HEAVEN. "CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY!

THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF HEAVEN IS ESSENTIALLY THAT OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL REALIZATION ( END TIMES) OF THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF GOD. AND THE FINAL ELIMINATION OF SIN. THE MOST HELPFUL WAY OF CONSIDERING IT IS TO REGARD IT AS A CONSUMMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF SALVATION, IN WHICH THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN INDIVIDUALS AND THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.
 IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT PARABLES OF HEAVEN ARE STRONGLY COMMUNAL IN NATURE; FOR EXAMPLE, HEAVEN IS PORTRAYED AS A BANQUET, AS A WEDDING FEAST, OR AS A CITY- THE NEW JERUSALEM INDIVIDUALIST INTERPRETATIONS OF HEAVEN OR ETERNAL LIFE ARE ALSO EXCLUDED ON ACCOUNT OF THE CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AS TRINITY. ETERNAL LIFE IS THUS NOT A PROJECTION OF AN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN EXISTENCE, BUT IS RATHER TO BE SEEN AS SHARING, WITH THE REDEEMED COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, IN THE COMMUNITY OF A LOVING GOD.
THE TERM "HEAVEN"  IS USED FREQUENTLY  IN THE PAULINE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.  ALTHOUGH IT IS NATURAL TO THINK OF HEAVEN AS A FUTURE ENTITY, PAUL'S THINKING APPEARS TO EMBRACE BOTH A FUTURE REALITY AND A SPIRITUAL SPHERE OR REALM WHICH COEXISTS WITH THE MATERIAL WORLD OF SPACE AND TIME.  THUS "HEAVEN " IS REFERRED TO BOTH AS THE FUTURE HOME  OF THE BELIEVER (2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-2; PHILIPPIANS 3:20 AS THE PRESENT DWELLING PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST, FROM WHICH HE WILL COME IN FINAL JUDGMENT (ROMANS 10:6; 1 THESSALONIANS 1: 10; 4:16). ONE OF PAUL'S MOST SIGNIFICANT  STATEMENTS CONCERNING HEAVEN FOCUSES  ON THE NOTION OF BELIEVERS BEING "CITIZENS OF HEAVEN"  (PHILIPPIANS 3:20, AND IN SOME WAY SHARING IN THE LIFE OF PRESENT. TENSION BETWEEN "NOW"AND THE "NOT YET".IS EVIDENT IN PAUL'S STATEMENTS CONCERNING HEAVEN, MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SUSTAIN THE SIMPLE IDEA OF HEAVEN AS SOMETHING  WHICH WILL NOT COME INTO BEING UNTIL THE FUTURE, OR WHICH CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED IN THE PRESENT.  THE EARLY CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION OF HEAVEN TENDED TO FOCUS ON A RELATED IDEA- THE MILLENNIUM, OR RESTORED EARTHLY KINGDOM LASTING FOR A PERIOD OF ONE THOUSAND YEARS, INTERVENING BETWEEN THE COMING OF CHRIST AND THE ESTABLISHMENT  OF A TOTALLY NEW COSMIC ORDER. THIS IDEA, WHICH IS BASED PARTLY ON A PASSAGE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION: ( AND HE LAID HOLD ON THE DRAGON THAT OLD SERPENT [2 PETER 2:4] WHICH IS THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, AND BOUND HIM A THOUSAND YEARS, AND CAST HIM IN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, AND SHUT HIM UP, AND SET A SEAL UPON HIM, THAT HE SHOULD DECEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE., TILL THE THOUSAND YEARS SHOULD BE FULFILLED: AND AFTER THAT HE MUST BE LOOSED A LITTLE SEASON [RELEASED].
 AND I SAW THE THRONES, AND THEY THAT SAT UPON THEM, AND JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM: I SAW THE THE SOULS OF THEM THAT WERE BEHEADED FOR THE WITNESS OF JESUS, AND FOR THE WORD OF GOD, AND WHICH HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, NEITHER HAD RECEIVED THE MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEADS OR IN THEIR HANDS; AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNS WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS. BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION [JOHN 6:40].