A heresy??? Are you serious?
Yes.
“Heaven” has several meanings in the Bible. It means the physical heavens of course, but it has a range of meaning outside of that. Context determines what is meant.
It's usually plural - heaven
s - and those "
several meanings" are usually regarded as different heavens, or different levels of heaven.
It can mean our blue skies and clouds OR it can refer to space and the planets and stars. We know that Paul believed in at least 3 heavens, because he writes about 'the third heaven,' but other books refer to even larger numbers of heavens, 7 or 10 usually.
In the Book of Matthew, "
heaven" is used to refer to God Himself, because Matthew followed the Jewish practice of not writing the name of God, and used this word as a substitute.
But "
heaven" doesn't
ever mean a different dimension that isn't part of our reality.
Daniel, in his explanation to King Nebuchadnezzar concerning his dream said….in Daniel 2:28…
”However, there exists a God in the heavens who is a Revealer of secrets, and he has made known to King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar what is to occur in the final part of the days”.….here is “God in the heavens”, but then in v 37-38 he says…
”You, O king, the king of kings, you to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the might, and the strength and the dignity, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever the sons of mankind are dwelling, the beasts of the field and the winged creatures of the heavens, and whom he has made ruler over all of them, you yourself are the head of gold.”
Yes, God is in heaven. He's also here on earth. And he's also present even under the earth, in hell, per Psalms 119.
Since God is a Spirit, He is embodied in all of His creation. Not separated from it.
But the point of referring to God as "in the heavens" here in Daniel, and elsewhere in the Bible, is to re-emphasize that He is
All-Seeing.
Do birds fly in outer space? It’s the same word….”šᵊmayin”.
Yes, the same word refers to both our atmosphere and outer space. Covered this above.
Heaven is the place where God dwells, along with his spirit sons…..that would be because God is not a corporeal Being….he is a “spirit” as it plainly says in the scriptures.
Spirits live in bodies. They don't exist in some separate plane of existence where they are dis-embodied.
His angels are spirits too. The realm they dwell in is not material
There's different kinds of angels. And sometimes the Bible sometimes uses the word "
angel" to just mean a human messenger. Let's skip that can of worms.
as Paul says in Colossians…..Jesus is “the image of the invisible God (Col1:15)…. what image does an invisible God have, do you think?
I think you've mis-understood the verse. The idea here is that God has established Jesus as an
icon of Himself, such that we can worship Him in the person of Jesus. There is no idea of physical similarity here.
Wow! who has blinded you to the Bible’s truth? There is more than one “heaven”. Have you never looked up this word in a concordance?
Hey, that was my point above. I guess you said it first. And yes, I'm reasonably familiar with Thayer's and Gesenius' lexicons.
What are angels then? They are seen in heaven with God, serving him as Universal Sovereign.
Still a can of worms. Skipping.
When Jesus said he “came down from heaven”, do you assume that he came from another planet?
No assumptions are necessary. I believe what the Bible says, that God's Spirit was incarnated as a man.
Spirits live in bodies.
Rest assured that I personally hold no such hope….my destiny is entirely earthly. Everything I believe is supported by the Bible.
I didn't give you enough credit, I guess.
The Bible speaks of more than one resurrection…..but you knew that, right?
There's the resurrection of the martyrs, and then there's a general resurrection for the Judgment.
Why do you suppose that God resurrects people, only to then Judge them and destroy them? I think it's because you have to exist to be judged, and disembodied spirits... don't exist.
There are those who will rule with Christ in his Kingdom and these it says are resurrected “first” (Rev 20:6; 1 Thess 4:16) in order to take up their positions in readiness for the kingdom’s rule over mankind. They will “go up” after being transformed into spirit beings so that their bodies will not perish in the presence of God.
They don't "go up." They are gathered to meet Christ at His coming. I think you might need to use the lexicon to look up ἁρπάζω
.
Not sure if you are a Mormon or not, but it sure sounds like it. Is there only one “heaven” in your belief system?…..please go and do some research on that subject…..there are three that are obvious in the Bible….and more….
No.
Also, it's weird to try and pigeon-hole someone as some kind of cult-member. It feels a little grimy, like you're trying to assassinate their character by associating them with something unsavory.
The spiritual heavens where spirit creatures exist in the presence of God…..the physical heavens within earth’s atmosphere where the birds fly and the wind blows and clouds form….and then there is the heavens beyond our planet in outer space. The Bible speaks of all three and then some.
Who told you otherwise?
The Bible.
