In a religious sense, heaven is a place, a real country where God and his angels/ spiritual beings abide . Not many people asked for the abode of God and the angels before the creation of the present heavens and earth. In accordance with the book of Genesis in the bible, chapter 1 v1 we read ‘in the beginning God created heaven and the Earth,’. We also found in the Quran, Surah Al-Araf chapter 7 vs 54 how God created heaven and the earth within six days . Yoruba tradition advanced it further by stating that Orunmila the Orisa of knowledge and wisdom was present with Olodumare or Olorun ( the one that owns and knows everything or the one that owns heaven) when the formation of the universe was formed. It was therefore a common ground that there was a beginning of heaven and the earth. The beginning here means the count of man since God has no beginning, he has been in existence before the beginning. He must have been dwelling somewhere before the present heaven and the Earth was created, that has not been disclosed to man. Jesus gave a glimpse in the bible when in John 14 vs 2, he mentioned ‘ in my father’s house there are many mansions or dwelling places. He did not actually say ‘ in heaven’. He was the only one capable of saying that. He knew the place. However, whether God has now moved to the present heaven from his abode when the present heaven was created is another food for thoughts. The Bible shed light on what will happen to this present heaven and earth .In Matthew 24 v 35 , the heaven and earth will pass away but the word of God will never pass away. Revelation 21 : 1 ” And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea.
Heaven is the ultimate spiritual destination for the believers whether Christians or Muslims though our approach to it may be different.
Heaven is so shrouded in mystery to the extent that many people blow themselves up and become martyrs so that they can marry seven or Seventy two virgins when they reach there. It may be too late for them to realise that killing other people by martyring yourself is not a way to this holy place and there are no seven or seventy two virgins waiting for him.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo on his 78th and final birthday on 6 March 1987 delivered an important an unusual message of his imminent transition to eternal life, he described heaven as a “place populated only by the righteous and the righteous will interact with God”, he expressed his belief that he will be there when his time come. He died the same year in fact two months after, May 9, 1987. I hope he made it to the place.
However, many people have not realised that apart from heaven and hell, there will be a new earth and not everyone will go to heaven or hell because there will be a new earth as mentioned above.
One can deduce from this fact that when the new heaven and the new Earth is put in place, those who were in the present heaven will be automatically migrated to the new heaven and some will join them there and those on earth who are well prepared for the new earth devoid of sin will automatically be migrated to a new Earth and those who were death and merit the place will be resurrected to the new earth. Is that another clue that not everyone will go to heaven and that some will remain and dwell in the new Earth, otherwise what will be the purpose of a new earth if no one dwells in it. Rev 21 vs 2 and 3 gave it away completely. It states ” and I, John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband , 3, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people”. The unity between the new heaven and the new earth will be made completely perfect and interaction with God will be achieved and as rightly observed by late chief Awolowo, “the place will be populated only by the righteous and the righteous will interact with God”.
The concept of heaven from ordinary perspective refers to the sky or firmament. However, recent development in the news is showing that it is highly likely there is life outside our physical world. The USA DECLASSIFIED Files of UFO has shown that there are other intelligent beings more advanced than us somewhere and not on this earth. In that perspective, religious belief can no longer be ignored and it is worth examining even by the most cynic of men. It will be foolish of anyone to even conceive the idea that this world just exists on his own without a creator.
The spiritual heavens are categorised , there are 3rd heavens and other heavens. 2 Corinthians 12 v 2-4 where Apostle Paul stated that he was caught up to 3rd heavens( Paradise) whether in physical or spiritual body he did not know. He saw many unspeakable things. So if there is a 3rd heaven, definitely, there must be first, second and probably 4 , 5, 6 and 7 heavens or more. I leave this to our imagination.
Having set the preamble, I do not propose to go into the spiritual details but for the purpose of this piece, let us agree that there is a spiritual heaven as I do believe without any iota of doubt. However, who will make it there? Will some people make it to heaven? will some continue to live or resurrect to the new earth. Who will go to hell?
Many people, the imams , pastors have already condemned some people to hell since the opposite of heaven is hell. For example, one islamic cleric stated that all photographers or Artists will go to hell. Another Islamic cleric stated all the alfas /imams will make heaven no matter what they did. There was one pastor who claimed to have access to the book of life and knows those whose names were written in the book of life and those who will make it to heaven. He demands money from those who want him to check their names in the list for them. Perhaps he can manage to insert some names and remove other people’s names the way people’s names were being removed from the INEC register. In a viral video, one Islamic cleric claimed and swore that the 7 heavens and the planet earth and everything has been placed on his palm. Another one claimed that he is God’s deputy, the number 2.
However, we should first consider our relationship on this earth as all the knowledge we possess is passed to us on this earth. We only have knowledge about heaven because we live on earth. We all meet in this world, i never knew anyone until I was born, I met my father, mother and siblings in this world. I met my wife in this world and my children also, we met in this world. We never knew each other before or whether we would meet until we met and came to each other’s way. Whether by a spiritual design is another thing, I do not propose to deal with that. Suffice is to say that this earth is central to everything and we must make it habitable and peaceful
In this world, when growing up and in fact till now, one is attached to some people, even those who we have never met. Musicians, politicians, Authors, Boxers, Wrestlers etc. I was into reggae music in the 70s and 80s and a fan of Bob Marley, so when Bob Marley died on 11 May 1981at the age of 36, it was painful to most of us his fans. Even though we had never met and he did not know that I existed. The same to Fela’s fans when he died, Sunny Okosuns, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Bruce Lee etc People that they had never met wept all over the world at their demise. Some even refer to them as prophets because of the message they passed across.
Relationship therefore is beyond physical meeting or physical interaction. it has to do with projection of minds , both wishing people well or evil lies in our minds, even the people we have never met or those who did not know of our existence, the soul of a man is not confined to his immediate environment, long distance has no effect on the soul neither prison wall has any effect. Man has the ability to create heaven or hell in his mind and project his mind to anywhere in the world. If love flows from your heart to your fellow human beings, you are creating heaven in your heart because you will do good. You will not cheat your fellow humans, you will not destroy or kidnap them. You will not become a terrorist, you will not set people against each other. You will look for their progress. If you happen to be in power, you will create an enabling environment for your people to live in peace and enjoy their lives. you will make the state or country safe and habitable. You will not deprive them of their rights and whatever belongs to them shall be given to them. The money that belongs to the state shall be spent on the state. You can create a mini heaven on earth. While people are waiting for a spiritual heaven or a new earth they would have had a mini taste of it.
Our relationship on this Earth matters a lot and to a larger extent will determine who will make heaven and even those who will be resurrected to the new heaven or new Earth.
Love your neighbour as yourself is an important commandment, a man who did not love his or show love to his neighbour that he sees cannot claim to have loved God that he did not see. The relationship with our fellow human beings are the most important journey to our spiritual lives. The state of the world and interaction of human beings shows that the world is devoid of love. The self interest of the leaders in the world is a great catastrophe that is causing war, hatred, destruction and hunger.
Donald Trump was very sincere in that when he was asked whether he will make heaven, he stated that he is not going to make it. One will expect a genuine christian to have answered in the affirmative but he knew what we don’t know. Although it is never too late for him or anyone that is alive to reflect on this piece and mend their ways..
I am asking you too ‘ will you make heaven’?
Chief Aborisade is a human rights lawyer, poet, historian and politician.
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