2 Corinthians 12:2-4 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a one was caught up to the third heaven. (3) And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- (4) how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
Notice in an earlier scripture quoted, that the apostle Paul tells us that to be with Christ is far better than to be in this present world. When Paul made the statement that to be with Christ was far better than this life he was speaking from experience, for he had been taken up into heaven on more than one occasion, and he had seen first-hand what it was like up there. In Pauls’ letter to the church at Corinth quoted above, he refers to a man that he knew being taken up into heaven. Clearly, Paul is speaking of his own experience but he does not want to exalt himself in any way and so he speaks in the third person. We can make a further observation regarding heaven based on these scriptures. Heaven is far larger than we can imagine and it has numerous levels. Paul speaks of a third heaven and of Paradise. Both Paradise and the third heaven are separate locations, and if there is a third heaven then there must also of necessity be a first and a second heaven. The Lord’s saints are not all located in the same part of heaven, for we have already seen earlier that the Lord’s martyrs are currently under the altar of God, separated from the rest of the saints in heaven. As our Lord mentioned to the saint that died on the cross next to Him, the rest of the Lord’s saints are in the part of heaven that is called Paradise. We do know that Paradise is an extremely large place, populated with a vast number of saints and also the children of God. The children of God are all children that have died before their thirteenth birthday, and their number alone is estimated to be approximately twenty-five billion people. When the apostle John saw the saints standing before the throne of God in the book of Revelation, he tells us that he beheld a great multitude which no one could number (Revelation 7:9).
Mark 13:27 “And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.”
Heaven is truly a vast place that is far larger than the earth where we currently dwell. This is the reason our Lord Jesus tells us in the above passage of scripture that when He returns to the earth, that His angels will gather His saints from the farthest part of earth and also from the farthest part of heaven. And so just as the saints on the earth at that time will be located all over the earth, so the saints in heaven will be located throughout all of heaven. Notice again that our Lord confirms to us the truth that the saints in heaven are not dwelling in the New Jerusalem, for our Lord tells us that they will be gathered from the farthest parts of heaven on that day.
Michael E.B. Maher
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