How You Can Be Sure About Heaven

And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. (Revelation 21:3-5, KJV)

Heaven is the place of perfect peace, perfect joy, the fullness of love for all eternity. Heaven is the place of eternal rest and reward. Heaven is the place where you dwell with the Creator of all things.

If something were to happen to you today, would you be sure you were going to Heaven? The Bible says that you can be sure, as the Apostle John affirmed, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13, NIV).

You can never be certain of Heaven based on a feeling or a desire or a wish, for such things do not provide anyone with certainty. Nor can any religious expression or good works provide certainty. No matter how zealous you are about such things, you will fall short of perfection bringing some element of doubt about the future. Being certain of eternity can only come from a source that is both eternal and faithful.

Let us start with God's original design for humanity. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis. 1:1, NIV). The first man and first woman were made "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27, NIV) giving them a mind to think, emotions to feel, a will to choose, and an eternal soul -- all of which makes human beings unique in God's creation. Everything that God created was "very good" (Genesis 1:31, NIV) indicating there was no sin, death, or disease at this point. God is holy and righteous and everything He made, in the beginning, was a holy reflection of His creative wisdom and power.

So what happened -- things are certainly not "holy" today? The Bible explains that the first humans used their will to choose ungodly decisions. God provided for ALL their needs in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:29). God also told them not to eat of a single tree in the garden because it would not be good for them (Genesis 2:16-17). Like you and I, they chose to live life on their own terms in their own way -- trying to live independent of God and His perfect provision for life. The Bible calls this sin and it results in separation from God and His love. You and I must beware of condemning the first man and woman for the Bible says clearly that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV). This is why the world today is decidedly unholy.

Since you, along with the rest of humanity, are guilty of your own sin -- trying to live life on your own moral terms independent of God's perfect provision for you -- you have no hope of Heaven. Rather, you have a certainty of hope for God's judgment. God is holy and the Heaven He has made is holy: "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:27, NIV). And, "if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15, NIV).

Imperfect humans will never be able to satisfy a holy God. The good news is that from the beginning, even when God judged the first man and woman, God promised a Deliverer who would deal with the problem of sin (Genesis 3:15). This Deliverer is variously referred to in the Bible as the Messiah or Christ who would bear the penalty of sin for all humanity for all time. As the Bible explains, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him [the Messiah or Christ] the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6, NIV). The Messiah would be "cut off" (Daniel 9:26, NIV) or sacrificed for the sins of the whole world, including yours!

Through a series of promises concerning the Messiah (over 300 of them), God made is clear who this Messiah would be. God did not want anyone to make a mistake and miss His appearance. He would be:

One without sin (Isaiah 53:9)
Born from the family line of Abraham (Genesis 12:3), Isaac (Genesis 21:12), Jacob (Genesis 28:14), Judah (Genesis 49:10), Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), and David (2 Samuel 7:12-14)
Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
Visit Egypt as a child (Hosea 11:1)
Minister in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2)
Open the eyes of the blind (Isaiah 29:18)
Be sacrificed at a specific time (in 30 A.D., ref. Daniel 9:26)
Soldiers would gamble for His clothing (Ps. 22:17, 18)
Pierced (Zechariah 12:10) through His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16)
Not die to decay (Psalm 16:10) but to be resurrected to life (Ps. 16:10; 49:15).

God promised a Messiah and He was faithful to fulfill His promises. The One, the only One, who fulfilled the hundreds of prophecies about Messiah is Jesus.

The good news for you and the rest of humanity is that God made a provision for sin through Jesus Christ. God does not want to send you to Hell but wants you to have the certain hope of Heaven. The certainty of that hope is that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life you could never live, He offered His perfect life on a cross to pay the penalty for your sins, and He was resurrected to life proving He is the LORD with the authority to forgive your sins and the power to give you eternal life -- the hope of Heaven.

The Bible says that nothing you can do will ever earn your way to Heaven for "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD" (Romans 6:23, NIV). Heaven is a free gift to you if you are willing to receive it. To receive the gift of eternal life, turn from your sin and put your trust in the LORD Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15, NIV). Repentance is a change of heart which is costly to you for it means giving up independent control of your life (which leads to sin) and giving control to the LORD Jesus Christ. Believing the good news about Jesus Christ is to trust that He died on the cross for your sins and rose to life so that He might give you Heaven.

So "believe in the LORD Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31, NIV). Jesus Christ is the certainty of your hope for Heaven. This is not based on your feelings, your contrition, your religious background, or your attempts to please God with good deeds. It is based completely on the promise of God who never lies and the finished work of Jesus Christ who paid the price for all your sins -- past, present, and future.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1, NIV)

If you have just committed your life to the LORD Jesus Christ, please email this ministry and let us know. It will be a thrill to know that you too have the hope of Heaven!