Where does God live?

You might say Heaven, but what do you mean? Where is this place that is above the sky and beyond the stars? What place could be big enough to contain the Lord of all creation and what home could be built where he could rest and be comfortable?

Solomon prayed when he built the temple:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today, so that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant will pray toward this place. And listen to the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive!

1 Kings 8:27-30

No indeed, God is not contained by his own creation, let alone anything that creation might make. We are instead blessed to share our existence with him, and occupy the same vast space that he does while at the same time having him dwell within us.

Paul writes:

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

And again:

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:1-3

Our existence and God’s share the same location and that is what Heaven is, an eternal place in the presence of God. Let us rejoice and say amen to the words of the book of Revelation:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published November 18, 2020