I don’t agree. I think the heaven referred to in the Bible is peace of mind. Look at Matthew 4:17.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. Have a great day!
Thank you.
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Hi,
Acts 1:9-11 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
So Jesus was physically taken up into peace of mind?
Why would Jesus have to go somewhere to achieve peace of mind?
He already had it.
Plus peace of mind just doesn’t fit the ascension scene as we read it.
Heaven by all New Testament accounts reads as a physical place.
Revelation gives us physical dimensions. (See Revelation 21-22.
So I have to disagree.
Heaven is a real place.
But I believe you will have peace of mind when you are there.
And it’s a peace that never ends.
Blessings
The Bible is full of figurative speech. Heaven is what happens to us when we repent of our sin, I believe. Read Matthew 4:17.
Bob
You have stated:
I get it, I understand (I think). I think I hear you saying “Peace-of-mind”, is “heavenly”, and so when peace-of-mind is lacking, one cannot be in heaven. Am I close? Are you feeling that “Peace-of-mind” is lacking in your life; are you saying you are not in heaven now but have a strong desire to be; you have a strong desire for “Peace-of-mind”? If so, I’m right there with you.
Technically, in The Bible, heaven is always spoken of as the expanse which is “over our heads”; above us in some way. The term heaven is used in the Bible as the place where birds fly and clouds float. Heaven is also used for the place where the sun, moon, and stars reside. Heaven is also spoken of as the place where God is seated on His throne, where holiness is the atmosphere, and all that is true and right surrounds the presence of God. In 2 Corinthians 12:2, the apostle Paul speaks of one being “caught up into the third heaven”, and we understand him to be saying, the third heaven is above the birds and clouds, and also above the stars. He is speaking of being caught up into the Holy throne room of God himself. Isaiah had this experience in Chapter 6 of his testimony. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1. Isaiah saw God in Heaven.
Genesis 1:1-8 tells us that God himself made earth and the heavens. God set a great expanse over the earth and God called the expanse “heaven”.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray to God, He told them “Pray like this: Our Father, who resides in heaven, HOLY is your name….”.
The Apostle Peter tells us that Jesus, through His resurrection has “…gone up into heaven, and is at the right hand of God (in heaven), angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. 1 Peter 3:21-22.
The author of the book to the Hebrews tells us “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands (temples on earth), which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Hebrews 9:24
Paul also writes to the Thessalonians, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
John, recording his Revelation, speaks of many events that take place in heaven. Heaven is mentioned as a place where God resides in almost every chapter.
So, we can see from these, and other verses, that The Bible speaks of heaven as a holy place, the very residence of God, and of Jesus the resurrected son, and the very place Jesus will descend from to reclaim His rightfully own creation. Heaven is the residence of God, that through the resurrected Jesus, we are invited into to live in His presence, in heaven, for eternity. True eternal “peace-of-mind” as you say.
I agree with you that when we are in heaven, the holy dwelling place of God, we will have a perfect peace-of-mind; in the full presence of peace, our minds will also be at peace. If it is peace-of-mind one is pursuing, then heaven is surely where we will find it.
Blessings
KP
Hi,
Explain why Jesus would have to go (physically leave) and prepare a place for us if heaven is in the mind?
John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (KJV)
Now house and mansions are figurative.
Many mansions inside a house, if you take the words literally, is grammatically incorrect as mansions are larger than houses.
But the need for Jesus to go and prepare a place for us, is not figurative.
Go means a physical change of location.
Jesus cannot receive us unto Himself until the place is prepared.
We will be there, wherever Jesus is.
Are we wherever Jesus is at this moment?
No.
So Jesus is in a physicals different place than we are.
We will get to go there when He returns.
We know it is not an etherical place as Revelation describes its physical dimensions.
Why would you need such a vivid description of something that is only in one’s mind?
Please don’t equate the Bible s heaven to Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Blessings
Joe
I agree with you strongly; we have fellowship in the idea that The Bible speaks of heaven as a real place and is understood as the expanse of God’s dominion. Whether it is built out of angel dust, something ethereal, or from atoms and molecules as we know them here on earth, or something else all together, I actually have more questions than answers. I am convinced that it is a REAL place, and if it can be imagined, I suppose heaven to actually be more real, more solid, more tangible, more immutable than anything we have ever experienced.
Not to put too fine a point on things we only “know in part”, I would like to comment slightly on the verse you quoted:
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know." Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” John 14:1-7
The events of this passage take place on the night before Jesus’s arrest, at what we call The Last supper. Knowing the imminent events about to transpire, Jesus is graciously reassuring His disciples that even though He is “going” away, He promises to “come again and receive them to Himself”. His “going” here, I’m fairly sure, refers to His going to the cross, i.e. to be arrested, to be falsely convicted, to die on a cruel cross, and to be raised in glory on the third day. The events of His death will actually open the way (prepare a place, reserve a spot) for them to follow; his resurrection will make it possible for Him to receive his disciples unto Himself. I think we do no damage to the text to read the above passage something like this:
“Relax, have peace of mind. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s vast estate there is plenty of room for many people; if it were otherwise, I would have told you. I am about to be arrested and I will be killed. I’m doing this willingly to reserve your place, so you can be with me forever. It’s the only way. But, don’t worry, when through my death I prepare a place for you, I WILL come again and receive you to that place; I WILL come again and receive you to Myself; so that where I am, you may be with me, forever.”
Even though it is a very popular interpretation of this passage to think Jesus is talking about preparing heaven for us, as if he is building apartments, placing furniture, washing the bedding and the like. I remember The Dixie Melody Boys used to sing a song, “Sending up Boards” in which they pined “I’m sending up some boards to build a mansion, going to have it built and finished when I die, I checked my blueprint just today, I sent another board away, up to that master mansion builder in the sky”
Unlike The Dixie Melody Boys, I am of the opinion that the throne room of God is, and always has been perfect. It therefore cannot be “prepared”, or made better in any way. It is, and always has been finished. The preparation work for our habitation there was all done on the Cross.
Just my 2 cents.
KP
The Bible speaks figuratively, from time to time. Example:
[2] if it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
[3] then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
An interesting observation…
Does anyone know the main difference between the Saducees and the Pharisees?
Paul used it to his advantage when he was before court…
The Saducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (This is why they were sad you see winks)
The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection of the dead (This is why they were fair you see winks)
It seems as though that same divider is being presented here only in regards to heaven.
If mainstream Christian beliefs are accurate, I would think most Christians have found the gate to heaven.
Are mainstream Christian beliefs accurate?
Bob
Of course, I can’t be sure what you personally mean by “Mainstream Christian”. But, I can assure you that the claims and teachings of Jesus are accurate. Jesus IS the messiah, (the Christ), and Jesus IS the gate to heaven. "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. "John 14:6
No my brother, there will never be heaven on earth, that kind of sounds like some Jehovah’s Witnesses teaching. Clear back in Genesis when God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden He cursed the man and the woman, the serpent and the ground.
Sure we can have peace in God, Jesus i the Prince of peace. But the Bible does describe heaven as being a literal place and the goal is to be with Jesus in this holy place eternally !!
One group thought it was not “Fair you see” and the one was “Sad you see !!” lol
Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt 4:17). Was he confused?
If heaven is just a state of mind, then Jesus went to prepare a place in someone’s psyche?
“In my Father’s house are many rooms… I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2–3). He didn’t say, “I go to help you meditate better” or “I’m crafting some top-shelf inner serenity.” He said place. Tangible. Real. Physical.
Now, granted—there is a present-tense aspect to the kingdom. Jesus said the kingdom of God is within or among you (Luke 17:21). That speaks to God’s reign in the hearts of His people, yes. But it’s not the whole story. Heaven isn’t limited to the confines of our brain chemistry or emotional state. It’s not an existential mood board.
If heaven’s just a mindset, then what did Paul mean in Philippians 3:20 when he said, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there…”? He wasn’t waiting for a vibe. He was waiting for a returning, resurrected King.
And let’s not forget Revelation. If all that imagery of the New Jerusalem, the throne, the river of life—if that’s just allegory for “good thoughts and spiritual wellness,” then the apostle John had a very vivid imagination and a whole lot of time to kill on Patmos.
So no, Bob. Heaven isn’t just a headspace. It’s a hope with coordinates. It’s the promised country Abraham longed for (Hebrews 11:16)—a better place, a heavenly one.
That doesn’t make our present spiritual walk less meaningful. In fact, it roots it in a destination worth walking toward.
The Bible sometimes speaks figuratively. I believe you refer to this:
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? John 14:2 RSV
Are we all then going to be confined to a set of rooms?
Ah, Bob. You’re good. You’ve got that smooth rhetorical judo going—“Are we all then going to be confined to a set of rooms?” Clever. But let’s not confuse metaphor with make-believe.
Yes, Scripture uses figurative language. Absolutely. Jesus called Himself a door, a vine, and bread. But when He said, “I go to prepare a place for you,” He wasn’t talking about a vibe, He was speaking of a reality. Figurative language doesn’t mean fictional substance—it means deep truth dressed in imagery our human minds can begin to grasp.
Let’s not trip over the metaphor and miss the meaning.
No, I don’t think heaven is one eternal Motel 6 with adjoining rooms and questionable décor. But I also don’t think Jesus’ point was about interior layout. “My Father’s house” speaks of belonging, permanence, home. “Many rooms” tells us there’s space for all who trust in Him. It’s meant to comfort, not confuse.
To your point: are we going to be “confined to a set of rooms”? Well, if by that you mean, “Will heaven be spatially limited like a studio apartment?”—then no, I don’t believe so. But if you’re implying the opposite—that because the language is figurative, heaven is purely symbolic or psychological—then we’ve wandered too far from the witness of Scripture.
Paul didn’t long for a better mood, he longed for a better country (Hebrews 11:16). Jesus didn’t hang on the cross so we could experience a nicer mental state. He died to reconcile us to God and rose to open the gates of a real kingdom.
Figurative language points to real things. If I say my wife is my rock, you don’t assume I married a chunk of granite. You understand that metaphor carries weight because it reflects truth. Same goes for Jesus’ words. Let’s not flatten them into mere sentiment when they’re meant to carry us home.
In my Father’s house are many mansions.
What version of the Bible are you using?
BrotherDavid
You’re absolutely right—that line, “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” is straight from the King James Version, and it’s lovely. That word “mansions” has inspired many a hymn and hopeful heart. But the key question isn’t which version sounds nicest—it’s which one gets us closest to the original Greek.
The Greek word there is monai—which literally means dwelling places, abodes, or rooms. Not palatial estates, not Beverly Hills real estate. The KJV translators in 1611 used “mansions” based on the Old French/Latin sense of the word, which at the time simply meant a place to stay—a residence. Over the centuries, our modern ears have inflated “mansion” into a luxury home with three garages and a pool. That’s not what Jesus was getting at.
So while the KJV says “mansions,” more recent translations—like the ESV, NIV, NASB, and RSV—render it as “rooms” or “dwelling places,” reflecting the actual meaning without the linguistic baggage.
But here’s the thing: no matter the word—mansion, room, hut, hammock—Jesus is promising a place with the Father. A prepared space, with our names etched in grace. The point isn’t the square footage. It’s the fellowship. The permanence. The promise.
So yes—I’m using a more modern translation. But I’m after the same hope: to be where He is.