Excerpt from “Opening the Door to Heaven” – a Bible Study Session from the series Heaven and Angels – which can be seen in full at https://youtu.be/fnK3Hqs5sqo

Opening the Door to Heaven– Hebrews 11:8-16

Is Heaven real? What is Heaven? Where is Heaven? Why is there a Heaven? These are just a few of the questions we will be answering in the coming weeks. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. What we sometimes forget is that He created Heaven on earth when He created the Garden of Eden. Those first inhabitants of that Garden contaminated it with their sin. That act of corruption caused God to banish them from the Garden . . . until . . . when He so chooses . . . He restores His Garden – His Heaven on Earth when He establishes the New Heaven and the New Earth.

I n Revelation 2:7b Jesus says, “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise [Garden] of God.” In Revelation 21:1-4 John records, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’  for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ ”

Finally, in Revelation 22 John speaks of the restored Garden as he describes the River of the Water of Life flowing through it with the The Tree of Life – yes, The Tree of Life from the original Garden – growing on both sides of the River. The restoration will be complete and we will dwell in Paradise – the Garden of God – for all eternity. We call it Heaven, but in reality we’ll be home – home where we belonged in the first place.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, April 27, 2025. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts. You can find print and digital versions of this series online at https://gc2press.org/heaven-angels-study-guide/ . Handouts with class presentation content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


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