Her Homeland

In the last two lessons we’ve learned about the place called hell where satan and the angels that rebelled against God will one day be placed forever, eternally. Hell is a very real place, no matter what we have been told, or anyone thinks about it being a myth. The bible is the truth, and it says hell is real, so it’s real. This place, however, will also accept those that have wrong standards they live by while here on earth. We as Christians can also fall backwards to the point of losing our place with Christ and be placed there as well.


However, there is another place, a very real place, where God lives Himself, that we can one day go to live with Him and be there forever, eternally. This place is called heaven!

Heaven is where the throne of God sits. Turn to these scriptures and fill in the blanks:

Deuteronomy 26:15 “Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel……”.

Deuteronomy 4:39 “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above….”.

Joshua 2:11 “……..for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above…”.

1 Samuel 2:10 “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them:”.

1 Kings 8:30 “when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place:”

1 Kings 22:19 “I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.”.



2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”.



2 Chronicles 30:27 “Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven”.



Nehemiah 1:5 “And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:”.



Nehemiah 9:13 This was spoken about God when He met with Moses to write the 10 Commandments: “Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:”.



Psalm 11:4 “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men”.



Psalm 20:6 “Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand”.



Psalm 53:2 “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God”.



Psalm 57:3 “He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth”.



Psalm 102:19 “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;”



2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect (sincere) toward him.



We have established in the bible that heaven is a real place. No matter what man may think, people may say, society believe, heaven is real. It’s the place where God lives. He has a throne that He sits on, judging all things He sees, good and evil. But God also is looking for those that love Him to help them in time of trouble. Now let’s continue:

Psalm 139:8 “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there”. We see that God is everywhere, according to this scripture. He is omnipresent. God can see all things and is everywhere at all times. Interesting isn’t it? Wouldn’t that be cool to be like that? God is so amazing!



Now turn to John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. Then down to verse 14 “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”. This is speaking of Jesus coming from heaven and being born as a human. Jesus was part of God, was God. This is a difficult concept to understand, but let’s think of it like this; we were made in His image and we have a body, a soul, and a spirit. We all reside together, but we’re separate. Your mind can go, and yet your spirit and your body continue to function. May be a poor example, but nonetheless we are 3 parts in 1.



Turn to Philippians 2:6-8 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”. So we see Jesus made of Himself no reputation, not making a big deal, or fanfare to come to earth. He came as a child and rested in a manger. But He took on Himself the sins of the world to save us.



Then at age 33, Jesus began to minister and heal and teach. He taught many things about the Kingdom.





Matthew 3:2 Jesus began to teach that now the Kingdom was no longer just in heaven. “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. No longer was God’s Kingdom just in heaven, it was close to them, and how to become part of that Kingdom, repent. A Kingdom is a place of territory, a domain. A King can take dominion over another country and it becomes part of His Kingdom. That was through battles won, a victory. Jesus was about to go take dominion of death and the grave, giving man a choice as where he would spend eternity.



Matthew 6:10 was Jesus’ prayer to God for Him advance His Kingdom down here on earth. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”.



Through Jesus’ death on the cross, God’s Kingdom was then able to advance to earth, Jesus taking back dominion satan had obtained through Adam and Eve’s wrong choices, their sin. Jesus opened the way for the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Jesus was praying to God, the Father, to bring that Kingdom down, to advance it for His glory.



All through the books of the bible of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God and it’s laws. These laws teach us how we are to live in the Kingdom. These laws teach us God’s ways.



Jesus taught that when He died, He would be taken to heaven, but would not leave us comfortless. John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever”. Verse 26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”. John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you”. This was one way they would know that Jesus was at the right hand of the Father, that they had received the Comforter, the Holy Ghost (Spirit).



After Jesus’ death, He appeared to many. He walked on the earth visiting the disciples and others for 40 days. Upon His leaving earth, He spoke some last few words to those standing around Him, and ascended into heaven. Right there in front of them all, He began to rise into the sky. Mark 16:19 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God”.



On the day of Pentecost, they were all waiting in the upper room as Jesus had instructed them. Acts 2:1-4 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”.



The Holy Spirit had made it to earth. He had come to guide, teach, and lead us into all truth. He is our Comforter, our Helper in time of need, in our daily walk just to live a victorious life.



Luke 17:21 “…. For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you”.



God’s Kingdom has come down to earth to live in each one of us through His Spirit. We are citizens of this Kingdom, Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has called us each into this Kingdom, to live unto Him, and to serve one another in the love of Christ, our King. We have His help to do all we are commanded to do, yet have His love to fill us to overflowing.



The Kingdom of God is within you!