This Side Of Heaven

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.  God Himself will be with them and will be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  The He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."  And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
Revelation 21: 3-5 NKJV

There is a common thought of the afterlife in christianity, that being that our ultimate destination, our paradise, is somewhere skyward.  Up among the clouds we look, trying to imagine just what heaven and the throne of God will look like.  Sometimes as we pray we lift our eyes to the sky, as if half expecting that this is just where our  Lord resides.  I've done this as well.  It's how we've been taught for generations.  However, what is heaven is not skyward as we've come to expect?  Actually, does it really matter where heaven is as long as we're there in His glory?  Yet, I will suggest that perhaps our perception of heaven may be misguided.   Not from our own belief, but perhaps by how we've been taught.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man who He had formed.
Genesis 2: 7-8 NKJV

Notice the creation story in Genesis 2, where God has created man and placed him in the garden of Eden.  Notice also that as God places man in the garden, man has ALREADY been created.  It is after man has been created that our Lord places him in the garden to tend and keep it.  This raises the question, just where was Adam when God created him?  For the earth has already been created at this point.   It is after God has finished the work of His creation that He places Adam in the garden.  Was Adam created in heaven, in Gods presence?   Wherever it was, we have to assume that he was placed in the garden after God breathed life into him.  The fact that he was created out of the dust of the ground is not too important here, for God could have very well used the dust of His creation, which He more than likely did.  And so we are faced with the question, where was Adam formed?  Wherever it was, we know that it was seperate from the newly formed earth.

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds-and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of-wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.  Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.  Up, up the long dilirious burning blue I've topped the wind swept heights with easy grace, where never lark, nor even eagle, flew; and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand and touched the face of God."
~High Flight~ Written by John Gillespie Magee Junior

How  does this all tie into our own perception of heaven?  Well, I suggest that what we've called  heaven, the paradise of our heavenly father, is simply another dimension parallel to our own.  Does this mean that heaven is indeed not in the sky as we've been told?  Perhaps, but then it may not be as well.  One thing that is certain, is that our Lords paradise is our ultimate destination for those who know the Lord Jesus.

In my Fathers house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go to preapre a place for you, I will come again to receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14: 2-3 NKJV

Whether it is our belief that heaven is among the stars above, or in another dimension parallel to our own, if Christ indeed dwells within us, then we are on the path to one day enjoying Gods glorious home.

~Scott~