Whether you like it or not, hear about it or know about it, there is a certainty that one day everyone including you will depart this world into a place unknown. Think about it, we can’t know what is beyond heaven except if someone who has been there tells us. It is because of this we can completely rely on what Jesus says about heaven. No human being- pastors, bishops, elders, ministers included, has ever gone into heaven. Jesus makes it clear that He alone came from heaven and that He was with the Father.
He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. John 3:31 (NLT)
What you read or what people say about a place does not have the same impact as hearing from somebody who has been there. For example, people can read so much about Hillsong church services and know much about it, but since I have been there on numerous occasions, I’m in a better position to explain how Hillsong church functions than those that only read or hear about it. This can be likened to heaven as well. The sixty-six books of the Bible often give us a glimpse of what heaven is like. It is a beautiful place, a place of glory, a place where there is no sorrow, a place where joy knows no bounds. However, what makes heaven real is the presence of God Himself and the absence of the devil. Therefore, you can learn about heaven from Jesus, and only He has the power to tell you what it is like.
There are those that have been to heaven one way or another, or who have somehow had the experience of salvation. This includes the Apostle Paul. He had a glimpse of heaven when Jesus saved him and when he was stoned to death. He experienced what is called an “out of body” experience.
I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
2 Corinthians 12:2-3 (NLT)
Peter was another person who had experienced salvation and saw the transfiguration of Jesus himself, thereby having an experience of what heaven looks like. You can read the book of Revelation, it tells us everything that is going to happen in heaven. The early church also experienced the same as they were being persecuted. All these people and many others on earth have experienced true and genuine salvation. When you experience that salvation, you have an assurance of where you are going. Many people will erroneously tell you that there is nobody who can know where we are heading once we depart this earth. Well, if you are a Christian and you have genuinely accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, it shouldn’t be difficult to figure out where you are headed once you leave this world. In order for you to be positive that you will be going to heaven, here are a few things you must know:
Repentance
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NLT)
The reasons why many people don’t experience true salvation is that they don’t experience true repentance. Repentance is the door, the way to the heart of a Christian’s faith and the experience of genuine salvation. Once you miss it here, you miss it finally. These days, we have so many people in churches who have never personally repented, never cried for their sins, never once recognized themselves as sinners. It is impossible for such people to say that they have any genuine experience of salvation; that would be a lie. If you go on your knees, cry and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and you do so genuinely from your heart, you will experience something supernatural which will lead you to the true experience of salvation.
Restitution
If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder. But if it happens in daylight, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murder. “A thief who is caught must pay in full for everything he stole. If he cannot pay, he must be sold as a slave to pay for his theft.
Exodus 22:2-3 (NLT)
Restitution is one major problem that some Christians struggle with today. People steal, lie and do all sorts of things, and after they claim that they are saved and they don’t need to restitute those things. If you don’t genuinely repent, you can’t restitute, because your conscience wouldn’t prick you. If you lie or steal things that you later feel sorry for, return those things and make amends wherever possible. If you make amends in restitution, then you will be on the platform for receiving genuine salvation which will assure you of where you are going at the end of this life.
Regeneration
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
Romans 8:9 (NLT)
Regeneration is the bringing back of the lost life that we were born with. Romans 3:23 says that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. When did that happen? It happened when Adam sold us into sin, we lost all in it. Therefore, we need to repent and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is then we will experience a total change of life. We will become a new person, the old things will be passed away, things will become new as you continue to walk in the truth of the light of the Word of God that you know.
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