Don Stewart :: Who Is Going to Live in Heaven?

The Bible tells who will eventually inhabit heaven.

God

Heaven has been, and always will be, the abode of the Triune God. The Bible teaches that God is a Trinity consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Heaven is God's home in a special sense. The psalmist wrote.

For He looked down from His holy height; from heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth (Psalm 102:19).

We read also in the Psalms.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:19).

The martyr Stephen quoted the Old Testament which had the Lord saying.

Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? (Acts 7:49).

Saved Israel

Those who have trusted Christ from the nation Israel make up another part of the heavenly host. The writer to the Hebrews concluded about them.

But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:16).

The Church

The New Testament church will also occupy heaven. They consist of all who have believed in Christ from the day of Pentecost until the rapture of the church. They constitute a separate group from believers in other ages. The Book of Revelation says the following about them.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." (Revelation 7:9-12).

Jesus said the blessed would enter heaven.

Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34).

Gentile Believers

Apart from saved Israel and the New Testament church, heaven will also consist of Gentile believers who have trusted the promises of God before Christ came into the world.

The Tribulation Saints

Many will come to Christ during the Great Tribulation period.

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years (Revelation 20:4).

They also make up the inhabitants of heaven.

Millennial Saints

There will also be people who put their faith in Christ during the Millennium. They will be children born to parents who enter the Millennium in non-glorified bodies. These believers will also be in heaven.

Elders

There are certain elders who are in heaven.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads (Revelation 4:4).

Their exact identity is unknown.

Angels

Angels, who are ministering spirit beings, presently occupy heaven.

And Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the Word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left (2 Chronicles 18:18).

They will also occupy heaven in the future.

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands (Revelation 5:11).

Summary

Heaven is made up of a number of different personages. These include the following.

1. God (Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit)

2. The saved from the nation Israel

3. Gentiles who believed God's promises before Christ came.

4. The New Testament church

5. The tribulation saints

6. The Millennial saints

7. Certain Elders

8. Angels