages in the Bible that indicate people in heaven know what is happening on earth. For example, Christ is aware of the obedience and disobedience of Christians on earth, since He condemned and commended the seven churches in Revelation 23. Furthermore, the apostle Paul realized that a heavenly audience was witnessing his actions on earth, since he described his life as a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men (1 Cor. 4:9). We can assume from this verse that angels are aware of the activities of people on earth.
CHAPTER 7
Will We Know One Another in Heaven?